Inline FabricationTitan ReloadingReloading EverythingRepackbox
Load DataWidenersLee PrecisionMidSouth Shooters Supply
PBcastco RotoMetals2
Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 41 to 60 of 70

Thread: Why would the Star reloader be so desirable?

  1. #41
    Boolit Bub Rolling Stone's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Near Knoxville, TN
    Posts
    65

    Wrong size cases?

    Bob,
    I have gotten to the point that I put all my cases in 50 case trays so I can look the headstamp over carefully before I clean the cases. I have had .380 cases screw up things on my 9mm press and .44 are about the same when you are doing .45LC. Same deal with .40S&W and any of the automatic cases about the same size. There may be a better way but I haven't found it (yet).
    For a while when I was getting set up on 9mm, I deprimed and sized on a single stage (before wet cleaning) and that is when I decided having the primer pocket up would solve the problem. It's another step but the case feeder makes up for having to handle them an extra time. That also helped find the Berdan primed 9mm. Now I just use the universal deprimer and clean before loading.
    Another thought, have you had a .357 get in with your .38's?
    I have found quite a few .38 rimless in with my 38's from some sources. These look like long 9mm. I can't remember what the stamp was.

    I look at every case anymore. Its the only way!!

    Rolling Stone

  2. #42
    Boolit Master


    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    East Texas
    Posts
    3,620
    38 AMU (Army Marksmanship Unit) were the ones I found, made for bullseye guns.

  3. #43
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    N.E. Missouri
    Posts
    354
    I did order the Shell Sorter® we'll see how that helps with the .380's . The 38 Supers that I miss seem to end up in the .40 bucket
    Never was bothered by missing the .380 on the SDB or the LCT , guess just going to have to be more eagle eyed

  4. #44
    Boolit Bub

    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    68
    Love my Stars.... anything else is pot metal.

  5. #45
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Posts
    3,901
    While I like the precision of their reloaders, they don't dominate like the lubrisizers do, anyone that thinks that they are slow should try feeding the bullet into the top of the die not the bottom.

  6. #46
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Posts
    145
    Quote Originally Posted by fc60 View Post
    Greetings,

    Go to http://www.starreloaders.com/ and you will find a host of users that support each other. Personally, I machine replica die sets in the various pistol calibers. Another forum member makes shell plates. Also, primer tubes, powder measures, and other goodies are fabricated by other members.

    Generally, not much breaks on a Star. I have owned one for 35 years with little to no issues.

    Cheers,

    Dave
    I seem to recall this is kinda how Dillon got into the reloader biz. IIRC he was working with a few machine shops and organized group buys on Star conversion parts and minor upgrades.

  7. #47
    Banned

    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    fayetteville/ft. bragg NC
    Posts
    1,553
    Was the dillon 1050 a copy of star?

  8. #48
    Boolit Buddy rbwillnj's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Northwest NJ
    Posts
    163
    Dillon's first reloading product was the Super Star 223 kit. A conversion kit to load .223 on a Star Universal. If you look on his website in the "About Us" section he talks about it. After that he came out with the RL-1000 which shared a LOT of features with the Star. Later generations of Dillon reloaders are less Star like in many regards.

  9. #49
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Southern Utah Desert
    Posts
    485
    Going to some of the older posts in this backfromthenearlydead thread, I can offer:

    The Stars were made so you could easily insert an empty case in the charging station if you had missed one in the earlier feed. Then you can easily remove it and avoid the temptation to seat a bullet over a fired primer, and all those other complications. But you gotta pay attention.

    I actually prefer the priming on the handle's downstroke. But the design does suffer from pretty bad jamming of the primed case in the prime/expand station if you didn't bother to de-crimp old military stuff with crimped primer pockets. Then there was an odd batch of foreign **** I ran into that must have used Berdan-sized primers with a Boxer-style anvil. Shaved metal and lengthy jam clearing until I figured that out. So, NO crimped primer ammo unless you properly prep it prior...

    With case tubes and the Hulme case feeder, factoring in the time to fill the tubes and charge the primer magazine results in NET reloading speeds the same or barely faster than a Dillon 550 fed by hand with cases and bullets. Watch and listen for the column of cases to drop one position EVERY time you cycle the handle. Prevents the skipped case and powder dump problem. IOW, if you dump powder, you weren't paying attention twice. Depending on my mood, I can do 375-450 rounds per hour, counting all time loading primer tubes and such, with either machine. If I hand-fed the Star, it would probably be faster than the Dillon, the way I run them.

    I'm interested in a case collator now, maybe one of the cheap Lee units with the adapter to the Star tube system. Pretty sure an honest 500-600 rounds per hour could be cranked out if all I'm doing is feeding the primer tubes.

    It's the same with an RCBS Green Machine. The Dillon *is* much more forgiving when reloading seriously abused brass with mushroom-shaped primer heads. Those tend to want to stick in the combined primer drop station instead of dropping free. Again, you gotta pay attention.

    If you have someone loading case tubes for you, the Star and the Green Machine can do 600 per hour any reasonable day. The Dillon 550 just isn't 550 per hour fast for me.

  10. #50
    Boolit Buddy rbwillnj's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Northwest NJ
    Posts
    163
    Grump,

    I make an adapter to add Lee case feeder tubes to a Star reloader. Pictures here http://www.starreloaders.com/forum/i...p?topic=1735.0

    Bruce Williams
    Star Machine Works - Owner

  11. #51
    Boolit Buddy

    starreloader's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Newark, DE
    Posts
    236
    To make the Star Loader more user friendly just add an auto case feeder to it... I use a Dillon Auto Case Feeder and don't have to worry about filling those tubes...
    Viet Nam 11/66 to 3/68

  12. #52
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Southern Utah Desert
    Posts
    485
    Quote Originally Posted by rbwillnj View Post
    Grump,

    I make an adapter to add Lee case feeder tubes to a Star reloader. Pictures here http://www.starreloaders.com/forum/i...p?topic=1735.0

    Bruce Williams
    Star Machine Works - Owner
    Yup, pretty sure it's yours I saw last year and decided that the brass version is what I want. Trying to get some other gun stuff knocked out first. Next is finding out whether a certain rifle that drifts its .75 MOA groups* all over a 1.8 MOA circle over the course of 20 rounds will behave better with annealed-neck cases.

    *Confirming zeros at 400 yards and beyond is a booger, since this thing will do .5 MOA or SMALLER 3-round groups (yes, I know that's not all that reliable) at some annoying distance away from the aimpoint when I'm dialing up and back. Last time it was 710 yards and elevation was good for a change but the 15-20 mph wind was a factor. Meh.

  13. #53
    Banned

    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    fayetteville/ft. bragg NC
    Posts
    1,553
    would like to have one for project but my dillion super1050 does the job.

  14. #54
    Boolit Mold
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by gunoil View Post
    Was the dillon 1050 a copy of star?
    I hate to raise a thread from the dead but ran across this one while surfing this morning.

    My opinion....Kind of, Sort of,...….Well, Yes.

    If you are familiar with both, you cannot miss the Star ancestry in the Dillon 1050.

    Priming system, powder system, shell plate, tool heads, there is a lot in common there.

    I have loaded on Star machines since I was a teenager. I have owned all of the Dillon presses except for the RL-1000. I currently have four Dillon 1050s and nine Star presses. These are sort of like eating peanuts, once you start it is hard to stop.

    I go through a period every five or ten years where I decide to sell my Star equipment and just run the Dillons. On the occasions where I have sold Star machines, I always end up replacing them.

    Primer issues: Once you understand how to adjust the priming stroke on a Star, you shouldn't have problems. I have never had issues with any brand of primer once the primer slide movement is dialed in. This should be a once in a lifetime issue btw. The priming system on the 1050 has generally caused me to have chest pains on mine. It took several years and advice from people smarter than I to make my 1050s dependable as to priming. I attribute this to (Please don't attack me, remember I own four of them) the machining tolerances are less precise on the rough castings than what Star maintained.


    Powder Dumping: Yes. The Star will dump powder on an empty spot on the shell plate. This has happened to me but far less often these days. You do have to pay attention and not run out of cases. I use a Dillon collator to feed cases into the tubes for the Hulme case feeder. There is also a little play when attaching a Hulme feeder to a Star. I always use a razor blade to line up a level feeding point before cinching up the bolt that attaches the feeder to the base of the Star. The Dillon has a feature that prevents a powder charge being dumped on an empty station. This is a great idea and it works well for me. OTOH, the tolerances on the Dillon powder housing and bar are such that I always seem to have power scattered in and around my press when I am done loading.


    That is a couple of points and I am not going to write a novel here. Suffice it to say, both are excellent machines when dialed in. My Stars are probably slower overall and I do have to make a separate operation out of swaging military primer pockets. I have tested loads out of both in my Ransom Rest and can't see an edge in accuracy from either press. I like using the Stars more as everything just tends to run smoother for me.


    I can't help anyone as far as understanding how pricing goes on Star reloaders. I walked into a gun store once and bought three Universal machines and four extra tool heads for $1000. I've paid more than $1000 for a particular machine I wanted. Ebay prices seem to vary wildly. I understand supply and demand. It just seems that the eBay prices on seemingly equivalent machines varies greatly from one sale to the next.

    Bruce Williams owns Star Machine Works now. The quality and availability of presses and parts is better now than it has been since the San Diego shop closed. There are other members of the Star forum that make excellent die sets and shellplates.

    Btw, If you hate your Star Luber-Sizer, you either haven't taken the time to learn to use it or (Only from what I hear, I have no personal experience with them) you are using Magma sizing dies.

    I am in the process now of getting a Mark 7 Engineering Evolution Press in .308. I is more costly than a 1050 but from reports I am hearing, has the 1050 beat in several departments. We'll see how this goes.

    Best regards.

    Bob

  15. #55
    Boolit Master


    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Lenore, WV
    Posts
    2,840
    They are like the Energiezer Bunny. They do pistol calibers and do them well.

  16. #56
    Boolit Grand Master Char-Gar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Deep South Texas
    Posts
    12,820
    I view the Star reloader like I do the Hollywood presses. Both were top of the line and out of reach of most reloaders when made. They are elegant machines from a by-gone era. While they still have plenty of panache and ohh factor, there is nothing they can do that can't be done by machines costing much much less.
    Disclaimer: The above is not holy writ. It is just my opinion based on my experience and knowledge. Your mileage may vary.

  17. #57
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    New York, the empire State
    Posts
    1,594
    the question of WHY . has a good answer. Star Reloaders are like an investment. In 5 years you will double your investment . Dillons, lee, Hornady are just last years model.
    There is only one Star
    NRA Endowment Member
    International Ammunition Association
    New York, the Empire State Where Empires were Won and Lost

  18. #58
    Boolit Master



    BrassMagnet's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    SE Missouri
    Posts
    2,921
    Quote Originally Posted by mpmarty View Post
    I heard all about the star lubrisizer and just had to buy one. Now that I've got it I don't like it at all. Too slow and makes a mess on the noses. I'm back to tumble lubing everything with 50/50 LLA JPW.
    You clearly don't know how to use it!
    PM me for a telephone number if you want some technical support on how to adjust and use it.

    I didn't realize I was responding to a 7 year old thread.
    If you need help getting a Star Sizer to run, do PM for a telephone number for technical support on how to adjust and use it.
    Last edited by BrassMagnet; 07-28-2018 at 03:42 PM.

  19. #59
    Boolit Master


    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Lenore, WV
    Posts
    2,840
    I think the age of Star loaders explains why they are popular. I know of several Star loaders from the1960's and have loaded thousands or millions of rounds. Many commercial reloaders used them.
    I bought a Star loader that had an ID tag from a prison that was shut down in the 1980's. The only part that shows wear is the primer bar.
    Think of the Energizer Bunny.

  20. #60
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Los Angeles
    Posts
    938
    I .now this is an old thread, but to answer the question I have two of them with 4 tool heads. They are a precision piece of equipment and are a joy to use. I got my first one in 1975 and have been happy with it ever since. The Dillon is a great piece but why not have an original not a copy. As others said the tolerances and craftsman ship are hard to beat. You do however have to pay attention and be precise.
    jim

Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check