Who has the secret?

[cabezaverde]

To lube sizing real round nosed bullets - like 45 ball profile - in a Star without making a mess?

Care to share it? I am starting to think this is the subconscious reason I kept my Saeco sizer.

[rodsvet]

No secret really. If your getting a mess, then it's too much heat, too much pressure, bullet punch to deep or not deep enough, wrong holes plugged or not plugged enough, wrong die diameter, or boolits too small for die. If all those things are checked and correct then you boolits should drop out without much extra lube on them. No matter how well you adjust those things, occasionally you will get a little lube on the nose or up under the base. Take your time, play with it. Have a beer and relax. It really is super when it all comes together. Good luck!! Rod

[cabezaverde]

I am concerned it could be my mold. The boolits measure .454" at the base, but .445" just ahead of the lube groove.

[rodsvet]

BINGO!! You have found the problem. I have an RCBS 225 RN mold that does that. I went with a 200 SWC from Saeco for my .45 and it works real well. The RCBS can be used but sized on my lubematic or I have the same leakage you have experienced. Good luck, Rod

[ReloaderFred]

I have a Lyman 225 RN .45 mold that does the same thing. It now sits unused on the shelf, since I replaced it with a mold that actually casts the right diameter bullets.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[cabezaverde]

I have both those molds and they are the trouble makers. Unfortunately, my son's 1911 only lkes to feed RN's.

[dragonrider]

I am concerned it could be my mold. The boolits measure .454" at the base, but .445" just ahead of the lube groove.

That's it, those pesky rings do have to be larger than the mold to start with.

[btroj]

If we told then it wouldn't be a secret, would it?

The bullet must be able to seal of the lube when it is injected into the groove. The small area above the groove is failing to give this seal and that is allowing the lube to get into places it doesn't belong.

Time for a different mould. You may, and this is not guaranteed to work either, be able to use a stiff lue with minimal heat and hope it flows slowly enough that it goes only where you want it. Tis is going to require a very careful balance between heat, pressure, and lube makeup.

[Dan Cash]

To lube sizing real round nosed bullets - like 45 ball profile - in a Star without making a mess?

Care to share it? I am starting to think this is the subconscious reason I kept my Saeco sizer.

Pan lube and load. Size only if as cast size is too large to chamber reliably.

[runfiverun]

you could try modifying the mold by lapping that area untill it takes the lube.
it would most likely help accuracy too.

[MT Chambers]

For the STAR to work good you will have to lower heat and pressure for those tapered RNs, if you're still not happy use a LYMAN or RCBS luber.

[Frozone]

You could always have it Fixed (http://www.hollowpointmold.com/band-modifications/)

[cabezaverde]

I did them on my Saeco with good results and no hassle. Using the Saeco just makes me appreciate my Stars even more.

[Salmon-boy]

Um.. Hello! "bullet punch to deep or not deep enough, wrong holes plugged or not plugged enough"

Let's look at this rationally.. I've got a GvmtProfile group buy and a MiHec 200gn Hp running though the same .452 die with the center holes plugged. On both, I get a 4 point star of lube with a full lube groove..

Works for me.. I suppose I could adjust a bit better..

[6bg6ga]

I am concerned it could be my mold. The boolits measure .454" at the base, but .445" just ahead of the lube groove.

I have the same measurements that you have. The first go around setting it up had me trying to pull what little hair I had left out. After a lot of playing with the depth I finally took a rational look at it and simply removed the die and inserted an already sized bullet into it until I could stick a drill bit into both the die lube hole and the bullet lube groove. This should be considered to be perfect alignment. I re-installed the die and I raised the punch up so that I wasn't in danger of touching the bullet when I lowered the ram and put the ram in its lowest position and held it there. At the same time I simply adjusted the punch until it touched the bullet and locked it down. It then sized and lubed correctly without any lube on the nose of the bullet or any other place.

[bobthenailer]

I also have the RCBS 45 225gr bullet ! no problems with using the star sizer @ 0.452 dia .
lube temp ,pressure , proper hole choice in sizer die , make sure the plugged holes in sizer die arent leaking ?
one or all recomendations should fix your problem.

[rockrat]

Send the mould back to RCBS, maybe they will replace it with a good one

[A pause for the COZ]

Glad to see it was not just me. I have the Lyman 452374 and it took me a while to figure it out. Right depth, right heat, Right pressure.
Took some tinkering to get it kinda right. Hope the 2nd time goes smoother.

[cabezaverde]

I only load these in small quantities. Found it easier to just run them in my Saeco. Thanks for all the input.

[bslim]

I had the same problem with my RCBS mold. The diameter of the bullet is smaller after the lube groove and will not seal no matter how you set the top punch. You can get it close if you cool the melt and drop the pressure. Solved the problem by ordering a mold form Accurate Molds and I haven't looked back since.

[Rolling Stone]

I have the same measurements that you have. The first go around setting it up had me trying to pull what little hair I had left out. After a lot of playing with the depth I finally took a rational look at it and simply removed the die and inserted an already sized bullet into it until I could stick a drill bit into both the die lube hole and the bullet lube groove. This should be considered to be perfect alignment. I re-installed the die and I raised the punch up so that I wasn't in danger of touching the bullet when I lowered the ram and put the ram in its lowest position and held it there. At the same time I simply adjusted the punch until it touched the bullet and locked it down. It then sized and lubed correctly without any lube on the nose of the bullet or any other place.
That is the logical way to do it. I do about the same thing but with the sizing die out of the machine, on the bench where you can see the holes and measure from either the top or the bottom of the die. My orig Star dies have stepped holes with the small diameter being smaller than the smallest drill in my number index. I have to use a piece of very small wire from a bread tie to go through the hole. My luber needs to be 82 degrees at the die (laser thermometer) to flow just right. Warm bullets also help. My last time using TC bullets from a Lee mold, I decided to run them base first. This was to get the bullets centered in the die better than running nose first as they are hard to get concentric when there is so much space to the major dia of the bullet. I still used the flat punch.
RS

[A pause for the COZ]

I obviously have not figured out the secret yet. I am going to be real disappointed if I can not lube these bullets on the star.
I just added a hard lube and a heater. man I dinked around for 4 hours to get 50 lubed.
Up, down, Hot, cold, More pressure, Less pressure.

I think I will try some 38's next to figure out the proper pressure and heat. Then come back to these.
Some times you just have to stop and get some coffee.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d66/Kelly2215/100_8757_zpsf94b0ced.jpg

[mktacop]

I am concerned it could be my mold. The boolits measure .454" at the base, but .445" just ahead of the lube groove.


I obviously have not figured out the secret yet. I am going to be real disappointed if I can not lube these bullets on the star.
I just added a hard lube and a heater. man I dinked around for 4 hours to get 50 lubed.
Up, down, Hot, cold, More pressure, Less pressure.

I think I will try some 38's next to figure out the proper pressure and heat. Then come back to these.
Some times you just have to stop and get some coffee.


Looks like a Lyman 452374 mold....I had the SAME problem.

What lube, temp, pressure are you using?

What I did was turn the pressure down to 40psi, and turned the heat down to where the lube would just BARELY flow and start to fill the grooves. Then I turned the heat up 2 degrees (I have a PID control on my heater), let the temp stabilize, and tried lubing a few. Once I got the heat right, the combination of low pressure and the "correct" temp allowed me to lube that bullet with minimal issues. I eventually sold that mold though....

Hope this helps!

[A pause for the COZ]

I dont have a particular temp or pressure yet. I was all over the board searching for the right combo. Same thing happened with 50/50 lube but after a while I did hit upon a usefull combo that allowed lubing with out too much goooo.

The reason for the hard lube and heat now is to try to get this bullet too feed through my Hornady bullet feed die. Soft lube was just gumming up the works.
I will play a little more before giving up.

[mktacop]

I dont have a particular temp or pressure yet. I was all over the board searching for the right combo. Same thing happened with 50/50 lube but after a while I did hit upon a usefull combo that allowed lubing with out too much goooo.

I will play a little more before giving up.

What I would recommend....this will take some time, but should get you where you want to be

Turn the heat down low
Remove the sizing die
set air pressure at 40 psi
watch the hole where the lube comes out,
slowly adjust the pressure up to 60 psi, if no lube starts to ooze out start increasing the temp a few degrees at a time (but let it stabilize between temp changes)
when lube starts to barely ooze out, replace the sizing die
try sizing and lubing a few bullets, if you are getting good results, GREAT, if not, increase the temp a few more degrees and repeat

You could also try some different bullets if you have them and see if they are getting lubed the way they should be