Lube on nose with Star sizer

[Humbo]

Hi,
I got my first Star a couple of weeks ago, and no matter what I do, I get some lube on the nose of my bullets. Not much, but I was hoping I could eliminate it anyway. I use low temperature with my lube (something called Blueline, it's similar to LBT Blue). At first I thought the die wasn't plugged properly, but I get this with another die too. Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?
Thanks!

http://home.online.no/~kjel-phu/bilder/IMG_3297.jpg

[billyb]

Adjust the top punch a small amount. To much pressure on lube back off the pressure a little. And temperature on heater could be a little high. I have had the same problem and one or all came into play. Bill

[Humbo]

The thermostat is adjusted to a minimum, going lower and the heater shuts off completely. It's not a hard lube, just a tad too hard to use without the heater on. I will try to play around with the pressure and top punch to see if it gets better.

[Dale53]

I use White Label Carnauba Red which requires a heater. If I leave the heater on too long before starting to size/lube I have this for the first few bullets. Keep the pressure at a minimum and it'll stop. Then I just go easy when I need to re-apply pressure (I typically run bullets until I get a lube groove that fails to fill completely, then turn the pressure screw two turns and repeat).

Dale53

[jdgabbard]

Don't own a star, but good looking boolit!

[HeavyMetal]

Your trying to lube a two groove boolit and you well always have some lube on the nose because of that.

In this case I'm going to suggest you back off the pressure on the lube ram. When you start getting only partial fill in the grooves your "in the house"!

At that point just turn the ram enough to keep the grooves full. Star's are designed to do boolits with one large lube groove. In this case a lighter touch will get you what you want.

[fredj338]

It looks like you are not putting the bullet quite deep enough. I see there is no lube around the GC groove. The adjustments on the top punch are very small to get the grooves to align. Try seating it just a bit deeper & don't over pressure the lube as suggested. I do multi bullet grooves all the time & it's APITA to switch back & forth w/ a single groove.

[GabbyM]

A faster stroke on the lever helps. But get your fingers back first.
Speed simply shortens the time available for lube to ooze out the holes.

[anachronism]

Your pressure is too high. Stars seem to do their best with minimal lube pressure, maybe 1-2 turns after you first feel the slightest spring compression. What's happening, as best as I can reconstruct it, is that your lube is over-pressurized. This compresses the lube & builds up hydraulic pressure in the lube reservoir around the sizing die. When the bullet is pushed forward by the next one, the residual pressure in the reservoir causes a small amount of lube to ooze (expand, actually) out the lube holes in the die. Lower lube pressure prevents the lube from being (so) compressed, so hydraulic pressure is minimized.

That's my theory, at least. YMMV.

[Down South]

I’d try lowering the boolit a little more and see if the problem goes away. Less heat and pressure may solve the problem too. The Star can be a little finicky but once you have it set up right you shouldn’t have a problem. Bevel base boolits can be a pain too.
One other thing, are your boolits smaller than your die? From the picture it doesn’t look like the boolit is actually being sized. If the diameter of the boolit is smaller than the sizer die then lube can leak around the boolit front driving band and cause the problem you have.

[thebigmac]

I'VE BEEN USING STAR SIZERS SINCE THE EARLY 70'S AND HAVE ACCUIRED THIS PROBLEM BEFORE. IF YOUR PRESSURE IS TOO HIGH THE GREASING PUNCH WILL BE TOO TIGHT TO PUMP
THE SPRING ON THE PUMP LOOSENS UP AFTER A FEW DOZEN LUBES, THAT WILL GIVE YOU A HINT THAT MORE PRESSURE IS NEEDED. THERE ARE NORMALLY THREE SETS OF GREASE HOLES IN THE STAR DIES, I'D SHUT OFF ONE OF THE SETS WITH A #8 OR 9 PIECE OF SHOT HAMMERED INTO THEM. SHUT OFF THE THREE TOP OR THE THREE BOTTOM HOLES. DO THIS AFTER YOU TRY SETTING THE BOOLIT A LITTLE DEEPER INTO THE DIE...LINE UP THE GROOVES WITH THE TWO LINES OF GREASE HOLES...Mac

[Humbo]

Thanks for the replies guys! Now I have a lot to work with, I will try your advice as soon as I have cast some more of these boolits. I didn't lube the GC groove on puropse, it's very narrow so I thought it didn't matter. Should I lube it? The whole bullet is sized, except the front driving band which seems to have a slightly smaller diameter than the rest of the bullet. All cavities are like that, I guess that's how the mold is designed? It's a 6-cavity Lee 358 158gr SWC mold.
Thanks!