Reality Check: Star vs Lyman 4500?

[MT Chambers]

I sell cast bullets in Canada, over 200 designs, most every kind of mold made(except Lee), I shoot almost daily myself, and use the Star for most everything unless I don't have the right size die, heavy weights for the 45/70? the Star, .224"? the Star as well, it produces the most consistent bullets, period.

[dudel]

Unsized if I can get away with it. Lee push through sizers when I can't.

Tumble lube with 50/50 Liquid Alox / mineral spirits (twice if using the Lee sizers).

[youngmman]

I lube/sized for about an hour with a Saeco lubesizer before I packed it up for sale and bought a Star. This was in the mid-1980's and I have never regretted it. I don't have a bullet feed or air pressure for the lube and can still put out over 1,000 per hour if I want to go that fast. I would also get the Magma heater base for the lubesizer.

[9.3X62AL]

Interesting results, that the Lyman/RCBS system only microscopically exceeds the Star system popularity. While I don't have a complete understanding of how the Stars do business, it is pretty clear to me that in terms of yield potential and speed the Star is a superior mode of operation. The real question seems to be whether your hobby activity is of a type that requires that sort of productivity, and whether your time availability is so restricted as to similarly require same. In my case, the answers would be "no" and "no" respectively, so I stagger on with the 19th Century Lymans rather happily.

[MtGun44]

An old thread rises from the grave!

Al finds the crux of the matter. Most of us don't need that many bullets in the same type. The Star is great
for large quantities of the same bullet but very fussy to set up for different boolits (single lube groove to multiple
lube grooves is extremely time consuming, must add or remove lead shot hammered into holes in the
die) so most will find that the RCBS or Lyman type is more useful for typical hobbyist. If you lube very large
quantities of the same boolit, Stars are great, the potentially long setup time is well worth it.

And as I said, I load three different .358 diam SINGLE LUBE GROOVE designs easily, just adjust the height
where the lube is injected so it is at the groove.

Go back and see post #23 if you want to see how I use my lubrisizers. Artful and I are in agreement, I have
two Stars (just because they are such a PITA to set up) and one each RCBS and Lyman. Started pan lubing
and old Lee hammer through dies, wife bought me the RCBS in the late 70s.

Bill

[6bg6ga]

The first setup on the Star/Magma can be interesting. If you write down the settings the next time around is a piece of cake. I have two reasons for purchasing a GOOD sizer lubricator and those are to obtain a ROUND bullet instead of something sized on one side as the Lymans do and secondly I don't like to waste my time. I may not need large quantities of bullets for myself but now I find myself doing the sizing for others and we simply trade off work. I get my cases sized a job which I don't care for and I seem to be getting some lead in return for my favor.

I've had both and I will NEVER go back to the Lyman.

[hermans]

I cast only for pistol, 45acp, and I shoot a lot, so for me it is easy. My RCBS just gathers dust and gets used only once in a while when I do some experimenting, but once big volumes of sizing is required.......only Star!

[engineer401]

i got rid of the 4500 because the ram had a lot of play in it making alignment a bit of a pain. I bought a Magma/Star and never looked back. I recently bought two seized sizers from Ebay. One is a Lyman 45 and the other is a Lachmiller Lube-A-Matic. It made a good Saturday job to clean them up. They are both functional now. The LAM is tight as can be. I plan to keep it for just-in-case reasons. It seems to be a far better machine than the 4500. As for the 45, it is fully functional and seems to be tight. It's not pretty. I have no special plans for it.

[40-82 hiker]

I use a 4500 for two pistol calibers and two rifle calibers. Given my medical problems and not working, I am very thankful to have that. I get the volume I need, but it is true that I cannot sit for more than an hour at a time no matter what I am doing. More volume would be better then, but can't afford anything else. So, very thankful. Very...

[Lead Fred]

$2 buck cake tin from Goodwill.

Can make grease cookies in it too.

I guess pan lubing didnt make the list

[youngmman]

All of my sizing is done on a Star.

Same here, I tried all the others and ended up selling them 20 or more years ago in favor of the Star. Still have the dies for the Lyman ,RCBS and Saeco sizers that i have to get rid of.

[gtgeorge]

I set mine with one of Lathesmith's setscrew nuts for the one profile with the longest base and measure the difference to whatever I want to do and add a shim washer. If it has more than 1 lube groove I get a separate die. I fend setup changing profiles easy at that point. Removing and adding lead shot is indeed a pita as well as setting up for a different depth which is why I do things this way.

[fredj338]

I had a lyman, sold it a few years after I got my original Star. Once setup, write down the punch distance from the face of the die, makes changing calibers easier. I use a heater, so once everything comes to working temp, I can easily do 1500/hour. Waaaay faster than any other sizer, no air assist really needed, unless you just hate pulling the handle. Buy your dies & punches from Lathesmith.

[lightman]

I still use a Lyman that my Grandfather bought back in the 60's or early 70's. Being recently retired, I'm looking seriously at the Star/ Magma unit. I use hard lube now with a Midway heater base. The Lyman does the job fine, just looking for more speed.