Star learning curve

[kooz]

Got my Star today. After figuring out the punch depth, I thought I would be cranking them out but I can see that this is going to take a little bit of dialing in. I first tried some 230gr LEE TC .45s, and it seems as though the Star doesn't like the shallow lube grooves as I keep blowing lube toward the front of the bullet, but I will keep trying tomorrow. The Keith 255swc was a different story and I had no problem with these and they filled out well with no mess until I started experimenting with the heater, big mistake I had a mess in no time. I am using LARS BAC and I guess it doesn't need heat. Well anyhow are there any of you guys using the Star with the LEE 230gr TC .45 ? if soo can you offer some advice ? thanks

[mtgrs737]

Looz,

I lube those with BAC in my Star. I have found that when I used the manual lube pressure screw with the spring that the spring pressure would continue to push lube through the die holes when the next boolit pushed the previous boolit out the bottom. The boolit that follows the first will get small bits of lube on the nose just before the first driving band when this happens. This problem went away when I turned the lube heater down and I installed the air cylinder lube feeder instead of the manual hand screw and spring. I don't think that you have to have the air cylinder but it does even out the pressure of the lube going to (or around) the injector plunger. I use a heater with my Star because it just seems to help the BAC flow smoother and the lube groove fills better, but you do need to watch how much heat you use, about body temp is what I use in my cool basement.

[Ken]

Make sure the lube holes in the die match the lube grooves on the bullet. I'm not familiar with the bullet you are lubing but if it has one lube groove, you don't want the die to feed lube for two lube grooves. You can block a set of lube holes in the die with a #7 shot.
Hope this makes sense, if it doesn't. PM me your phone number and we can talk.

[kooz]

Thanks for the replies and advice, I am going to give it another stab tomorrow and I'll post my progress.

[garandsrus]

kooz,

As was mentioned, you need to find the balance of heat and pressure... Lars BAC does require some heat in a STAR at around 65 degrees. I use a hair dryer for two or three minutes. If the press gets "stiff" when the lube pump is activated, I give it another shot of heat.

The small amount of lube on the front of the boolit can normally be eliminated by reducing the spring pressure a turn or two. Keep in mind that with the Star, you can lube 50+ boolits, depending on the lube capacity of the boolit, without touching the spring. Also, the spring doesn't need to be fully compressed. It's very different than the RCBS/Lyman where you need to torque the handle every couple boolits and have pressure on the handle.

John

[Cherokee]

It is sometimes a challenge to get the tension correct to avoid the lube "spots". Also check to see how the lube holes line up for the Lee 45 TC as mine works fine, but only one row of holes are open in my die.

[lathesmith]

I also use the Lee 230 TC boolit in my Star, but I use 50/50 Alox/Beeswax. Like others have said, it will work, but it takes the right combo of temp/pressure to make it happen. The Star is a little less forgiving of shallow groove boolits vs. deeper groove ones. And, as garandsrus noted, when things are in sync you can crank out 40-50 slugs + without touching the pressure.
lathesmith

[Dale53]

lathesmith;
How big is the meplat on the Lee 230 Truncated Cone bullet?

Dale53

[dmftoy1]

I think you've nailed it with "learning curve". I thought I finally had it nailed with my last batch of .45 ACP bullets which lubed up perfectly and then started trying to work through some .45-70 bullets and had all kinds of problems. (Same settings, same lube) Finally worked out that the .45-70's were casting out just a little big smaller than I expected (.001) and the .459 die I was using was just not "tight" enough to lube them . . . :)

[targetshootr]

When I get lube on the top or bottom of boolits I usually adjust the punch up or down, assuming the right die holes are plugged.

And I also use a hair dryer to get it up to temp when I'm in a hurry, otherwise I let the plate warm it up for 15 minutes. The last time I sized 41 cal, the die left a long scratches on the boolits which I think means one of the plugs has moved out of the hole.

[kooz]

Well I got er dialed in, thanks for all the replies and advice. Turnes out it was a combination of many things, to much pressure, to much heat and the punch needed to be adjusted about .030 . Going real well now, got over 1000 bullets lubed in only 2 beers. Thanks again