Star luber&sizer

[Finn45]

About the Star sizer... I understand that it's the fastest of the bunch of manually operated sizers, but how about the quality of the sized boolits? I understand that when sizing boolits which have long bearing surface and short nose, there's no much concern about alignment, they are generally self aligning when sized nose first. But, is there any concern when sizing long nosed bore riders which have relatively short or very short drive band section? Is there any possibility to get parallelogram (sp?) effect and if so, does it matter any?

[bobthenailer]

hi in my experiance the star sizes a 145 gr gc 7mm, 200 grgc 35 cal , and a 165gr gc 30 cal ,& 350gr gc & 540gr gc rifle bullets very accuratly , pistol bullets are also very accurate and i size bullets nose first i wouldent even consider another way as accuracy is very good and i shot in matches for 25 years and have allways shot in the highest class for that type of shooting and won more than my share of matches.

[Buckshot]

.............Reijo, I have seen exactly ONE Star size die, so consider my expert response! Like the other sizers, the Star die has a gentle leade into the parallel sizer portion. However, this tapered leade is a lot longer. I would suspect that hand starting the bore rider into the die, and then somewhat gently pushing on the base with the punch would have the first drive band pretty well center itself in the die.

Perhaps if operating the punch rapidly to push the slug in may not allow the base to side on the face of the punch and center, so in that case there might be an issue? Just guessing.

...............Buckshot

[Finn45]

Thanks for the responses. This is what I thought as Lee sizers are working well also if operated properly. Starting point should be a good cast projectile in the first place, so alignment should not be an issue. I was asking this because one of the local booliteers got seemingly excited when he found new Stars for sale in the Fbay (manufacturer selling them there) and one time there was (Finnish talk board) one expert questioning Star method because of the possibility to make skewed bullets. He stated that he used to make his own top punches for Lyman/RCBS-type machines because original factory pieces were crooked causing eccentric noses and calibration. Well, he had other strict opinions about these things as well...

[omgb]

The nose first sizing of bullets in a Star machine seems to avoid any of the problems some have with alignment. Veral Smith over at LBT (Lead Bullet Technology) has written extensively on this issue and he rates the Star #1 for protecting concenticity as well as for speed. Further, it is possible to order a flat punch that has a slightly dished center. This is ideal for placing GCs on bullets. The rim presses the GC foreward and onto the base of the bullet a few thousandths abead of the base while the recessed center permits the sprue area to follow. This gives an especially flat and hard gripping GC.

[StarMetal]

omgb,

All the punches on my sizer dies for the my Lyman 450 have the faces dished. In addition they are drilled all the way through to let any lube that might get between the plunger and base of the bullet to escape. So my Lyman also punches the rim of the gas check ahead first then letting the base follow while the recessed center lets the sprue follow. Yes Star is a good luber/sizer, but my Lyman gets the job done and I might add very well.

Joe

[omgb]

I was very happy with my RCBS unit and still am. For lubing and sizing small to medium batches of bullets there is nothing wrong with it at all. I'm sure the Lyman is equal to it in every way. Where the Star comes into its own is in processing large batches. I can run through a thousand so in less than a 1/4 of the time it takes me with the RCBS unit. If I didn't load at lot, I'd just stick with the RCBS or Lyman machine.

[LAH]

While sell cast bullets I sized them all nose first, either on a Star or a Ballisti-Cast auto machine. They seem to make everyone happy.......Creeker

[GLL]

Is there any major difference in the old Star vs. the new "Magma" Star ? I have been looking for an older model but they are very difficult to find used in good condition.

I will probably break down and buy a new one.

Jerry

[454PB]

I'm still learning about the old one I just got. The only difference I see so far is that there is a set screw to hold the die in my old one, and the new ones don't have that. I honestly don't see that that set screw is needed. Here a picture of the one I recently acquired (thanks, Fred!)

http://photos.gunloads.com/images/454PB/starlubrisizer2.jpg

[LAH]

454PB the old ones may have been machined closer in the die well. With my 2 new ones I can change the die with my fingers. Both old ones take the tool or a tool.

[LAH]

CLL, having used both old and new a lot I can tell you for fact, if you wear either out you'll be doing something. HEE HEE

[Old Fart]

I have 2 Star sizers , but one has a broken casting at the top..a freind got way to heavy with it ..anyway , do the new Magna machines interchange , parts , with the old star or Plelps... thanks

[JP Jones]

There was bad blood between Star and Dillon so Star when their property was taken for a new Stadium in San Diego deliberately sold the Star luber design to Magma who makes it out of Aluminum. Anyone who has broken the old Star luber should not sneeze next to the aluminum one.

The Original Star had a very tight fit for the luber die into the basic frame and the Aluminum one does not have the strength for the tight leak free fit so they use gaskets that get torn up every time a lube die is changed. I was told this when I sold an old blue luber to a well known hand casting magnum bullet company owner.

On Ebay an old blue luber brings a better price than a New Magma Silver model.

I have some original Luber parts left from when I was a Star dealer.

JP

[LAH]

JP Jones can sell you parts for these lubers. He's out of business now but still has some stock. Get it while you can guys.

The gasket or O ring needs a little lube when changing dies. Also make sure your die doesn't have a sharp leading edge. This will make the O ring last longer. One of my new Stars works fine while changing dies and the other doesn't. I use it with no O ring in place and instead use a little teflon tape on the die. Good to hear from you John Paul. I've been off line for a while. Hope you're doing better. God Bless.

Creeker

[454PB]

Yeah, that O-ring in the Magma drawing slipped my mind....that's another difference. I make my own Lyman 450 dies, and I leave the O-ring groove and O-ring out.

Maybe JP can let us know what parts he has. I'd like to get a couple of the punch locknuts, which are oddball 1/2" X 27 tpi.

[Tom Myers]

As a new owner of a brand new Star Sizer, I have a question.

Is there supposed to be lube pressure to the die when the lube pump plunger is not depressed? I am getting lube on the nose of each bullet as it passes by the lube holes . If I push out a bullet while there is still pressure in the reservoir, the lube will coil out of the die lube holes.

If I back off the pressure until there is no lube on the nose, then the grooves do not completely fill.

I was under the impressin that the plunger was a sort of valve that only let pressure be applied when the bullet was in position.

Can someone enlighten me so's I don't have to take the gol-dern thing apart to see how it works.?

Tom Myers

[454PB]

I'm no expert yet, Tom, but here's what I've seen:

While changing boolit styles, if I pushed the boolit through without pulling the handle far enough to trip the pump plunger, there was no lube in the grooves. It appears that there is not sufficient pressure supplied by the reservoir spring, it just pushes it as far as the high pressure pump.

I think if you do some experimenting with adjusting the plunger to die top distance, you can overcome the problem you are having. If not, you may have to plug some of the lube holes in the die.

[utk]

There is a site for old Star machines:

http://www.starreloaders.com/

and someone selling spare parts, don't know if they actually are in business:

http://www.starmachineworks.com/

[johnho]

Tom, I had this problem in the beginning too. found out I didn't have the correct location of the punch to properly set the bullet in the right position. the handle must be all the way down when the holes of the die are lined up with the grooves for the lube. once I did this the problem was cured.

[utk]

Tom, I too had problems with three small blobs of lube on their noses. I had plugged most of the holes in the die, and was getting lube in the right place (my boolit was a single-groove design), so the problem was not that of alignment with the lube holes. I found that my problems disappeared if i reduced lube pressure. It seems that lube can flow past the high pressure pump when it is not activated.
If you don't get enough lube in the groove you can give the handle an extra push to pump more lube into the groove(s) - happens to me once in a while - I could probably increase pressure slightly.

I also re-circulate every fifth or tenth boolit into the die to keep it lubed above the lube holes.

When done, I back off the lube pressure screw one full turn and leave the last boolit in the die.

Urban

[Farmer]

Tom,
When I'm lubing bullets with my Star, I crank the handle on the reservoir till I feel some resistance.Maybe 1/2 crank past that point. You don't want bullet lube coming out of the holes in the die until the operating handle is push all the way down. If I change lubes, or the setting on my base heater it has an effect on how much pressure it takes on the lube in the reservoir to get things to work out right. Not enough pressure in the reservoir and there won't be lube at the lube pump plunger to be pumped to the die. Too much pressure (or the base heater set too warm) and lube will flow right past the lube pump and thru the die holes. Sometimes after I add lube to the reservoir, there won't be lube in the lube pump. Then I have to give the reservoir screw a bunch of extra turns to force trapped air out of the reservoir.After the air comes out I back off on the screw to put the reservoir pressure back where it needs to be.
I've had it where lube flows past lead shot that was supposed to have extra, unused lube holes in the dies blocked. When I figure out which ones are causing me problems I smack the shot with a small drift punch. That will usually upset the shot enough where it will block the hole like it should and not let lube past.
Most of my pistol bullets have only one lube groove, so most of my dies only have one level of holes open. When I find the proper depth for filling the groove correctly, I write it down. I use the thing that sticks out the end of a dial caliper as a depth gauge to measure how far down my bullets are in the die. I can change bullet styles pretty quick because I know where to set the bullet punch to get things right.
Different bullets require different amounts of lube. When I'm sizing 314" bullets for my 32 mags I only have to give the reservoir screw about 1/4 turn every 10 bullets. When I'm sizing some 45 cal bullets with big 'ol lube grooves I have to give about 1/2 a turn evry 5 or 6 bullets. After you use you Star a bunch, you'll be an expert at how much pressure to use.

I don't know if you've seen a copy of the instruction yet, if not, here they are:

http://www.magmaengr.com/pdf/StarSizerInstructions.pdf

Ed

[LAH]

Is there supposed to be lube pressure to the die when the lube pump plunger is not depressed?

The answer is yes........Creeker

[Springfield]

I have 3 Star sizers, 2 older blue ones with the Star San Diego stickers, and 1 new one. And they ALL have aluminum castings. I haven't found a gnat's whisker's worth of diffreence as far as performance. I just leave to O-ring out of the sizer hole, it just got too tore up. And just like the guy at Star told me, it still works fine. It seeps just a little, so every 3-4000 bullets I just wipe of the excess. I can live with that. As far a little lube on the nose, I have found that a little more heat and a little less pressure usually cures that.