Now that Lathesmith and Magma are gone

[gnappi]

Prices on anything with Star on it are going up, up on Ebay. Not good.

[Rapier]

When the maker dies, the ready supply dries up, then the price of poker goes up. It is like clock work, watch LBT moulds and lubes. Glad I still have a case of Blue and Red.

[Humbo]

And now nobody makes dies for the Star sizers, or am I wrong?

[bosterr]

That's correct. Unless somebody shows up to start making them, us Star owners are left high and dry!

[Tatume]

The last time I talked to him Lathesmith was not dead, just retired. :-)

[fivegunner]

Is Vearl from LBT Dead???

[John Wayne]

Most machine shops can make the sizer die fast and not too expensive. If you're making a common size and they have a CNC lathe they can make 1 every 10 seconds or so. Have them make a few hundred and sell them.
JW

[Bill M]

Verl's shop burned down! They say he was uninsured?
I'm glad I have a supply of his great lube!

[Uncle Grinch]

If you are a non-Star user, i.e. Lyman Lubrisizer, then custom H&I dies can be had from ammohead.

[45DUDE]

Someone here last week or so said they could make Star dies.

[Humbo]

Maybe now that Magma gave up the ghost, someone else will start making them. There should definitively be a demand, there are many Stars and other machines that use Star dies around. Maybe Lathesmith will make a comeback? I have most of the dies that I need, but now and then I need custom dies, like right now. I need a .506" die for 505 Gibbs, and I could also use a few more.

[jdfoxinc]

Ammohead is making star dies.

[Humbo]

Ammohead is making star dies.

I'll shoot him a message, thanks.

[Sig]

The Perfesser used to be on here & sold blank dies for Star & H&I. Haven't seen him here for a while. Think he might be over on the artfulbullet. I bought a few blanks some years back from him. If the have access to a lathe, finishing them isn't hard at all.

[trooperdan]

Geez, I jut got a couple of old Star's that I'd like to have overhauled just to be certain they are good to go, guess I am out of luck eh? I'll just have to give them a try!

[floydboy]

Ammohead is making Star dies. I ordered a Star die, punch and punch nut with set screw from him yesterday. Says he can't harden them but with normal use should last a lifetime. I don't doubt this to be true. He seems very knowledgeable about what he's doing. After corresponding with him I expect a quality product.

Floyd

[thump_rrr]

Ammohead is making Star dies. I ordered a Star die, punch and punch nut with set screw from him yesterday. Says he can't harden them but with normal use should last a lifetime. I don't doubt this to be true. He seems very knowledgeable about what he's doing. After corresponding with him I expect a quality product.

Floyd

Let us know once you get it.
I may need 4 or 5.

[ammohead]

I am making "Star style" dies. As of yet they are unhardened, but I have a small forge being delivered Wed. In the meantime I have been experimenting. One experiment is with a .310" die that has a slightly undersize OD @ .7485" or .0015" under diameter that I will be selling. Experiment #2 is also for sale. It is a .327" die, punch, locknut and set screw. Both dies are hardened and tempered. Your guess is as good as mine as to HOW HARD they are but they are hard. You can't drill in them. Not very far anyway before you let the smoke out of your drill! Lol
PM me if you are interested in either of these, or a nonhardened diameter of your choice.
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/search.php?searchid=10543760

[ammohead]

I don't post very much anymore, but I have been hanging with the charter members of this tribe since 1999 when it was "Shooters". I am a retired maintenance machinist with a small shop in a icecold uninsulated metal shed. I am not a journeyman machinist and cannot hold NASA tolerances. I am just wading into the void that Magma and Lathesmith left and hope to do a good job filling orders for the dies you need. Buckshot used to make lyman and lee style dies and when he retired he gifted me much of his stock and tooling. But he never made Star dies so I am flying solo here.
I have no intentions of going commercial and in fact I fear this taking off too fast, more than I fear learning to heat treat.
So I am not going to post much about this, and will let "word of mouth" carry this forward. Please PM me if you have any questions.
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/search.php?searchid=10543760

[Tedly]

Retired prototype toolmaker that did machining in my uncles custom gun build shop. Posted here several time to no avail. Somebody send me a drawing , please.

[jdfoxinc]

Received my ammohead .224 star die. punch. and nut the other day. Very nice work.

[youngmman]

Is Vearl from LBT Dead???
No, Veral isn't dead but an accident destroyed most all his equipment so he is out of the mold business but does have some lube. He is 83 or 84.

Check out the LBT website he explaines it all there.

[M-Tecs]

Retired prototype toolmaker that did machining in my uncles custom gun build shop. Posted here several time to no avail. Somebody send me a drawing , please.

I will be producing heat treated honed and ground Star dies by June 15th (hopefully). For prints it's simple reverse engineering. The bore size and lub. holes can vary. There will be a learning curve for spring back allowance. The two size lub. holes will be the most time-consuming operation.

Currently I have two variable speed Bridgeport Series 1 mills. One has the shaper slotter head and the other has a cherrying head one the backside. For a lathe I have a Hardinge HLV-H . My heat oven is not wired in yet and in need proper size arbors/mandrels for my Sunnen 650 hone. My compressor is on the small side for sandblasting so I am picking up 80 gallon two Stage tomorrow. Not needed for star bushing I just purchased a surfacer grinder that has to be moved in the basement shop. They have to be vented into the dust collector.

Holding .0002" on the OD and ID won't be a problem.

Originally the star sizers were intended for higher volume usage thus the hardened materials.

Once operational I will be looking at other things like the Ultimate Cannelure Tool. https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?253027-Ultimate-Cannelure-Tool

[bosterr]

I will be producing heat treated honed and ground Star dies by June 15th (hopefully). For prints it's simple reverse engineering. The bore size and lub. holes can vary. There will be a learning curve for spring back allowance. The two size lub. holes will be the most time-consuming operation.

Currently I have two variable speed Bridgeport Series 1 mills. One has the shaper slotter head and the other has a cherrying head one the backside. For a lathe I have a Hardinge HLV-H . My heat oven is not wired in yet and in need proper size arbors/mandrels for my Sunnen 650 hone. My compressor is on the small side for sandblasting so I am picking up 80 gallon two Stage tomorrow. Not needed for star bushing I just purchased a surfacer grinder that has to be moved in the basement shop. They have to be vented into the dust collector.

Holding .0002" on the OD and ID won't be a problem.

Originally the star sizers were intended for higher volume usage thus the hardened materials.

Once operation I will be looking at things like the Ultimate Cannelure Tool. https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?253027-Ultimate-Cannelure-Tool

IMO the maker of dies need not worry about spring-back. I bought from Magma last November a .309 and a .285. Both shipped with a pure lead slug still loosely sticking inside each die. The .309 slug mic measured .3092. That's EXACTLY what bullets I measured that are literally cast, quenched and dried off (water quench) then sized within a half of a minute of dropping from the mold. The slug from the .285 die measured .2851. Spring-back (IMO) is the result of alloy used and the period of time a caster waits to size boolits after casting. Just lay in a supply of pure lead slugs to check for accurate bore size. Us Star owners would so much appreciate someone taking on the making of quality sizer dies again!

[floydboy]

I just got my Star die, punch and nut with set screw from Ammohead today. Definitely quality work. Installed in press and fit was nice and snug. Ordered a .323 sizing die and by my calipers sized boolits measure .3230. Will not hesitant to order from again.
Thanks, Floyd

[ammohead]

I just got my Star die, punch and nut with set screw from Ammohead today. Definitely quality work. Installed in press and fit was nice and snug. Ordered a .323 sizing die and by my calipers sized boolits measure .3230. Will not hesitant to order from again.
Thanks, Floyd

Thanks for the kind words Floyd. I am getting the hardening thing down, and I am ready to offer them now for the super high volume guys. Long/lube style and short dies for coated boolits.

[ammohead]

Thanks for the kind words Floyd. I am getting the hardening thing down, and I am ready to offer them now for the super high volume guys. Long/lube style and short dies for coated boolits.

See s&s. https://castboolits.gunloads.com/search.php?searchid=10543760

[atfsux]

I just finished bidding today on the left over sizing dies Magma had in inventory. I didn't get them all. Someone else was bidding against me and was absolutely determined to get the larger lot. But I did win on 2 of the smaller lots, some of which are not drilled for use with lube and are usable only for PC bullets. I'm headed over there tomorrow to pay and pick them up. Eventually I will have them all cataloged and will post them on here for folks to speak up for however many they want to acquire.

[ranger391xt]

so are they all closed down now? I was surprised there were not any other sizer parts listed on the auction. Curious if that inventory is getting shipped down under, or if there just wasn't any.


Sent from my SM-N981U using Tapatalk

[atfsux]

so are they all closed down now? I was surprised there were not any other sizer parts listed on the auction. Curious if that inventory is getting shipped down under, or if there just wasn't any.


Sent from my SM-N981U using Tapatalk

Well, Magma has been selling whatever they can since the pandemic, but that hasn't been much. Whatever sizing dies they had in inventory when production halted in late 2020 is what they have been drawing from to ship any out during the time up until recently. As a result, the dies I picked up today are mostly the least popular ones. So for instance,...not a single .355 or .356 or .357 or .358 in the bunch. But I've got a lot of others for things like .30 or .32 or .45-70 and whatnot. I'll be photographing them and cataloging them and posting them up here probably tomorrow.

[hermans]

Hmm.....I was looking for a bullet feeder for my Star to size PC boolits, but no one seems to want to sell me one that they do not use, or they are just not available.....
So, maybe I should sell my Star which is basically like new with some 45 dies and some 9mm dies.....since without a bullet feeder for the Star, I can size as fast or faster with a single stage press mounted upside down and using Lee push through sizing dies?

[dverna]

Hmm.....I was looking for a bullet feeder for my Star to size PC boolits, but no one seems to want to sell me one that they do not use, or they are just not available.....
So, maybe I should sell my Star which is basically like new with some 45 dies and some 9mm dies.....since without a bullet feeder for the Star, I can size as fast or faster with a single stage press mounted upside down and using Lee push through sizing dies?

You should have no problem selling it. I bid on one recently and it went for more than I was willing to pay...but I already have one. My advice is to check completed sales on eBay and then offer it here for 15% less. Smart people are still using traditional lubes, and the smarter ones are using PC....but maybe I have that reversed?

[hermans]

You should have no problem selling it. I bid on one recently and it went for more than I was willing to pay...but I already have one. My advice is to check completed sales on eBay and then offer it here for 15% less. Smart people are still using traditional lubes, and the smarter ones are using PC....but maybe I have that reversed?

Don, you do have it perfectly correct! I do have my RCBS lube sizer still, so if I really wish to start lubing my boolits again, I can always use it again. Thanks for the advice to go the Ebay route, that makes good sense.

[dverna]

Don, you do have it perfectly correct! I do have my RCBS lube sizer still, so if I really wish to start lubing my boolits again, I can always use it again. Thanks for the advice to go the Ebay route, that makes good sense.

I just noticed you are in South Africa. A Star will likely go for a lot more money in your area so I would try selling it locally if you have some kind of local shooting site. Do you have eBay in SA (pardon my ignorance)? Offering it here makes no sense. I imagine shipping will be expensive.

Unless you need the money, I would keep it. If no one fills the gap, Stars will go up in value as there is nothing better for lubing/sizing. And you may want to go back to "the old ways" down the road.

Good luck!!

[ddeck22]

See s&s. https://castboolits.gunloads.com/search.php?searchid=10543760

I posted in that thread, but realize you may not have seen it, so posting here:

What is the diameter of the:

Star top punch 1/2"-27 pitch. $25

I am wondering if it can be used for 9mm. I assume so, but I know different sizes were made to fit different dies (I have a .445 punch with the .452 die)

[725]

Ammohead is great to deal with. He made me a custom die to size for my ML'ing. When I need it, I'll be going back to him.

[Ausglock]

I use the short sizer dies in my Magma size master for the HITEK coated bullets. Really keen to see if Ammohead will ship short dies to Australia. I'm not sure if the Aussie owners of the Magma will be making short dies.

[ammohead]

I posted in that thread, but realize you may not have seen it, so posting here:

What is the diameter of the:

Star top punch 1/2"-27 pitch. $25

I am wondering if it can be used for 9mm. I assume so, but I know different sizes were made to fit different dies (I have a .445 punch with the .452 die)

I can make any diameter punch you need under .500" pm me.

[ammohead]

I use the short sizer dies in my Magma size master for the HITEK coated bullets. Really keen to see if Ammohead will ship short dies to Australia. I'm not sure if the Aussie owners of the Magma will be making short dies.

I can make them but you will have to pay postage. Pm me.

[Big Boomer]

May I inquire what a "short" sizing die for the Magma is? I can understand not needing the full length sizing die for a boolit that is either powder coated or HITEK coated but the next boolit is going to push the previously coated boolit out. Or is the object of a short sizing die to have one boolit complete the travel through the sizing die without another boolit pushing the previously coated boolit out? Big Boomer

[ammohead]

May I inquire what a "short" sizing die for the Magma is? I can understand not needing the full length sizing die for a boolit that is either powder coated or HITEK coated but the next boolit is going to push the previously coated boolit out. Or is the object of a short sizing die to have one boolit complete the travel through the sizing die without another boolit pushing the previously coated boolit out? Big Boomer

I was requested by a commercial caster to make punches that would have the bullet clear the short die with every stroke. Easy task if the die is back bored a bit. The backboring protects the exit from damage as well, kinda like a step crown on a barrel muzzle.

[Bill M]

A Star sizer lubes the bullet at the bottom of the stroke, use only partial stroke if not lubing.

[Ausglock]

I can make them but you will have to pay postage. Pm me.

G'day.
Postage is no problem. We are used to paying extra for postage from the US.

[daveed]

I’ve used “Ammohead’s” service to make me a .335 sizing die and a “nose first” punch for my Star. I gotta say, exactly what I wanted, great communication and very fast service. So, for us Star machine owners, there is still hope.

[rodinal220]

Great, I just found out about Magmas demise.