first time lube sizer purchace

[twally]

I want to buy a lube sizer but really dont know the first thing about the machines, just wanted to get some suggestions before I bought something and was disappointed not knowing all the ins and outs.

[bobthenailer]

Your question depends on how much time you have , how much you shoot and your finaces .
If just getting into casting ? just buy the lee push through sizer that fits your reloading press. for now to see if you like casting bullets !
If you like casting bullets and shoot less than 400 a month a RCBS or Lyman will do
If you shoot like me about 1000 + a month, I would get a Star/Magnma L/S .

[Roundnoser]

+1 for what bobthenailer said. It comes down to your individual needs. Shoot a little..go with the RCBS / Lyman, etc. If you shoot / cast alot...a Star/ Magma, Ballisti-cast, etc.

The other angle is cost. RCBS and Lymans are moderately priced. The Stars (especially new ones) will be an investment.

[Horace]

What calibers will you be casting for?

Horace

[dragonrider]

I agree with the above who say Star, but not with getting a Lyman or RCBS if you shoot less than "x" amount a month. How much you shoot does not matter. The easiest machine to use is the Star, weather you want to size and lube 5 or 500 at a time the Star is clearly the best for the job.

[Moonie]

I was going to go with a star even though I don't really shoot enough to justify it, just wanted a nice machine. However they have increased the price to the point that the beefier BalistiCast machine is just a tad more. I'll be getting a fully loaded Mark VI, as you can actually get it fully loaded cheaper than the fully loaded Star. Price of admission however is rather high. I've been using Lee sizers for over 20 years, figure it's time to move to an actual lubrisizer.

[btroj]

I consider the Star a better high volume pistol bullet sizer, I prefer the Lyman for much of my rifle shooting. I like the ease with which the Lyman can gut lube in many grooves, the Star doesn't seem to do as well. I could buy multiple size dies for the Star and solve this but I still think a Lyman is a better way to go for rifle shooting.

[twally]

Horace, I will be sizing .357 mag and .40 s&w. and someday mess with rifle boolits.

[MtGun44]

Star is wonderful, I have two, but not really for the guy with a number of different
boolit sizes in the same diam, or for short runs. Setup time is a good bit more fiddly
than Lyman or RCBS. The key point to understand is that the Star has to have the
holes in the die and the lube grooves aligned, so setting the stroke is critical, and diff
for a diff boolit in the same diam. Plus, if you have a different number of grooves you
need to either block some die holes with lead shot, or drill out lead shot that you put
in before. IMO, Stars are for QUANTITY production of the same boolit - very fast, very
good - ONCE THEY ARE SET UP. Setup can be time consuming unless you have a
die dedicated to each particular boolit # of grooves and careful notes as to stroke setting.

If you are going to load 100 or 300 of one and then switch to another boolit for 100 or
so, and then another, the RCBS or Lyman are much easier to set up. Plus Stars are
twice as expensive, dies cost 50% more (altho Lathesmith here makes superb dies
at good prices) and used Lyman and RCBS are readily available, Stars not so much.

I have two Lyman and a RCBS and two Stars. The Stars pretty much STAY set up for one
boolit and they are great for that in quantity. The Lyman and RCBS do all my "fiddling
and experimenting" loading. I'd recommend a RCBS, used.

Bill

[twally]

Star is wonderful, I have two, but not really for the guy with a number of different
boolit sizes in the same diam, or for short runs. Setup time is a good bit more fiddly
than Lyman or RCBS. The key point to understand is that the Star has to have the
holes in the die and the lube grooves aligned, so setting the stroke is critical, and diff
for a diff boolit in the same diam. Plus, if you have a different number of grooves you
need to either block some die holes with lead shot, or drill out lead shot that you put
in before. IMO, Stars are for QUANTITY production of the same boolit - very fast, very
good - ONCE THEY ARE SET UP. Setup can be time consuming unless you have a
die dedicated to each particular design and careful notes as to stroke setting.

If you are going to load 100 or 300 of one and then switch to another boolit for 100 or
so, and then another, the RCBS or Lyman are much easier to set up. Plus Stars are
twice as expensive, dies cost 50% more (altho Lathesmith here makes superb dies
at good prices) and used Lyman and RCBS are readily available, Stars not so much.

I have a Lyman and RCBS and two Stars. The Stars pretty much STAY set up for one
boolit and they are great for that in quantity. The Lyman and RCBS do all my "fiddling
and experimenting" loading.

Bill

Hi Bill,
I have been using a lee push through die and alox tumble lube in the past, also tried pan lube but it is a messy pain in the neck.
I just wanted to give a lube sizer a try, which of the 2, rcbs or Lyman would be the better of the two or is it a toss up.
Todd

[NPBullets]

Get a star and don't worry about upgrading in the future. The STAR is all you need!!! buy a new star for $300, use it a year and sell it for $350 on ebay if you don't like it!! it will sell! trust me on this one! you can't go wrong with a STAR!

[Rockchucker]

Get a star and don't worry about upgrading in the future. The STAR is all you need!!! buy a new star for $300, use it a year and sell it for $350 on ebay if you don't like it!! it will sell! trust me on this one! you can't go wrong with a STAR!

Ditto

[Springfield]

If you use a single stage press to load then get a Lyman/RCBS. I you use a progressive press get a Star, or maybe a Ballisti-cast. I have 3 Stars but no BC so I can't recommend one over the other right now, but I hope to solve that with the next Group Buy of BC's.

[Moonie]

I load multiple calibers on a progressive, this is the reason I'm going for the Ballisti-cast, the RCBS would be a good machine with a good warranty, with the QC issues Lyman has had with everything casting related I'd avoid them. Keep in mind, I don't have either.

[Lead Fred]

sure glad I only use 2 each 1 dollar cake pans form goodwill

[ballisti-cast]

We have a one year warranty on our machines. Covers everything up to taking a hammer and smashing it. I've had to send out very few replacement parts for machines that aren't 5+ years old and none as of yet for the Mark VI Lube Sizer.

[wallenba]

The Star does nearly everything the best, and fastest. If it has any disadvantages, it's that it can damage the meplat of those 'pointy' type rifle boolits because it relies on the next boolit to push the other out. If you have to size it down a lot, they can resist being pushed out causing that.
I found it had a higher learning curve when figuring out punch depth.
Still it's the best. Those 'pointy' types can be easily dealt with with cheaper Lee sizing dies when you need to, just use a piece of dowel to push them through the Lee. Doing that with the Star (using a dowel) will allow lube to flow out.

[Danderdude]

Twally, unless you're planning on shooting more than 2000 a year, get a pair of Lee push-throughs and either pan or tumble lube. The rest isn't worth the investment for low-volume.

If I had the machine shop, I could build a machine that's better than my RCBS, sure, but the problems with it are secondary and haven't impeded the function yet.