Who makes the best lubrisizer and why?

[bigjake]

I want to purchase one and don't know which flippin one to buy! any help would be appreciated

thanks in advance.

[Butchman205]

Old Lyman 45's and newer 4500's are hard to beat. Simple and they work.

Have you read about powder coating the cast boolits?

[wv109323]

I am partial to the Star/Magma. It is a push through design,has a forced lube system as part of the handle stroke and when adjusted there is no flow of lube all over the bullets. I have a RCBS and very seldom use it. The only time is when I don't have a sizing die for the star. The lube feed for the RCBS is a manual wrench and difficult to master the right amount of lube for each boolit. The Star is much quicker than others.

[MT Chambers]

Without a doubt the Star is best, it's the fastest, less bullet handling, nose first so bullets are centered, prolly 5X faster then the rest.

[chloe123]

IMO this is relative. I have a RCBS and a Star. I had the RCBS (LAMII) first, and bought it new for $160, I believe . It's very easy to operate. They, RCBS, match their punches and dies so that keeps guesswork out it. Fitting gas checks is also easy.

I really enjoy the Star; however, there's a learning curve and the set up for different boolits takes way longer than the RCBS.

With the Magma Star boolit feeder, air feed, and hot plate you can get somewhat closer to commercial speed but that's a pricey investment . Your need should dictate your purchase, at least somewhat. If you're shootin' a few calibers once or twice a week I think a RCBS/Lyman design would suit ya

There's more to the differences than I summarized but I'm sure others will chime in. I just wanted to give you an impression based on your question. Rather not see ya rush and spend a wad of $ unless you have to

[Buckshot]

.............The BEST way to size is nose first, pushing from the base. The nose of the slug self aligns and pushing from the base means no nose plug needed. If it also must lube then that pretty much points to the Star. My issue with the Star is personal and has nothing to do with it's operation. My issue is the idiotic design of their dies in both waste of material and difficulties in machining, their cost, and possible lube hole placement issues.

Of the other big 3, they're all similar (RCBS/Lyman) essentially the same. The 3rd is the Saeco (which I do not own) would seem to be the best of the type, EXCEPT once again the idiotic and unnecessarily complicated and expensive die design. Of the previous 2, I think the RCBS is better then the Lyman as it has a heavier ram and the bearing area for the ram is longer. I have one RCBS (bought used) and several Lymans (all purchased used) and ALL the Lymans display various amounts of slop and misalignment in the ram guide.

Part of that is probably due to being used in a garage environment and lack of wiping off of grit on the ram before using and lack of occasional lubrication. So, for my choice the best deal in a Lube/Size press would be the RCBS press and using the less expensive but interchangeable Lyman dies. Keep the press covered when not in use, and at least once before using, lube the ram.

..............Buckshot

[bobthenailer]

Years ago I started out with a Lyman 450 in the past several decades I have owned a lyman 45 and two Saeco's all long gone about 20+ years ago , I now have two Star L/S only and I have no use for the others L/S .

IMO if you shoot enough to have a semi progressive reloading press like a Dillon 550 ect, then you need a Star/Magnma L/S for your cast bullets.

I have lubed the Saeco 45 cal 540 gr gc cast bullet with my Star with no problems it doesent get much longer than that bullet.

[lightman]

They all work ok. It really depends on your volume. The Star/Magma is faster than the others but more expensive. I have used a Lyman since the late 60's or early 70's and have had good service out of it. A few friends use the RCBS and are happy with them. I don't know anyone with a Saeco but it looks like a nice machine. I plan to buy a Star someday!

[ascast]

I want to purchase one and don't know which flippin one to buy! any help would be appreciated

thanks in advance.

Funny how often this comes up. My question to you is what kinda shooting are you into? IF you are dreaming of becoming a pistolaro buy a STAR or MAGMA/STAR. For rifle, if shooting at under 200-300yds, RCBS or Lyman 4500 or Redding, For lubing only, the Lyman 45 in tough to beat. They are notorious for alignment issues which are tough to fix.
Anything past 2-300yds you need to be buying better molds that are correct for your gun. Your not goona fix it by sqeezing it down.
FWIW that few lines cost a lot more than $0.02. I currently have a battery of 45's, 450's, 2 Ideals and a Cramer all set for lubing BPCR or rifle. For pistol, I use the LEE tumble lube system and am happy with it. I am not a big pistol shooter. hope that helps.

[pworley1]

I have Lyman 45's 450's, Saeco and Lee. I use the 45's more than any of the others. Saying which is the best would be the same as saying which is the best truck or car. I suggest looking around your area for some local loaders to see if you might "test drive" a few before you buy.

[ReloaderFred]

I own six Star machines, one Lyman 45, one Lyman 450, one older RCBS and two Saeco machines. The Star machines get used constantly, and the others get used occasionally. If I was only going to buy one machine, it would be a Star.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[runfiverun]

I had a lyman [actually 2, one never made it out of the box]
after the first 20 boolits I thought there has to be a better way.
there is.
the star sizers are fast and they are good at putting the lube in the groove[s] where it goes.
and they have no problem seating gas checks.

the LEE push through sizers could be used to good effectiveness in some rifle applications.

[gwpercle]

I bought a Lyman 450, brand new, in 1971.....I'm still using it and NOTHING has been replaced, or has broken. 44 years...long time.
Gary

[angus6]

I if it's a large batch then I prefer the Magma , for smaller batches the Star

[EDG]

You need to declare your level of experience and what you are going to use the lube sizer for.

Many of the pistol shooters will say Star Star Star. They always say fast fast fast.
However the Stars never seem to be set up for long heavy rifle bullets.

The earlier Lyman tools work ok if you do not do any heavy sizing.
The gray Lyman 450s have a bent steel handle assy that does not work well for heavy sizing in high volumes. The handles eventually break due to fatigue.
I have 2 of these and they work great for lubing without sizing.

I also have 2 of the Orange 450s with the rod type handle. These are stronger but the rams are sloppy. I have 2 of them that are nearly new and both are very sloppy. When I get access to a milling machine I am going to rebuild them. If that does not happen they will be sold to someone that does not mind .014 to .015 wiggle at the end of the ram.

I have a RCBS LAM II and it is a very good tool though I don't really care for the pressure screw with the cross arm on top.
My favorite is the original RCBS tool. It is strong and the ram is still tight though it was bought in 1976.

[blaser.306]

I will throw in my vote for the Star/ magma lube sizer. If you are doing large runs. I also have a Lyman 4500 set up with a heater for small runs and "test" lots. As mentioned the star does in my opinion do a more concentric job , but can become an issue if you have several different boolits of the same diameter with differing lube requierments. I make my own dies so is a non issue , but if needed a separate die for each specific application can save some time. As well as having one punch for each die, left set and ready to thread in .

[MT Chambers]

You need to declare your level of experience and what you are going to use the lube sizer for.

Many of the pistol shooters will say Star Star Star. They always say fast fast fast.
However the Stars never seem to be set up for long heavy rifle bullets.

The earlier Lyman tools work ok if you do not do any heavy sizing.
The gray Lyman 450s have a bent steel handle assy that does not work well for heavy sizing in high volumes. The handles eventually break due to fatigue.
I have 2 of these and they work great for lubing without sizing.

I also have 2 of the Orange 450s with the rod type handle. These are stronger but the rams are sloppy. I have 2 of them that are nearly new and both are very sloppy. When I get access to a milling machine I am going to rebuild them. If that does not happen they will be sold to someone that does not mind .014 to .015 wiggle at the end of the ram.

I have a RCBS LAM II and it is a very good tool though I don't really care for the pressure screw with the cross arm on top.
My favorite is the original RCBS tool. It is strong and the ram is still tight though it was bought in 1976.

I use the Star for all my rifle bullets including the longest, don't know what the problem is with that.

[chloe123]

I don't shoot rifle cartridges. However, certain cast pistol boolits I shoot will not feed through the bullet feeder attachment due to length. If I hadn't mentioned already, I really like the Magma Star. But as with pretty much any task, you want to think about what you're wanting to accomplish, how much time you want to put into it, how much $ you want to spend, what kind of consistency you'll be satisfied with etc, etc.

[seagiant]

Hi,
Which is best?

You get one guess!

[Hawks Feather]

While I am totally the newbie here, from what research I have done (mostly here) it is as others have said – what do you want to use it for (do you shoot a couple hundred a month or a couple hundred a day). At the same time, I also had to look at the price. I like that the Lyman has the heater, but with looking at possibly powder coating I don’t know if I would use the lube aspect so that could become a mute issue. The RCBS has the best parts replacement policy (some say Lyman is equally as good). The Saeco seems to be the work horse and supposedly has the best alignment. Then there is the Lee which while the least expensive and no lube (inside the unit) capability has received very good reviews. The only problem that I see with the Lee is that you are limited in the sizing dies while the others make them for many more sizes. Last, but far from least, you need to know your barrel diameter so that you get the bullets sized to fit your firearm.