Last week I got my Star from Magma, and I must say this is the way to if you want to size lead boolits. It is a dream to work with and I haven’t had any problems until last night when I had to change the die. The die sat fairly tight so I used the die removal tool provided from Magma. It was used as instructed, and when the die was dragged out it took the top O-ring with it and it was crushed and wrinkled. Luckily I had a set with O-rings and I installed one that looked like it would fit, and it did! The Star again performed well with sizing another caliber, but when I changed the die again the same thing happened. The top O-ring was dragged out with the die and it had to be replaced with a new one! The bottom O-ring was untouched both times.
I cannot understand what I did wrong or what to do to solve this problem. The problem is not huge since I have a lot of O-rings but it’s irritating anyway, and with this pace of changing O-rings I would soon run out.
The heater was turned on half an hour before changing dies so the lube would be soft and make the removal easier and I did not use force but I could feel the die hanging on the O-ring before exiting the press. I suspect my installed O-ring to be a little thicker than the original but this does not explain it breaking the first time. The lube used is Carnuba red. The die and the press was new when the die was changed the first time. Should I’ve lubed the die on the outside before installing or put some grease on the inside of the press and the O-rings. All the time there where lube in the press so it was newer run dry.
Any advice? Thanks.