TomT
06-07-2009, 11:36 PM
Just finished my first lubing/sizing session of the summer. Ran around 2,500 .45s through the Star and had almost no problems. Amazing when compared to all the problems I was having in the winter. It must be that the ambient temperature is so close to White Label's Red lube's melting point of 100 degrees. In the winter I just could not maintain a constant temperature, nor a consistent flow of lube. This after getting a heater for the base of the Star and trying to wrap the reservoir in insulation to protect it from the cold out in the garage. Tried different dies. Tried the boolit nose first, base first. High pressure, low pressure. Everything I could think of, and everything that was suggested here on this forum. When I could get the lube to flow, it went everywhere. The lube was sticking better to the lube on the bullet next to it then it would to the lube groove where it belonged. I was constantly having to touch-up the lube into the grooves when I was loading rounds.
The only hick-ups I was having today though was with air trapped in the Star every once in awhile. As soon as I heard the air pop, a full turn (or more) of the tension spring bolt brought everything right back on track. Before starting, the heater was plugged in for a few minutes. Just long enough to bring the temp at the luberesizors base up by 10 degrees to the mid 90's. Unplugged the heater and went to town running boolits through the Star. The temp climbed to a little over 100, then hovered in the high 90s until I wanted to take a break. Kept enough tension on the lube plunger bolt so that I could feel resistance at the bottom of each stroke. No lube overflow on the base, no lube stuck in the corner of the shoulder and cone. Rarely did I have any boolits that dropped out of the Star that were not perfectly lubed.
The bullets that were just sized and lubed were cast in early February. At the time, I just couldn't face another hellish session of either getting lube all over the base, the shoulder, and the box they were falling into - or not getting the lube to flow into the groove at all. Today's session went like a wet dream. So good that I want to cast another batch of boolits just so I can have something to lube again.
Man, I am stoked!:-D
The only hick-ups I was having today though was with air trapped in the Star every once in awhile. As soon as I heard the air pop, a full turn (or more) of the tension spring bolt brought everything right back on track. Before starting, the heater was plugged in for a few minutes. Just long enough to bring the temp at the luberesizors base up by 10 degrees to the mid 90's. Unplugged the heater and went to town running boolits through the Star. The temp climbed to a little over 100, then hovered in the high 90s until I wanted to take a break. Kept enough tension on the lube plunger bolt so that I could feel resistance at the bottom of each stroke. No lube overflow on the base, no lube stuck in the corner of the shoulder and cone. Rarely did I have any boolits that dropped out of the Star that were not perfectly lubed.
The bullets that were just sized and lubed were cast in early February. At the time, I just couldn't face another hellish session of either getting lube all over the base, the shoulder, and the box they were falling into - or not getting the lube to flow into the groove at all. Today's session went like a wet dream. So good that I want to cast another batch of boolits just so I can have something to lube again.
Man, I am stoked!:-D