Star Sizer Questions...

[garandsrus]

Hi,

I am setting up a Star sizer for the first time and have some questions:

1) Can I plug the unneeded holes with #9 shot? They fit the hole without any pounding. The manual says to use #7 or #8. My thought is that #9 will make the shot much easier to remove should I need to. I put a dab of lube over the shot to hold it in the hole until the press is seated. I think the #9 pellets are large enough to not get forced through the smaller lube hole.

2) How do you remove the shot to change lube holes? The manual says to drill it out with a #45 or smaller bit. Is this what you do or is there a better way?

3) What's the deal with only needing a small and large bullet punch? It looks like I have a couple large ones, .40 cal, .44 cal, and maybe .45 cal. All of these have a hollow area under the rim, almost like they are made for a semi wad-cutter that is sized base first. Is this normal? I expected a flat base. I am trying to size a .358 bullet so none of the top punches I have can pass into the die. I assume that I need a smaller punch.

4) If I am going to size primarilly .30 cal (.310) and .358, can I get a punch that is .309 and use it for both? I plan to size nose first. I will commonly seat gas checks on the .310 boolit and will occasionally seat checks on the .358.

5) What is the "Small or Large Caliber Conversion" that Magma offers? Do I need one?

6) How do you catch the boolits after they are sized? Did you mount some type of tray under your bench?

7) I received several sticks of Javelina lube. Is this a good lube for both .38 special and the various .30 cals? It seems like it will be sticky after the boolits are sized and messy to work with. I also have several sticks of Lars 50/50 and some of Bullshop's Speed Green, neither of which requires any heat.

Thanks!
John

[454PB]

I can answer a few of your questions.

You can use any size shot to plug unused lube holes, as long as it is big enough to prevent lube flow through the inner diameter of the hole and trimmed down to allow die seating. Star dies fit very tightly into the sizer body. As far as removal, a dental pick can be used to remove the shot if it's not too tightly packed in. Are you sure you need to plug any lube holes? Mine can usually be adjusted so the the boolit stops in the proper area of the die before the lube is injected. You should have no problems using #9 shot, there is not enough pressure to force it through the smaller hole.

The punches need to fit the boolit base, especially if a gas check is being seated. You will need some smaller punches for this. The use of grossly undersized punches will deform the boolit base.

I catch the boolits in my hand as they drop out the botttom, mainly because I don't want them dinged up. I stand all my sized boolits in storage boxes, which means handling every one individually anyway. I suppose you could rig up a container under the machine if you wanted.

I'm using home made 50/50 Alox beeswax, and it works well. I can't answer to other lubes.

[anachronism]

Hi,

I am setting up a Star sizer for the first time and have some questions:

1) Can I plug the unneeded holes with #9 shot? They fit the hole without any pounding. The manual says to use #7 or #8. My thought is that #9 will make the shot much easier to remove should I need to. I put a dab of lube over the shot to hold it in the hole until the press is seated. I think the #9 pellets are large enough to not get forced through the smaller lube hole.

Try it. If it works okay for you, then that's great. I've had leakage issues with smaller shot but YMMV.

2) How do you remove the shot to change lube holes? The manual says to drill it out with a #45 or smaller bit. Is this what you do or is there a better way?

I use an o-ring pick with a 90 degree end. I can pop the shot out from the inside of the dies in my larger calibers.

3) What's the deal with only needing a small and large bullet punch? It looks like I have a couple large ones, .40 cal, .44 cal, and maybe .45 cal. All of these have a hollow area under the rim, almost like they are made for a semi wad-cutter that is sized base first. Is this normal? I expected a flat base. I am trying to size a .358 bullet so none of the top punches I have can pass into the die. I assume that I need a smaller punch.

I have several punches myself. All are intended for specific calibers, and are a few hundredths of an inch smaller than the bullet diameter, to avoid misalignment complications. They're especially handy when seating gaschecks, which seem to seat flatter and more uniformly this way.

4) If I am going to size primarilly .30 cal (.310) and .358, can I get a punch that is .309 and use it for both? I plan to size nose first. I will commonly seat gas checks on the .310 boolit and will occasionally seat checks on the .358.

I prefer a larger punch for the reason I outlined above. The .309 is probably okay, mine is .300. I use a .355 punch for .358s.

5) What is the "Small or Large Caliber Conversion" that Magma offers? Do I need one?

It appears that I haven't visited their website for too long. It sounds as if there are more toys available now.

6) How do you catch the boolits after they are sized? Did you mount some type of tray under your bench?

I catch the bullets in my hand. I wish there was a better way, but I'm really careful with sized bullets.

7) I received several sticks of Javelina lube. Is this a good lube for both .38 special and the various .30 cals? It seems like it will be sticky after the boolits are sized and messy to work with. I also have several sticks of Lars 50/50 and some of Bullshop's Speed Green, neither of which requires any heat.

I've never tried Javelina, I think Buckshot or someone uses it. I have a heater, and use Thompsons Blue Angel. My Lyman sizer is filled with FWFL.

Thanks!
John

As I said earlier, your mileage may vary.

[Dale53]

garandsrus;

1-Yes
2-If the shot is not too tight push it out with the dental pick. Otherwise, do as the
manual says.
3-The bullet punch should fit the base. You can get by with two or three. They are
rather expensive from the manufacturer (but nice). You can use the die removal
bushing and use a common bolt (I think it is 1/4x20) and file the hex head
round the proper size for the bullet (use a drill press if you don't have a lathe)
for a perfectly good "home made" item.
4- I would use two different punches for .30 and .35 (make them yourself, as
above).
5- I don't know.
6-I catch them in my hand and place them in a box. I line them up carefully in the
box, put a cardboard divider and layer them. Others have used loading tubes directly
under the luber for use on automatic machines.
7-Javelina lube is 50/50 Alox/beeswax and quite good. I am now converting to
Lars Red Lube.

Dale53

[Dale53]

Here is a handy tip for storing sized and lubed bullets. Naturally, you need to keep them covered so that they do not pick up dust and debris. The common thing we all used for years was empty cigar boxes. I long ago lost my source for cigar boxes (I cast quite a bit for many calibers and need LOTS of boxes).

Recently, I discovered a source for really nice, durable, plastic boxes with lids at the local Dollar Stores. They are used in the kitchen for left overs, etc. They make perfect much more durable "cigar boxes". They come in various sizes and shapes. It pays to look inside them before you buy. You want smooth insides so the bullets will sit straight. They are VERY inexpensive. Quite often two for a dollar, or so.

I use plastic cartridge boxes for my Schuetzen bullets after lubing them (they are cast to size) but that would not store as many as I need for my pistols and revolvers. Hence, the kitchen storage boxes...

Dale53

[Springfield]

Sounds like you got some nose punches with your Star. You could just grind off the ends and make some base punches out of them. Better done in a lathe, but a grinder will work and then maybe finish them with a file and the punch mounted in a drill motor. As for the conversions, I think that only applies to the bullet feeder. I only do Bp bullets so I don't know if Javelina wil be too soft for your smokeless bullets, worked OK for me in my BP bullets. And I just catch the bullets as they exit and put them in bullet trays I buy from Midway. I use #7 shot for plugging the holes. Drilling them out is very easy, usually the drill bit edge catches the lead shot and pulls it out, not much real drilling involved.

[garandsrus]

All,

Thanks for the comments and ideas!

I am surprised at the number of people that catch the boolit and stack it in a tray as that somewhat negates the advantage of handling each boolit only once when using a push through sizer. I didn't plan to do that for pistol boolits (wad cutters), but maybe I should. I can certainly see doing it for rifle boolits where the boolit is much longer and therefore more prone to damage.

I have been storing lubed rifle boolits in the plastic trays that factory pistol cartridges come in. They have individual compartments for each boolit which works well.

Springfield - Good idea on converting one of the existing punches to what I want. Sometimes we don't see the obvious! I have also read where folks take a punch and bore a hole and add a set screw so that you can use Lyman top punches in it which makes a lot of sense.

John

[Swagerman]

Catch as catch can, but I've got mine positioned above a desk drawer when open has a front section of containers that allows the bullet to be caught in very short drop.

It's pictured on the corner of my desk, you can see the drawwer underneath. When can is full remove and replace with another.

Jim


http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e321/44and45/100_0119contrastcropped650X.jpg

[GSM]

Alternate shot removal method (worked this weekend): Cut the shot out with an x-acto leaving a little funnel, run a small BRASS srew into the remaining shot a couple of turns, pull out screw. Whatever is left of the shot will wrapped up in the srew threads and can be twisted right off.

How about a discussion on the adjustemnt of the lube pump? Make a separate thread?

[garandsrus]

Swagerman,

Your bench looks like mine! I don't know how the presses seem to keep multiplying while the bench doesn't get any longer...

GSM - Your thought on the adjustment of the lube pump would be appreciated!

John

[454PB]

If by "adjustment of the lube pump" you mean adjusting pressure on the reservoir, I can only say it takes a lot less pressure than a Lyman or RCBS. For me, the trickiest part is adding lube without getting air pockets in the reservoir. I know it could be heated and poured into the reservoir, but I find that too much hassle and a mess.

I have a home made heater under my Star, and I turn it on for a minute or two to soften the lube, then use a dowel to help push the lube into the tube. Since my home made lube is poured into a cake pan when I mix it, I slice off chunks of it about 1" square and 2" long to push into the reservoir.

I use the same method with my Lyman 4500's, but the threaded center rod makes it even more challenging.

[McLintock]

With my Star I was having problems with lube streaking the bullet noses and no matter what the adjustment, I couldn't eliminate it. This was with a real soft black powder type lube, was worse with .32's than .44's. Just got a Star air pressure setup and after installing it, tried a few .44's and was not getting lube streaks. Plan to lube at least 300 this week, so should have a better idea after that session, but am really hoping I've got the cure and wondering why I waited so long to add the air pressure setup.
McLintock

[Springfield]

If you mean by adjustment of the lube pump, how much many times you turn the handle to apply pressure, this is something that you just have to experiment with, there are no set rules. I do mostly Blackpowder bullets, which is why I put them in trays. On the rare moment I do smokeless I just let them fall into an AKRO bin. Most of my smokeless bullets I moly coat anyway and don't use the Star. As for the lube adjustment, it is just a combination of pressure and heat. You will have to find the majic mix for you particular lube. I personally prefer to keep the heat as low as possible and rely on pressure to get the lube on the bullet. I find I have less extra lube deposited on the noses this way. If lube is too soft it will creep out on it's own regardless of the pressure. Let the pump do it's job and don't relay on the top lever for pressure.

[KYCaster]

GSM: Here's the way I do it......pasted from an earlier thread:


Rick: I'm sorry to hear you're having so much trouble with your Star. I've found them to be pretty simple to adjust.

The ammount of lube deposited on the bullet is a function of temp. and pressure, its that simple. If you've set it up by the book and are still having problems, then there are a couple other things to try.

What kind of lube? I once tried "Rooster Red". It needs to be heated, but the temp. range between solid and liquid was so small it was impossible to get consistant results. The lube needs a "plastic" range in order to work right. Most lubes I've used worked OK.

Take the die and punch out of the press. There's a hole on the left side of the bore that the lube feeds from. Adjust the temp and pressure till you get a steady, uninterrupted ribbon of lube from the hole. About six inches per min. or a little more is about right. If this ribbon has gaps or bubbles in it, you have air that needs to be purged.

Now install the die with no punch and no bullet. You shouldn't be getting any lube comming through the holes until you push down the handle to opperate the pump.
The pump should push an equal ammount of lube through all the holes that aren't plugged. If you're getting lube into the die without pumping it, then the temp./pressure needs to be adjusted down. Depending on the plastic range of the lube, this can be difficult to adjust.

If you leave the temp. and pressure on for long periods, the lube will eventually stick to the inside of the reservoir and screw up the pressure. If this is the case, melt out the lube, clean with mineral spirits and lightly lube with WD40.

I've gotten a couple of dies that had burrs on the holes that shaved lead and eventually clogged the holes. If that's the case, polish with a diamond ball in your Dremel.

I also have multiple styles of the same dia.. Nearly all the ones with one or two lube grooves work fine without plugging holes. Styles with multiple grooves may need to be run through a second time after adjusting the punch to fill different grooves. It's still faster than one time through a Lyman.

If you've already given up on the Star, I have a Lyman that I'm not useing, maybe we can talk about a trade.

I hope you can get it working.

Jerry

[GSM]

garandsrus:

No real thoughts on the adjustment - mostly questions. I finally got the chance to set mine up this weekend. Sizing and lubing 45 ACP boolits (H&G 68's), second hand San Diego Star, NRA 50/50 lube.

Started out following the instructions - line bullet up to lube port on sizer, measure distance from base to top of sizer, etc. Did that, loaded the reservoir, pressuruzed it a bit, and tried to proceed. Ended up with boolits with just a touch of lube in the groove. Kept at it, and got the same results. I noticed that the reservoir pump spring / rod was not moving too much during the cycle.

So, I looked at the horizontal rod with two little bolts in it and remembered that I had turned them in while cleaning the thing up. I turned them both out a little at a time and the groove started to fill in. A little was good, more was better - I can now get the entire groove filled with lube.

What has me confused: Is this OK? I can't seem to find any documentation about making that type of adjustment.

If you or anyone else has some pointers on the Star, I would appreciate them. In fact, I'll start: Make sure the damn set screw is out before trying to remove the sizing die.

Thanks.

[44woody]

i noticed that some of the people put in lube the hard way there is a simple way to make your home made lube into sticks that will fit just fine in the star (1) get some pvc pipe with a inside diamiter of 1 in cut it in 5in lengths (2) get end caps and screw them to a pice of board put your pipe in fill with lube let harden (3) to get out get a 1 in wooden dowel rod and take the pipe out of the caps and push it out with the dowel rod I wrap mine in aul. foil and store in a wooden cigar box :castmine: 44Woody

[fecmech]

Garandsarus--I use the Magma hard lube and just drop the pistol bullets onto a soft ramp and they roll to the end of a box. I then dump them into the box they will be stored in. The Magma lube requires heat but is not sticky like 50/50 so you don't need to stack or place them in some way to prevent a mess. For size die removal I simply push out the old die (while heated of course) with a piece of 1/2" plastic pipe from the bottom. As for stubborn shot removal from die holes I wrap a piece of wire around the top of the die and dip it in my rcbs pot of molten lead to melt the shot. Push a piece of paper towel down thru the die while still hot to clean out any slight remaining lead particles and you are good to go.

[garandsrus]

Thanks everyone...

I ended up ordering the correct bottom punches from Magam. I figured it was easier than bothering a friend with a lathe as I don't have one.

Once I get the correct punches I will figure out how I want to collect the boolits coming exiting the sizer. I am leaning towards using a non-sticky lube (Lars 50/50 or Bullshop's Speed Green) and letting the pistol boolits collect in a container. I will probably catch and stack the rifle boolits.

John

[Dale53]

I bought one of the little "one cup" coffee warmers. When I start sizing bullets on the Star, I set a stainless steel cup full of bullet lube on the warmer. By the time I need lube the cup full has melted and I simply remove the piston in the Star Press and pour in the lube (you must be careful to not overfill). The lube can be left on the coffee warmer without damage as it never gets really hot. Just hot enough to melt it. This works with my home mix Emmert's lube as well as 50/50 Alox/Beeswax. There are no "air holes" with this method and it cannot be easier to do.

I will be using Lars Red Lube after this Star batch is finished. Of course, with Lars, I'll just drop the lube stick in the STAR when "refueling".

Dale53

[ANeat]

Here is how I have my Star sizer mounted. Its bolted to a thick aluminum plate that sticks out from behind it quite a bit. On that I sit a common clothes iron that does an exellent job of heating and has a built in thermostst to boot:-D . The whole deal is mounted onto a Dillon strong mount that allows me to place a bin underneath to catch the bullets.

Adam
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h165/aneat/Lead/Image022.jpg

[johnho]

Damn, why didn't I think of that strong mount:(

[BD]

There are two adjustments which control the lube delivered on a star. The first is the handle on top which compresses a spring against the lube column to add pressure. The second is the horizontal bolt, with a locking nut , that the handle linkage acts upon. This bolt determines the stroke of the pump, or to put it another way, the volume of lube delivered per stroke of the handle. With a little fiddlin' around you can balance these two things relative to the lube you're using to fill the groove(s) without streaking excess lube on the bullet nose. You need to play with it a little at first, then if you stay with the same lube it becomes second nature to keep it adjusted.
BD

[Springfield]

I have all 3 of my Stars mounted up higher with Dillon Strong mounts. You can sorta see my 550 and my RCBS single stage, plus the 2 MEC shotgunloaders behind the Stars. Only the center Star has the bullet feeder. The one on the left is full of SPG for the long range bullets of my customers and the one on the right is sorta a spare. Got a good deal on it and couldn't turn it down. Mostly use it for my 45-70 bullets, I don't use SPG for myself. Got a pile of bullets ready to go into the feed tubes on the right. Don't have a lotta room since I split the garage in half to make a play room for the 2 kids. http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c262/mwhyte123/IMG00009.jpg

[454PB]

You have some work ahead of you. That's quite a pile of boolits under your Promelt.....

[Springfield]

That's why I have a bullet feeder. And that was only 2 hours work, ya shoulda seen the pile I made last week, cast for 4.5 hours straight. Don't usually like to cast that much at once, kinda hard on the back and arms, but I had a bit of catching up to do. I needed 3 thou for someone else and 2 for me. Loaded all mine up already, set for a few months of BP Cowboy shooting now.

[johnho]

Springfield,
From what some others said it didn't seem that the bullet feeder was THAT good. roughly how many did you do in that time?

John

[GSM]

BD:

Thanks for the information - confirms what I had thought earlier about the horizontal bolt.

[LAH]

John I use a bullet feed for most handgun bullets. The 250 gr. bullets can usally be placed in tubes holding 'bout 30 bullets without straining the return spring.

Why use the bullet feed? I like to catch the bullet in my hand as they fall from the die. I let them roll in my palm, confirming the lube groove is filled completely. I did this mostly because I sold bullets and the customer want the grooves completely filled. It's also nice to catch any air in lube problem the moment it happens so you don't end up with a bunch of "creaming" looking bullets. HEE HEE

[Springfield]

I love my bullet feeder. I like to inspect the bullets as they go into the tubes, then when I size
I can just relax for the most part and just crank them out. May not be THAT much faster but it works better for me. Also keeps my hand out of the way of the punch so I can go faster safer. I do thousands of bullets a month so every little bit helps.

[ron brooks]

Springfield,

So did you make the bullet feed or did you buy it. More information please.

Ron

[Springfield]

I bought it from Magma. If I had a LOT of spare time I could have made it, but it wasn't worth it, make more working.

[Beans]

Damn, why didn't I think of that strong mount

Never cross my mind either great idea :coffee:

[cbrick]

ANeat, an iron, to slick for words. Ive tried several things but never saw that before. I use a mini 40W spot light type bulb that clips on the side of the machine. It was $10.00 at home depot, far better than what they get for lube heaters.

For the shot removal I use a battery operated drill running very slow like the directions say. It takes 10 or 15 seconds per hole to remove each piece of shot. Its the simplest, quickest way I've found.

Rick