More old loading tools

[abunaitoo]

Three more old tools I got helping clean out a house.

First is what I think is a Star progressive press with an extra head.
Label is unreadable, but it looks like a Star.
Not sure what caliber they are.
The guy made a case feeder for it.

Second is a Star lube sizer.
This one has a readable label.
Again not idea what caliber.
Couldn't find any other sizer die sets.

Third is a Potters hardness tester.
This one I need some help with.
It looks like the weight is home made.
Anyone know what the weight is suppose to weigh????

155517155518155520155521
155523155524155525155526
155527

[abunaitoo]

Forgot to add pictures of the extra tool head.
155529155530

[Iowa Fox]

Holy Smokes!! What a nice find.

[abunaitoo]

I found this on the web.
http://www.potterreloading.com/LEAD_HARDNESS_TESTER.html
Instructions for the Potter hardness tester

[jsizemore]

Press looks to be a Star Universal. There's a sizing die on the front and a seating/crimp on the back. They'll be stamped on the body as to what they reload.

Website devoted to Star equipment and their clones:

www.starreloaders.com

[abunaitoo]

Is the Star a auto progressive, or you have to manually turn it?????

[jsizemore]

Manual.

[S. Galbraith]

I came across some old Stars at a flea market years ago, but they were in bad condition. Those appear to be in much better shape. Good find.

[abunaitoo]

Thanks guys.
Sometimes even I have good things happen.

[abunaitoo]

After reading some about the Star, am I correct that it only reloads .38 and .357????

[fng]

You have a Star Universal, indicated by the #79U She'll Plate Locating Straps. The Progressive only loads .38/.357, see here http://www.starreloaders.com/faqs/faqs.html#How-to-id-a-Universal
You have the Hulme case feeder and Freeloader case feeder
Congrats.

[seagiant]

Hi,
Those particular Stars were made to reload for Police Deptartments in the 40/50/60s when everyone shot S&W Revolvers!

They usually had one machine to reload for the whole dept. year after year after year.........

[Green Frog]

Just as a FYI, a gentleman named Bruce Williams has bought the remaining stock and intellectual properties for the Star reloading tools. He is not selling any new units at this time (AFAIK) but seems to have or be able to make just about any part for them and will recondition old ones as well as providing parts. I second jsizemore's suggestion that you go to

www.starreloaders.com (http://www.starreloaders.com/)

since they are dedicated to the Star brand. They aren't a real active board these days but I've gotten answers to my questions there pretty quickly and the archives are worth searching if you are interested in anything having to do with the Star family of reloading tools. BTW, one of my current goals is to find a luber/sizer like yours... I only have a Star Progressive (38 Spl only) while yours is the much more desirable Universal. With that spare head, you are well on the way to having a multi-caliber set up that would be a real treasure and useful as well. There are a couple of folks making the sizing dies and punches you would need to make your sizer work with whatever caliber you need.

Regards,
Froggie

[jsizemore]

The difference in case length between 357 and 38 is about 1/8". Plenty of adjustment to load both.

Bruce Williams and the membership at starreloaders is great help. Bruce is also a member here. You may need to get an adjustable powder slide if you intend to load 38 and 357 on the same setup. I invested in a powder drain from Maurice Lewis for the end of loading sessions. Sure beats pumping the handle to clear the powder hopper.

[flashhole]

Nice score, it would be great to see what they look like cleaned up.

[Preacher Jim]

I have been using a potter for 45 years great bhn will weigh the weight and post back. Yourso has a replacement screw

[abunaitoo]

I found some parts that I think are for the Star press.
The parts in the boxes are sizer dies. 156167

[ReloaderFred]

The majority of those are powder slides for the Star press, plus a die puller for a Star lubrisizer, a couple of rocker arms for the sizer, and probably bullet sizing dies in the boxes.

You've made quite a haul there!

Fred

[TNsailorman]

Congratulations! Great find. Some guys could fall into a hog wallow filled with pig manure and come out carrying a 10 lb. gold nugget. They should look even better when you get them cleaned up and running.

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

Cool!!!! Hang on to that Star. Bruce does a great job refurbishing them and getting you hooked up with extra parts that you may need.

By the way, there are indexers out there that advance the shellplate automatically. There are also bullet feeders. These presses can be set with autodrives to be fully automatic. Too cool!!!!! Enjoy that press!