Which Star accessories to get?

[Russel Nash]

Hi all,

Which accessories do you think are a must for the Star lubri-sizer?

I haven't casted before, but I am thinking about casting for 9mm, .40 and .45.

I am assuming I will also have to buy some sort of caliber specific punches.

From Magma Engineering's website, it looks like they sell the compressed air adapter, a lube heater, and a bullet feeder.

Is there anything else I have left out?

Thanks in advance, for your replies!

[BigSlick]

Get the air feed and the heater base for sure, skip the bullet feeder.

The punch that comes with the machine will handle all three calibers you mention. You'll need a size die for each caliber. Their standard three row dies will work with about any pistol bullet I am aware of. I've used em with 9x19, 10/10mm and 45 ACP with nor problems at all. Just plug the holes you don't need and get with it.

And lay in a big bunch of lube an some storage space, you gonna need it
________
FIX PS3

[mtgrs737]

Not to hijack this thread, but does the air feed work well and is it hard to use?

[Russel Nash]

Just plug the holes you don't need and get with it.


Which holes are you referring too?

I'm clueless as to how the Star works or what doo dads it needs to crank out bullets, so I have to ask these things.


And lay in a big bunch of lube an some storage space, you gonna need it

I'm guessing you're talking bullet lube there, right?

Are you saying lube goes really fast when you are cranking pro-jo's through the Star?

Even more so when the air and the heater is on?

As I understand the Star pushes the bullet down and out through the bottom of the press, so what are you all using to catch the just lubed and sized bullets?

Me, being the newbie that I am, I can envision making a huge mess.

[Marshal Kane]

Picture the cast bullet as being pushed through a sizer die which is caliber specific in order to size them to the proper dimension and insure that they are round. Picture the sizer die as a short piece of pipe. About halfways down the circumference of the pipe, are three rows of holes which are openings to allow bullet lubricant to flow into the lube groove(s) of the bullet while the bullet is in the sizer die. Some bullets do not have three lube grooves so the unneeded hole(s) are plugged off with lead shot.

Lube: Bullet lube. The amount of bullet lube you use is dependant on the number of bullets you have to lube. Stock up according to what you need or think you want to keep on hand.

The air and heater just helps keep the lube soft so that it can flow. The lube going faster depends on the dexterity of the user. The faster you can lube, the faster the lube goes.

You can either mount the Star over the edge of your loading bench or provide a hole in your bench so that the bullets in either case are pushed through. You can either catch the bullets by hand as they exit the Star or you can use a container to do the same function. I use a small box with a ramp in it to allow the bullets to roll off to one side. Otherwise the bullets will fall on each other and possibly dislodge the bullet lube or cause small dents. I empty the box about every twenty bullets into a larger container.

I can understand the need for sizer dies, heater, lube, and a die installation/removal tool but unless you are lubing a lot of bullets all of the time, I am not convinced that you need the air pressure attachment. The Star comes with a lube pressure screw that can be turned by hand putting pressure on the lube in the reservior. The air pressure attachment does the same thing but at an additional cost. Turning the lube pressure screw by hand allows me to lube and size about 15 bullets before the pressure screw needs more pressure. I don't lube and size enough bullets to justify the cost of the air pressure attachment. Four to five hundred bullets at a time is what I do and I can do this adjusting the lube pressure screw by hand. Just my take on this and certainly not binding on any interested partys.

-edit- quick editing test

[mastercast.com]

I also recommend not purchasing the bullet feeder for the Star sizer. You can feed it quicker by hand.

The air cylinder attachment to provide constant pressure to the lube is very easy to use and I have never had a problem with them.

[Lloyd Smale]

I had an air feed and really didnt care for it. I size in the barn and temps run from -15 to over a 100 in there when im sizing and just juggling the heater temp can be a chore sometime and combine it with an air feed and i wasted more time ajusting then i did sizing. Plus i have one of those noisy diaphram air compressors and just got sick of hearing it run. A lube heater is about a neccessity unless your sizing in a controled temperature place like a basement. Ive got an extended lube tube on mine that holds about 3 times the lube and that is real handy but again made it more finiky with air. But if i had to choose id take the extended lube capasity over the air anyday. Seems like before it everytime i got rolling i had to stop and add lube. Now i can pretty much lube until my body gives out and maybe fill it once a day or so. To me a bullet feed would be a waste without a colator. It would be about like trying to run a 650 dillon without a case feeder. If youve never used a star before id just buy a heater and be done with it. You will be able to size so much faster then you ever did before that those expensive add ons wont seem nessisary.

[dmftoy1]

Me, being the newbie that I am, I can envision making a huge mess.

Well I can't speak for you, but I really made a mess the first few times I did it. (Lars Carnuba Red lube) I then figured out that I was running the heated base too hot and making the lube way too soft. I had envisioned running the thing at the same speed as I run a single stage press when reloading and someone on here mentioned "dwell" on the lube stroke and viola all of a sudden I got the heat right and quit making a huge mess.

Just my .02

Regards,
Dave

[brshooter]

I like the air lube, I have it hooked up to a regulator on a medium (Q) bottle of nitrogen. That tank of nitrogen has been on the sizer for a long time. Costs are min. compared to a compressor and no noise to contend with. My problem with it is I forget to shut off the tank sometimes and loose it through leakage. The heater is a must have, accurate and required with the hard lube I'm using.

[Forester]

Well, I have, and use just about all of the acessories they list. I like the air feed quite a bit and don't find keeping track of temperature and pressure that big a deal, you get the hang of it pretty quickly.

The boolit feeder is a time saver but its by degrees, I would say it has been good for about a 30% increase in production for me. I do not use it for rifle boolits that I am only doing a few hundred of though because I want to inspect them more closely. I do use the feeder for pistol boolits that I am going to size 25,000+/- of a year.

The heated base Magma sells is pretty expensive but is probably the best optional item they have. I used to use a Lyman heater, and it was functional but very slow to heat up and much harder to regulate. With some creative electrical work I am sure the Lyman could be improved though, so that is a consideration.

Bringing up what lube is best here is like kicking a sleeping Lion, but if you are ordering from Magma anyway I would give their lube a try. I have used it on everything from .45ACP and .38spl to 2000-2100fps 45-70 and 30-30 loads. It is also cheaper than most commercial lubes at $1 per stick last time I ordered, I keep 2 or 3 pounds on hand most all the time.

[Russel Nash]

mtgrs737 wrote:

Not to hijack this thread, but does the air feed work well and is it hard to use?

I have been surfing through a few pages here looking for "gouge" on casting and lubri-sizing.

From what I have read, all the people who have bought one have NEVER regretted it.

Some people would rather save the money and crank the thing down by hand every 20 bullets or so.

One or two interesting tips I picked up was:

1. Buy a nitrogen tank and a regulator and connect that to the air pressure gizmo

2. Buy one of those cheaper red air tanks at say Lowes, Home Depot, or Harbor Freight and fill it up at the air hose at the gas station. Then bring it back home and connect it to the Star's air inlet.

Both these tips alleviate the need for an air compressor and the sometimes startling noise it makes when they kick back on.

Two other neat and cheaper tips I picked up on was to use a long-ish block of aluminum mounted to a Dillon Strong Mount. Then mount the Star to it. At the tail end ledge of the aluminum block, sit a clothes iron on it.

The aluminum acts like a heat sink and warms the lube inside the Star.

Also, having it on a strong mount allowed the user to place a large Dillon Blue Akrobin right underneath the Star. That bin caught all the lubed bullets.

In surfing here, I have come across some names of lubes mentioned.

I should probably do some more surfing and searching, but I suspect somewhere here on this forum is a whole cookbook of homemade lube recipes??

Thanks again for all the replies.

[David2011]

Russel,

I'm another satisfied Star user. I use my Star for 9mm, .357, .40 and .45. Mine is mounted hanging over the edge of the bench with a piece of 1/8" x 6" x 12" aluminum sandwiched between the bench and the lubrisizer. I set a cheap household iron on the far end of the aluminum on its lowest heat and regulate the temp by varying the distance between the iron and sizer. I usually turn it on 30-45 minutes before I start sizing so it will be stable when I start. Getting things too hot is my number one source of messy bullets. I let the bullets drop into a 4x4x4 cardboard bullet box. I've had no trouble with lube coming out of bullets or denting bullets. My alloy is 20 lb wheelweight to 1/2 lb monotype. It makes a nice, shiny bullet that holds mold detail very well and is hard enough to not lead in .40 S&W IPSC major loads. I can fill 2 of those boxes in an hour; about 1000 bullets feeding and adjusting the lube by hand. Be sure to mount your sizer at a height that gives good leverage. If it is too high they are much more difficult to operate for more than a few strokes. I sit when sizing so mine's on a workbench that's a little lower than my office desk. I consider the temp of the lube correct when it is just warm enough to flow into the groove and doesn't have a whitish or milky look to the surface of the lube. That indicates it's a little too cool. I like the lube to have a hint of gloss to it. There is no question when it's too warm. It will get on the nose of the bullet and possible squirt out in significant quantity. Once you plug the holes in the dies with the provided shot and get the punch adjusted, measure the distance from the punch in the up position to the top of the installed die and record the measurement where you can find it again. That makes subsequent setups for that bullet much faster. The measurement may vary from one bullet to another in the same caliber. I adjust the lube pressure manually but I size in the house where the temperature is fairly constant.

Good luck. It's a great tool that will last a lifetime. Mine's over 20 years old and good as new.

[Forester]

mtgrs737 wrote:



I have been surfing through a few pages here looking for "gouge" on casting and lubri-sizing.

From what I have read, all the people who have bought one have NEVER regretted it.

Some people would rather save the money and crank the thing down by hand every 20 bullets or so.

One or two interesting tips I picked up was:

1. Buy a nitrogen tank and a regulator and connect that to the air pressure gizmo

2. Buy one of those cheaper red air tanks at say Lowes, Home Depot, or Harbor Freight and fill it up at the air hose at the gas station. Then bring it back home and connect it to the Star's air inlet.

Both these tips alleviate the need for an air compressor and the sometimes startling noise it makes when they kick back on.

Two other neat and cheaper tips I picked up on was to use a long-ish block of aluminum mounted to a Dillon Strong Mount. Then mount the Star to it. At the tail end ledge of the aluminum block, sit a clothes iron on it.

The aluminum acts like a heat sink and warms the lube inside the Star.

Also, having it on a strong mount allowed the user to place a large Dillon Blue Akrobin right underneath the Star. That bin caught all the lubed bullets.

In surfing here, I have come across some names of lubes mentioned.

I should probably do some more surfing and searching, but I suspect somewhere here on this forum is a whole cookbook of homemade lube recipes??

Thanks again for all the replies.

I have the Star mounted above a loaded cartridge chute off of a Dillon and it works great, 1 akrobin holds about 400 200gr LSWCs. I attatched a picture.

You are right about the lube recipe. Here is what I would have to say is the "local" favorite: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...ght=felix+lube

[hammerhead357]

Well I am going to differ here with a lot of the other posts. I like the bullet feeder and can feed the star just as fast with it as without it.

The reason I like the feeder is it keeps your fingers out of the die and the bullet punch will go thru your thumb or take a big chunk out of it. I know this because my first wife cut a 38 cal. chunk out of her left thumb. It cost me 800 dollars to get that repaired and that was about 22 years ago.

The speed at which you get to working is what gets you in trouble. She could run about 2000 bullets per hour feeding directly into the die but that is what got her thumb in the way. While she healed up I purchased a bullet feeder and that removed the danger of the thumb in the sizing die. It also did not slow down the rate of processing bullets.

I also think the heater is a must have but you can make do with an aluminum plate and a clothes iron just start low on the heat setting and work up until you find the correct temp....Wes

[454PB]

You might want to look at this old post, just to show you what can be done for no money, just some time invested:

http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/...ht=star+heater

[mtgrs737]

Even with the soft lubes in my cool basement I need a heater to make the lube flow in my star. I just happened to have a Midway adjustable heater from years ago when I sold them at gun shows, and that is mounted under my star. I consider the adjustable heat feature a much needed feature. I also have a Lyman heater for my 450 Lubersizers and it is not adjustable for temp. so I made a temp control for it from a 600 watt light dimmer and it works perfectly at controling the temperture of the Lyman unit. I can run it up to max temp at the start to speed up the heating up of the unit and then turn it down to a level that will not overheat soft lube for continued lubing.

[Springfield]

I have bullet feeders on 2 of my Stars, but then I do mostly soft BP lube so I put all my bullets in styrofoam trays. When I do a run of smokeless bullets I just feed them by hand and let them drop into a bucket. I have also mounted my sizers to an aluminum plate and use an iron. One thing I have found is that the smaller travel irons don't get so hot ands are way less likely to overheat your lube,. Easier to fine tune the heat also. And I love my air feed. The best thing is you can plug the overflow hole and up your lube capacity by 50%. It is also much faster replacing lube with the air feed compared to the stock setup. I hooked mine up to a small 250 psi portable compresor, you know, the kind you put in your trunk and fill up your tires with. Got it at Sears, works great. Have it hooked up to an old car battery, not good enough for the car but runs the compressor fine

[Forester]

I have bullet feeders on 2 of my Stars, but then I do mostly soft BP lube so I put all my bullets in styrofoam trays. When I do a run of smokeless bullets I just feed them by hand and let them drop into a bucket. I have also mounted my sizers to an aluminum plate and use an iron. One thing I have found is that the smaller travel irons don't get so hot ands are way less likely to overheat your lube,. Easier to fine tune the heat also. And I love my air feed. The best thing is you can plug the overflow hole and up your lube capacity by 50%. It is also much faster replacing lube with the air feed compared to the stock setup. I hooked mine up to a small 250 psi portable compresor, you know, the kind you put in your trunk and fill up your tires with. Got it at Sears, works great. Have it hooked up to an old car battery, not good enough for the car but runs the compressor fine

I fill the lube reservoir all the way up without plugging the overflow hole. Using sticks of somewhat hard lube it doesnt seem to be a problem...I have been thinking about at extension on the reservoir to be able to hold more sticks.

[bobthenailer]

ive had stars for 25 + years and in my opinion all you need is a heater and the optional roller shovel operating handle

[crabo]

Where do you get the extension tube for the Star?