The .223/556 SUPER STAR CONVERSION Kit by Mike Dillon

[.50bmg]

Thought i'd share my converted .223 / 556 STAR Universal with all you Star / Dillon fans out there.
Dillon only made about 100 of these conversion kits in the early 80s prior to manufacturing any reloading machines. Cool part of Dillon history.
Any other kit owners out there? If so please share some pics.
.50

147377147372

[Alvarez Kelly]

I saw a complete Dillon Super Star kit for sale on eBay a few months back. I wanted it... but not nearly as bad as the one who ultimately bought it. Now I have seen two of them.

Congrats!

[LUBEDUDE]

That one sure looks good as new!

Thanks for sharing 50 BMG.

[osteodoc08]

That's pretty sweet. Thanks for posting.

Out of curiosity, how well does it run and what is the production capacity per hour?

[wv109323]

That was Mike Dillons start into the reloading equipment business. He visited the Star factory several times and the relationship ended with Star banning him from the facility. Some of the problems with the .223 system was powder capacity and bridging of powder in the powder funnel.
The Star powder slides were 1/4" thick (for the .38 Spec.), then 3/8" for the progressive, then 1/2" for large pistol and the .223.
I think 100 units explains it's success.

[ReloaderFred]

Mike Dillon didn't get along with a lot of people in the industry, which is one of the reasons he went factory direct with sales of his machines. A neighbor of mine used to do plating for him when he owned his plating business in Phoenix. He says Dillon was a hard person to do business with, and he ultimately told him to take his business elsewhere, and to not contact him again.....

Hope this helps.

Fred

[seagiant]

Hi,
Now we know where the idea for the Dillion RL-1000 came from!

I still consider the Star Progressive the best reloader ever made!

[cajun shooter]

The Star reloader is and was the best progressive press ever built. I was taught to use one in the mid 70's by the owner of the gun store where I was employed . It's a shame that it is no longer offered for sale and the same goes for the other Star products.
They have a forum that is for all of the Star reloaders to talk with others on this subject.
A gentleman by the name of Dick Harris is there and a fine person to talk with. Later David

[rbwillnj]

I too have a Star Super Star kit. It took me years to put together a complete kit with parts coming from at least five different sources. It works well with powders that meter well like H335 and some of the VV powders, but forget using anything like Varget.

For the record, I am the current owner of Star Machine Works and I have most parts for Star reloaders in stock. I'm working to fill in the inventory gaps as quickly as possible. While I am not producing any new Star Universals or Progressives at this time, I do rebuild and resell existing ones, and rebuild customer machines as well. If you Google Star Machine Works you will find me.

Bruce Williams

[Pressman]

Bruce, are you making any progress on getting the inlines cleaned and operational?

Ken

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

Bruce refurbed a machine for me and his work is top notch. Good, honest person to deal with. If you want a Star he will take care of you!

[rbwillnj]

Ken, I have finished refurbishing one of the inlines but I haven't had a chance to take pictures. It required parts from both machines plus some parts from the Star acquisition to complete the reloader. Even so, I'm still missing a couple of parts (slide, chain, counter weight) for the primer assembly. Next time I set up the camera I'll take some pictures. I'll post them on the Star Reloaders Forum and ARTCA forum as well. I still want to do a video since pictures don't really explain how the inline operates. Too many projects, too little time.


Bruce Williams



Bruce, are you making any progress on getting the inlines cleaned and operational?

Ken

[LUBEDUDE]

I would Love to see a Star Inline in action.