FISH4BUGS
11-09-2014, 09:03 PM
FINALLY, the Star Sizer is working. I cannot tell you the frustrations I went through trying to make the thing work. I finally sent it back to Magma and they rebuilt it. It was a factory defect, and they fixed it for nothing. I am not kidding when I say I struggled for YEARS with this. It was less frustrating to use jacketed or bought cast.
I thought I was doing something wrong......I'd spend hours on the phone with them trying to figure this out. We went back and forth many times and finally they said ship it back. So I did.
So during that time that it was gone back to Magma (knowing full well that no matter what was wrong with it, it would work when it came back), I cast some 4000+ H&G 51's with 5lbs WW to 1lb lino (supposedly the Lyman #2 alloy). Now that the Star is back and works like a charm, I sized and lubed those 4000+ bullets with Magma red, and set up the Dillon 550 for 38 Special. 8 lb. jug of W231 ready to go - a case of small pistol primers (it DOES help to buy in bulk) Yes, I know...231 is kind of smoky and a little dirty but a little goes a long way.
Man, if anyone in this Cast Boolit neighborhood ever had any doubt about buying a Star Sizer, throw those doubts out. Go buy it. It is what my Grampa used to call the "bee's knees". I was getting almost 1000 an hour lubed and sized boolits through the sizer. Even after struggling all that time with it, now that it works, it is beyond cool. My appendages all got pretty tired after a while.
So here's the plan: take an hour or two each night that I can over the next week or two, fire up the heater in the shed and load. Set up for all one caliber and all identical loads. Pretty much standard velocity 38's for practice, +P's for occasional zippy loads. The only slowdown will be adjusting the powder measure.
I'll load 10 and take test them in the back yard stump, and just make sure all is well. Then I am going to load 4000 or so 38's. That ought to last me for a while.
Next up? 223's. Plenty of components. Just need the time. If anyone has any suggestions as to how to get that, I am all ears.
I thought I was doing something wrong......I'd spend hours on the phone with them trying to figure this out. We went back and forth many times and finally they said ship it back. So I did.
So during that time that it was gone back to Magma (knowing full well that no matter what was wrong with it, it would work when it came back), I cast some 4000+ H&G 51's with 5lbs WW to 1lb lino (supposedly the Lyman #2 alloy). Now that the Star is back and works like a charm, I sized and lubed those 4000+ bullets with Magma red, and set up the Dillon 550 for 38 Special. 8 lb. jug of W231 ready to go - a case of small pistol primers (it DOES help to buy in bulk) Yes, I know...231 is kind of smoky and a little dirty but a little goes a long way.
Man, if anyone in this Cast Boolit neighborhood ever had any doubt about buying a Star Sizer, throw those doubts out. Go buy it. It is what my Grampa used to call the "bee's knees". I was getting almost 1000 an hour lubed and sized boolits through the sizer. Even after struggling all that time with it, now that it works, it is beyond cool. My appendages all got pretty tired after a while.
So here's the plan: take an hour or two each night that I can over the next week or two, fire up the heater in the shed and load. Set up for all one caliber and all identical loads. Pretty much standard velocity 38's for practice, +P's for occasional zippy loads. The only slowdown will be adjusting the powder measure.
I'll load 10 and take test them in the back yard stump, and just make sure all is well. Then I am going to load 4000 or so 38's. That ought to last me for a while.
Next up? 223's. Plenty of components. Just need the time. If anyone has any suggestions as to how to get that, I am all ears.