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Thread: My New Old Star Lubesizer

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    My New Old Star Lubesizer

    Several days ago I posted in the Swapping & Selling section that I was looking for a used Star Lubesizer. The used Star arrived a few days ago & I just finished cleaning it up. What I thought was yellow paint on top of the blue was actually the blue wearing off & exposing the yellow primer. In any case it was obviously not very attractive so all the paint was removed. The unit is in great shape, everything is tight & work smoothly, & I got it for less than half the price of a new one. I’ve got several dies, couple of punches, punch nuts and a die removal tool on order. Most if not all the usage will be lubing BPCR bullets with soft lube which I shoot unsized. Pan lubing works well on some but not on others with shallow grooves and the lube I use. Can’t wait to use it.



    Wayne
    NRA Life (Benefactor & President's Council) Member, TSRA Life Member, NSSF member, Author/Publisher of the Browning BPCR book.

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy
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    A little elbow grease and you have a great sizer!!!

  3. #3
    Boolit Man
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    Yep that looks nice. If you could so a 100% tear down, I think it would be a good candidate for a powder coat job. All in all tho it seems you have made out well. In just looking at the pictures, there just doesn't seem to be much of anything on there that would wear to the point of causing any problems. That Star should, imho, provide you with many many years of good service. And it might even end up being faster than pan lubing in the long run.
    Sam

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by nuclearcricket View Post
    Yep that looks nice. If you could so a 100% tear down, I think it would be a good candidate for a powder coat job. All in all tho it seems you have made out well. In just looking at the pictures, there just doesn't seem to be much of anything on there that would wear to the point of causing any problems. That Star should, imho, provide you with many many years of good service. And it might even end up being faster than pan lubing in the long run.
    Sam
    With no lube preparation and due to the 1 bullet per handle pull operation I'm betting it will definitely be faster than pan lubing. In addition to the price of the dies, the one possible negative is the lube will be a little softer in the grooves due to work softening as it's squeezed through the orifices of the lubesizer. But that depends on if you’re shooting in Arizona in the summer vs. Montana in the colder months where it would be an advantage. I also have a SAECO lubesizer and know for a fact that the same lube is firmer in the grooves with pan lubing vs. a lubersizer.

    Wayne
    NRA Life (Benefactor & President's Council) Member, TSRA Life Member, NSSF member, Author/Publisher of the Browning BPCR book.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master



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    Great post and wonderful effort
    Use it well !
    Mike
    NRA Benefactor 2004 USAF RET 1971-95

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by nuclearcricket View Post
    Yep that looks nice. If you could do a 100% tear down, I think it would be a good candidate for a powder coat job.
    Sam
    Sam,

    I seriously considered tearing it down completely and powder coating it similar to the silver gray color of the current Star. I was about half way through tear down & ran into some of the pins which were extremely tight and would not bulge. Risking cracking the cast parts I decided just to remove all the paint. As displayed the results look pretty good.

    Wayne
    NRA Life (Benefactor & President's Council) Member, TSRA Life Member, NSSF member, Author/Publisher of the Browning BPCR book.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master

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    Wow!
    I thought that the old Star should clean up pretty good but that, by far, exceeds anything. I imagined.

    You might try repeated applications of an ATF/acetone mix or some Kroil to those frozen pins for a week or so. In my experience, that has usually worked quite well.

    Good job Wayne.
    Respectfully,
    Tom Myers
    Precision Shooting Software


  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Myers View Post
    Wow!
    I thought that the old Star should clean up pretty good but that, by far, exceeds anything. I imagined.
    You might try repeated applications of an ATF/acetone mix or some Kroil to those frozen pins for a week or so. In my experience, that has usually worked quite well.
    Good job Wayne.
    Yup, the results surprised me also. I have both Kroil & ATF/acetone mix that I keep handy for frozen pins, nuts, etc. But due to the results I'm going to leave well enough alone & not attempt further tear down. Thanks again for selling it to me.

    Wayne
    NRA Life (Benefactor & President's Council) Member, TSRA Life Member, NSSF member, Author/Publisher of the Browning BPCR book.

  9. #9
    Boolit Bub
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    I get a lot of lube leakage if I do not size the bullet enough to seal the bullet in the die while the lube pumps in.

  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by cjensen View Post
    I get a lot of lube leakage if I do not size the bullet enough to seal the bullet in the die while the lube pumps in.
    I wonder about that possibility since the dies I ordered will only size the bullets 0.0008" at most, possibly less. I assume it depends to some extent on the viscosity of the lube. I'll be using soft lube without a heater. I'll find out in a couple of weeks when the dies arrive.

    Wayne
    NRA Life (Benefactor & President's Council) Member, TSRA Life Member, NSSF member, Author/Publisher of the Browning BPCR book.

  11. #11
    Boolit Buddy rbwillnj's Avatar
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    Your new old Star looks nice, but it's actually a Phelps. Nothing wrong with that, they made a good copy. I think the knurled nut might be from a Star, but the rest is Phelps. Most people are not even aware of Phelps so they assume they have a Star. The dies and punches are interchangeable.
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    Last edited by rbwillnj; 04-14-2020 at 11:06 AM.
    Star Machine Works - Owner
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  12. #12
    Boolit Master



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    New Stars look just like that, no paint. It's not like the aluminum is going to rust. And even if you got the pins out, you need to heat the parts to disassemble, not worth it all, due to risk of damage.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    That turned out great! You did good.

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by rbwillnj View Post
    Your new old Star looks nice, but it's actually a Phelps. Nothing wrong with that, they made a good copy. I think the knurled nut might be from a Star, but the rest is Phelps. Most people are not even aware of Phelps so they assume they have a Star. The dies and punches are interchangeable.
    rbwillnj,

    Very interesting. After comparing the photos below of all three I tend to agree, especially since the non-legible damaged label that was on the reservoir of mine looked like the Phelps and the Phelps 2-tone paint job which suggests mine is a Phelps plus the cast aluminum parts match up real well with the Phelps as does the handle. But there are subtle differences in all three. For example the pressure screw nut on mine matches a Star as you noted. And the transfer bolt (fulcrum lever pushrod assembly) to the fulcrum or lube lever on mine does not have a double head as does the Star and Phelps – mine is pointed on one end. And the Phelps has a set screw for the die which neither mine nor the Star displays although I know the Star had a die setscrew at one time. The pins that hold several of the parts together are slightly different on mine vs. the Phelps. And finally the Star has a large reservoir tube nut just above the bottom cast housing which is not on mine or the Phelps. BTW, there are some other minor differences not worth noting.

    So I agree with you. Mine is a Phelps with one or possibly two Star components.

    Dang, so Tom ripped me off. Sold me a $42 Phelps at 4X the price - just kidding Tom. I don’t care if it’s a Star or Phelps. It’s in great shape & I would have bought it regardless. So I’m a happy camper or in this case a happy lubber or happy sizer.

    Wayne

    Last edited by texasmac; 04-14-2020 at 07:17 PM.
    NRA Life (Benefactor & President's Council) Member, TSRA Life Member, NSSF member, Author/Publisher of the Browning BPCR book.

  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy rbwillnj's Avatar
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    Star Lubesizers were in production (Pre Magma Engineering) for over 60 years. There were a few small changes over that period. The addition of the large jam nut at the base of the lube reservoir came relatively late, probably in the early 70s, though I have never been able to pin down an exact year.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Star Lubesizer 21-2.jpg  
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    The Original Blue Press - Made by Machinists not Machines.
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  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by rbwillnj View Post
    Star Lubesizers were in production (Pre Magma Engineering) for over 60 years. There were a few small changes over that period. The addition of the large jam nut at the base of the lube reservoir came relatively late, probably in the early 70s, though I have never been able to pin down an exact year.
    Bruce,

    One of the changes I noticed when looking at YouTube videos of the current Star is both the lube reservoir pressure spring and the pump spring are now made of round stock rather than the square stock used for older units including my Phelps. Also the current photo of the Star on Magma's website does not have the die setscrew. Since my Phelps does not have a setscrew I'm wondering if it's really useful?

    Wayne
    NRA Life (Benefactor & President's Council) Member, TSRA Life Member, NSSF member, Author/Publisher of the Browning BPCR book.

  17. #17
    Boolit Buddy
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    Bruce,

    Look at the highlighted difference in my unit vs. a Phelps & a Star. BTW, I look at around a hundred photos or more of Star & Phelps units since you identified mine as a Phelps & none show the same configuration of the center casting as does mine. Interesting.

    BTW, both photos to the right are yours off StarReloading.com which brings me to a problem I have. I was able to access your photos but StarReloading.com will not allow me to register due to having an email address ending in @sbcglobal.net. Is there anyway to get around this. I've registered on hundreds of websites & it's the 1st time I've run into this. If you control access than don't take offense but I think this is a ridiculous requirement. sbcglobal.net is a very popular email extension so the site is no doubt stopping a lot of guys from registering.

    Wayne

    Last edited by texasmac; 04-16-2020 at 05:45 PM.
    NRA Life (Benefactor & President's Council) Member, TSRA Life Member, NSSF member, Author/Publisher of the Browning BPCR book.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by texasmac View Post
    Bruce,

    Look at the highlighted difference in my unit vs. a Phelps & a Star. BTW, I look at around a hundred photos or more of Star & Phelps units since you identified mine as a Phelps & none show the same configuration of the center casting as does mine. Interesting.

    Wayne
    Well I''l be darned. I have had that Phelps and a Star,(One of the newer, silver ones), setting on a shelf, side by side, for years and I never noticed the difference in the column sliders.
    Respectfully,
    Tom Myers
    Precision Shooting Software


  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Myers View Post
    Well I''l be darned. I have had that Phelps and a Star,(One of the newer, silver ones), setting on a shelf, side by side, for years and I never noticed the difference in the column sliders.
    Hey there Tom,

    I don't see the benefit of one design over the other. If it's meant to limit the upward movement of sliding column than the linkage on mine stops way prior to the column rising that high anyway. Maybe Bruce can comment?

    Wayne
    NRA Life (Benefactor & President's Council) Member, TSRA Life Member, NSSF member, Author/Publisher of the Browning BPCR book.

  20. #20
    Boolit Buddy rbwillnj's Avatar
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    Phelps Engineering was a machine shop in East Orange New Jersey (near Newark). A guy by the name of Dan Fausto brought a Star reloader to John Phelps and asked him if he could copy it. He did. He made the Phelps Standard reloader equivalent to the Star Progressive, and he made the Phelps Deluxe reloader equivalent to the Star Universal. At some point he must have brought a Star Lube Sizer to John Phelps, and they copied that as well. John Phelps was production, Dan Fausto was marketing and Sales. Later Phelps moved to Suffix NJ and not long after declared Bankruptcy. Dan Fausto bought the parts and machinery and continued to assemble Phelps reloaders and Lubsizers under the name of Phelps Reloaders Inc. of East Orange New Jersey. He eventually move his operations to Milford New Jersey, about three miles from my house.

    The machines assembled by John Phelps were pretty good. Tolerances were not as tight as a Star, but still pretty good. They made a few changes to short cut some machining steps, but still made a pretty good machine. Fausto, was not a machinist, he was a New Jersey Police officer. He assembled machines from parts, and had Phelps make some additional parts for him for a while. The machines made by Fausto were highly variable in quality. Fausto suffered form Limes Disease and Dementia, and is gone now.

    In terms of design, I think Phelps started to copy the Star design, but then looked for areas where they could take shortcuts on manufacturing without hurting function.

    Long before I had the opportunity to buy Star, I had the opportunity to buy what was left of Phelps. However, most of the parts were seconds, and they were tying to sell the parts and equipment as if was an ongoing viable business, not just a collection of parts and obsolete equipment......and it wasn't Star.

    Bruce Williams
    Last edited by rbwillnj; 04-17-2020 at 06:42 PM. Reason: fixed a few typos
    Star Machine Works - Owner
    The Original Blue Press - Made by Machinists not Machines.
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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