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snowwolfe
11-02-2007, 12:57 AM
Ok, time for resizer 101!

I am seriously considering purchasing a star sizer with a heater because I am a equipment junkie and would probably end up buying it down the road anyhow.

Once I purchase the sizer I know I need a die (.500).

What other parts will I need to purchase to complete the package to size bullets to .500?

NuJudge
11-02-2007, 04:39 AM
A Star Bullet Punch for .50 caliber. The bullet punch will always be a bit smaller than the bullet diameter. The bullet punches Magma has sent me are flat faced, but someone here got me to thinking that a concave center would be good on these things if one is gas checking bullets, such that a protruding sprue will not result in a cocked gas check.

I've bought several machines used, and to change calibers all I changed was the size die and the bullet punch. For the punch see over on the right-hand side at the top:
http://www.magmaengineering.com/item.php?id=24

Magma also has an on-line manual for the lube machines at the same page (Left side about 2 inches down from the top).

CDD

johnho
11-02-2007, 11:19 AM
Since you're in a spending mood get the air cylinder too. I soon got fed up with turning the handle and the air feed is very very nice. All you need to run it is a small compressed air tank available from Home Depot and a cheap air line available there too. Fill it up at the gas station. Don't forget the adapter to plug it in, get the quick disconnect.

Sundogg1911
11-02-2007, 11:40 AM
Snowwolfe,
You won't regret buying a Star. I have 3. I've used a Lyman 450 for years before getting a Star. Much faster! They do require a little more adjustment, and are a little less forgiving if you're out of adjustment, but once you have it dialed in, you'll have a pile of nicely sized and lubed bullets in no time. I would suggest getting the Star heater with the temp adjustment. I have one and also have one of the older ones from Midway that doesnt adjust, and the adjustment is a really nice feature to have. (Some of the commercial lubes require a Slightly higher or lower temp.) Good luck!

Springfield
11-02-2007, 12:02 PM
The best part of the air feed for me is I plugged the overflow hole and now I can fit in 50% more lube. Anything to save time.

snowwolfe
11-02-2007, 12:56 PM
Forgive me if my questions seem so basic.

The bullet punch is what will push the bullet down and seat the gas check?

When I finally get to cast other bullet calibers I will only need to purchase that size sizing die and the other punch?

I do plan on purchasing the Star heater as I may be forced to keep this in the garage. I am sure "air" would be nice but I do not think my volume I plan on sizing would warrant it.

Marshal Kane
11-02-2007, 05:56 PM
. . . I do plan on purchasing the Star heater as I may be forced to keep this in the garage.
Star is advocating that the bullets be sized nose first so their bullet punches are now flat on the end. One punch may fit several calibers of bullets. e.g. .44 caliber and above. The Star heater, if adjusted correctly, will not cause the bullet lube to smoke nor is it anymore dangerous or obnoxious than a hot iron left on an insulated pad.

If you want to keep your reloading equipment looking as new as possible, suggest not keeping the equipment in the garage. Most garages are vented which allows moisture to accumulate on anything that will corrode. IMHO, nothing is as sad as having hundreds of dollars invested in reloading equipment that exhibits a coat of rust from being left in the garage.

You will really like your Star. It is the fastest lubricater/sizer on the market for cast bullets.

snowwolfe
11-02-2007, 11:20 PM
Thanks, but most of the garages up here (including mine) are heated during the winter.

omgb
11-03-2007, 02:04 AM
When you request the punch from Magma, just ask them to dish the center for you. They will and it makes a difference when seating gas checks.

snowwolfe
11-03-2007, 02:11 AM
Thank you. That is a tip I never heard before

omgb
11-03-2007, 11:48 AM
Here's another tip, the Lyman heater base wroks as well as the Star and costs less than $50 the last time I checked.

snowwolfe
11-03-2007, 01:49 PM
Here's another tip, the Lyman heater base wroks as well as the Star and costs less than $50 the last time I checked.

Thank you. I like saving money. Is the Lyman heater adjustable like the Star?

sagamore-one
11-03-2007, 02:21 PM
Just to add my 2 cents worth. I have 7 stars, 5 regular, 2 tall boys and 4 base heaters. Go with an adjustable heater if at all possible. I intend to pass along 2 Lyman non adjustable heaters. They work as advertised ,but are not as flexible if you use more than one kind of lube or use in colder climates.
I do keep an RCBS sizer for gas checked rifle bullets... a little more robust in construction.

snowwolfe
11-03-2007, 02:31 PM
So the Lyman heater is not adjustable like the Star?

Seeing I will not be casting bullets under .375 caliber is the Star the best choice for me?
Once I am really into this I will be casting for mostly my S&W 500, 460, 458 Lott, 44 mag, and .375. All gas checked.

sagamore-one
11-03-2007, 03:01 PM
The two Lyman heaters I have are NOT adjustable. I am not sure if they are all like that, but I think they are.
If you don't try to reduce the diameter too much in one pass... you should be o-k with a Star. I broke a handle/crankshaft trying to over size some 44 cal long boolits. Ended up sizing in two steps. A friend did the same thing oversizing 250 gr 38 cal bullits.
My favorite heater is C&H. It has a knob for adjustment... The Star needs a screwdriver inserted into a little hole.

lathesmith
11-03-2007, 04:47 PM
snowwolfe,
What Sundogg said x2. The Star in my experience is MORE than twice as fast as a Lyman or RCBS. They are a little finicky to adjust but once dialed in you can crank out a pile of bullets in a hurry. For me, the four- to six- cavity molds and my Star sizers is what makes casting worthwhile! As others have stated, if you are sizing very hard and/or oversize bullets you may have to do two passes. I'm perfectly happy with the twist screw for lube pressure, but if you are a very large volume caster the air option is worth considering.
Depending on price differences in the various heaters, you might be able to make you a box with a dimmer switch to adjust the temperature with a non-adjustable heater. I hate paying fifty bucks extra for a three-or four-dollar part. A little creativity pays off!
lathesmith

omgb
11-03-2007, 08:00 PM
To answer your question, no, the Lyman isn't adjustable. However, I've never needed it to be. I use either SPG, a very soft lube for BP or LBT Blue, a medium soft lube for smokeless. In either case, I run the heater until the lube is soft and then unplug it. Not very high tech, but it works and it's cheap.

I size bullet from 30 cal up to 50 cal in my Star. I typically run a bullet at .460 and size to .459 or in some cases .458 without any problems. I did have a rough go trying to size a bullet from .360 to .356. That one was a no go. But, the bullets were water quenched and really really hard. The key is to be sure and hand coat a bullet with lube every few bullets to keep the die slick. Or, if you re going to do some serious down sizing (which is poor for accuracy I might add) spray the bullets with a spray sizing lube like Hornady makes first, then size and lube. It makes all the difference in the world.

Stars are every bit as tough and even tougher than the RCBS or the Lyman sizer. Anybody who says different is off-base in my book. I've broken both of the afore mentioned machines trying to lift a stuck bullet back up out of a die. I've never even made a Star whimper.

The Star is tricky to set up. Once you learn the technique, it is lightening fast and with nose first sizing, it never sizes out of round or off center. it also never needs multiple nose punches. The base punch that works for 30 cal will work for 32, 33 35 and 38 cal. It can be used for 45 too but not for seating GCs for obvious reasons.

Buy a Star and don't look back. I still have an RCBS but the bulk of my sizing is done on the Star.

Dale53
11-03-2007, 09:20 PM
lathesmith beat me to the punch with his tip about a box with a dimmer switch. That will work just fine and give you fine adjustment for the temperature that works best with your lube.

Dale53

ANeat
11-03-2007, 11:17 PM
Like to save money? Mount your star on a aluminum base and use a clothes iron for a heater, they have a thermostat. My aluminum was free and the iron was $5.00.

Like to spend money? Mount it on a strong mount..


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

snowwolfe
11-04-2007, 03:55 PM
All seemed well and good about purchasing the Star untill someone told me you can not resize round nose or spire point bullets with one..
Is there anyway around this?

Lloyd Smale
11-04-2007, 04:34 PM
whoever told you that didnt know what they were talking about.
All seemed well and good about purchasing the Star untill someone told me you can not resize round nose or spire point bullets with one..
Is there anyway around this?

omgb
11-04-2007, 05:11 PM
The person who told you that was wrong. If you think about, sizing nose first fixes all of those problems

snowwolfe
11-04-2007, 05:25 PM
When you operate the Star it pushes the bullets thru nose first. Does the next bullet push the first one through?

Dale53
11-04-2007, 06:13 PM
snowwolfe;
Gee, I wish someone had told me about this before I sized all of those tens of thousands of round nose bullets...

Totally incorrect. You can resize any shape bullet in the Star. The only limitation is maximum bullet length. The large BPCR bullets cannot be sized in one pass simply because they are too long (45/70 522 gr for instance).

I size all the bullets nose down in the Star so nose shape is immaterial.

Dale53

RANGER RICK
11-04-2007, 06:45 PM
snowwolfe;
Gee, I wish someone had told me about this before I sized all of those tens of thousands of round nose bullets...

Totally incorrect. You can resize any shape bullet in the Star. The only limitation is maximum bullet length. The large BPCR bullets cannot be sized in one pass simply because they are too long (45/70 522 gr for instance).

I size all the bullets nose down in the Star so nose shape is immaterial.

Dale53

You are correct , you can size a round nose or spire point if you want either one to have a flat spot on the nose .
Kind of takes the spire out of the spire point dosen't it ??

(nose shape is immaterial )

I own a star and it is useless trying to size a spire point with out it deforming the nose either nose first or base first .
My round nose bullets have a slight flat spot on the nose of them after I size them , no longer a complete round nose !!!
Can you instruct me how to do this and not deform the nose on either style of bullet ???
Although I have not sized tens of thousands of spire points I stopped after only a few were deformed .



RR

Nueces
11-04-2007, 06:51 PM
snowwolfe, the Star was originally used to size base first, with the company providing nose punches to fit boolit samples. Recently, folks have gone over to the flat punch and nose-first sizing. In both cases, bullets in the die are ejected by the next boolit, with consequent nose-to-base contact. Fragile nose shapes can be flattened some.

If this is a problem, some have overcome it by ejecting sized boolits with a cull boolit before inserting the next slug - does slow you some. Or, an aluminum or brass pin may be used. It can be cut to such a length that the boolit is ejected without activating the lube pump.

Flat-nose slugs can be pushed through without worries.

HTH, Mark

omgb
11-04-2007, 07:32 PM
I'll be honest with you, I only size flat nose bullets so I've never had an issue with it. Well, wait a minute. I do size round nose bullets for the 45-70 from time to time and for the 45 ACP. I've never had a problem with nose deformation. I'm not saying it won't, I'm just saying that I haven't had a problem with it.

As to long bullets, well, I shoot a 560 grain LFN I bought from LBT and it lubes ans sizes it in one pass without trouble. I also shoot the 45 cal Lyman Postel at 520 grains and it goes through without issue.

So I don't know what to tell you other than it all works for me.

Springfield
11-04-2007, 08:11 PM
I sized some 45-70 520 grain bullets with 4 lube grooves just fine. Never had a problem with round nose bullets either, like some 45-70's and some 38's I just did. And my lead is pretty soft for BP.

lathesmith
11-04-2007, 08:34 PM
A lot depends too on how much you are sizing your boolits. If you are forcing, say, .456 as cast slugs thru a .452 sizer, you are going to be exerting a lot of force to do this; this and boolit hardness could contribute to some deformation of more pointed shapes. However, for nearly all of my cast slug shooting, the sizer is actually sizing very little; it just trues up the slug a minute amount and applies the lube. I hate having to apply lots of force during sizing, it is really tiring and slows me down too. It just all depends on what your needs and expectations are...as always, your mileage may vary.
lathesmith

Dale53
11-05-2007, 01:21 AM
I must confess that I have not sized spire point bullets in the STAR. My statement refers to round nose bullets. That has NOT been a problem. I do USE spire point bullets in my Schuetzen rifle but they are shot as cast.

Dale53

garandsrus
11-05-2007, 02:10 PM
I size spire points all the time with a STAR without deforming the nose. The boolit is a .30 cal. I size/lube one and then use a thinner boolit (6.5mm) dropped into the sizing die to push out the one that just got sized. Since this is a thinner boolit, it slides right out with the one that just got sized when pushed through. The lube pump never gets triggered.

It doesn't really slow the process down much and I still prefer it to using a RBCS/Lyman sizer.

I haven't had any issues sizing RN boolits getting deformed by the previous boolit.

John

RANGER RICK
11-05-2007, 11:47 PM
I have two DIA of spire point that I have tried in my star . Those bullets are now sized in my RCBS Lam 2 .
The smaller bullet is a 400 Grain .500 Dia bullet . Cast size is .504 sized to .500 and gas checked .
The other taller bullet is a 500 Grain .458 Dia . Cast size .460 sized to .458
There is a bit of pressure applied to the bullet when sizing thus deformed noses .
No biggie I have many sizers to use .
I bought the star for increased speed not to use spacers or smaller bullets to push the other bullet out , that is just insane .

For the round noses I did get small flat spots on the bullets while sizing with the star .
No big problem for me or most casters that use their own product except when a customer orders a round nose bullet that is what he or she wants !!! Not a round nose with a flat spot on it .
Customer gets what the customer wants plus repeat customers is what you want so a round nose is a round nose and a spire point is a spire point .

RR

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/RANGERRICKQUIGLEY/BULLETPICTURESE-BAY006.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/RANGERRICKQUIGLEY/BULLETPICTURESE-BAY005.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/RANGERRICKQUIGLEY/KODIAKBEARHUNT096-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/RANGERRICKQUIGLEY/loaded500blanks022.jpg

BD
11-06-2007, 02:25 PM
I keep a couple of short pieces of hardwood dowel in holes drilled in the table top next to the star. They are cut to the correct length so that if I hold one under the ram while lowering the handle the boolit is pushed out of the die without me losing my grip on the dowel. I hold it under my pinkie while picking up the next boolit. I size the pointy nosed boolits one at a time and push them through with the appropriate sized dowel so as not to blunt the tip. This does slow down the process some, making it only about twice as fast as a Lyman or Saeco.
BD

Sundogg1911
11-06-2007, 02:46 PM
Snowwolfe, I resize round nose bullets all the time with mine. My only spire points get sized with a Lyman 450 because I don't do many rifle, and I already had the sizing dies and top punches with the Lyman

shotstring
11-06-2007, 06:10 PM
Nice looking boolits Ranger Rick. Wouldn't even look out of place sitting in one of the old Minute-man ICBM silos.

RANGER RICK
11-06-2007, 10:40 PM
Nice looking boolits Ranger Rick. Wouldn't even look out of place sitting in one of the old Minute-man ICBM silos.


shotstring
Well maybe but this one surpasses the previous two bullets .
This is a 975 Grain 512 DIA.
This is a 50 BMG and a 50-140 loaded with the 975 the little one is a 500 magnum with the 400 Spire Point . True Minute-man .

RR

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/RANGERRICKQUIGLEY/loaded500blanks018.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/RANGERRICKQUIGLEY/BULLETPICTURESE-BAY031.jpg

shotstring
11-07-2007, 05:04 AM
Ranger, I would love to have a mold that puts out boolits like the ones in your very first picture but in 30 cal, but it appears that no one makes one. :(

FrontSite
10-11-2018, 10:52 AM
snowwolfe,
What Sundogg said x2. The Star in my experience is MORE than twice as fast as a Lyman or RCBS. They are a little finicky to adjust but once dialed in you can crank out a pile of bullets in a hurry. For me, the four- to six- cavity molds and my Star sizers is what makes casting worthwhile! As others have stated, if you are sizing very hard and/or oversize bullets you may have to do two passes. I'm perfectly happy with the twist screw for lube pressure, but if you are a very large volume caster the air option is worth considering.
Depending on price differences in the various heaters, you might be able to make you a box with a dimmer switch to adjust the temperature with a non-adjustable heater. I hate paying fifty bucks extra for a three-or four-dollar part. A little creativity pays off!
lathesmith

Lathesmith, Here is what I found on the internet that works good and is reasonably priced. Found it on Ebay, the thermocouple comes with it,
110V 1 Relay Digital Fahrenheit Thermostat Temperature Controller. I currently use one to control the heater for my lyman. had a little learning curve but that was short.

Ebay Seller ECCOBOX from Walton, KY
Measure range: -4°F~+220°F
Slew range of temperature control: 1°F-25°F(max temp span between cut in and cut off)
For DIY incubation, aquarium, sous vide, etc.
Power supply: 110V AC, 50/60Hz
Power consumption: less than 3W
Relay contact capacity: Cool(10A/250VAC);Heat(10A/250VAC)

/www.ebay.com/itm/10A-110V-Digital-Temperature-Controller-Temp-Sensor-Thermostat-Control-Relay-US/141731449329?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.S EED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131017132637%26meid%3Df7833 625f6ff4b32a494ab9681289d54%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3D 3%26rkt%3D8%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D253341794337%26itm %3D141731449329&_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042

Works for me really well once you figure the temp you need, plus you can adjust for different temp lubes, from very little to runny hot, you should find a temp between -4 and 212 degrees that works, mine is set for 110 with +or- 2 degrees.

kavemankel
12-15-2019, 06:56 PM
is the bullet feeder worth the investment for a star sizer. don't know much about the feeders.
does it work with multiple calibers.

kavemankel
12-15-2019, 06:58 PM
by the way ANeat,
that is an awesome ideal I have plenty of acrobins for just that.