Star Sizing Dies

[ron brooks]

I called up Magma to order a couple of sizing dies and the lady I talked to said I had to have the distance apart for the lube grooves. This just doesn't make sense to me. I said, but you can plug them with shot, and she saidshe still needed the information. The way I understood what she was saying was that you would pretty well need a different one for each bullet in each caliber. I just said thanks anyway.

Am I missing something here or is she mistaken?

Thanks,

Ron

[ELFEGO BACA]

I 'think' that is true if the bullet in question has more than one lube groove!

[Sundogg1911]

I am considering buying a Star also. One of the reasons is to speed up production, but the other main reason is that I don't need different top punches for each different bullet (Since I plan to size nose first) but it looks as if I may need to buy multiple sizing dies for the same caliber. (I have about 6 different mould designs for .45 ACP alone) If that' sthe case i'll probably just stick to the old Lyman 450.

[454PB]

What she is saying is somewhat true. However, by adjusting the base punch and/or plugging lube holes, you can lube just about any boolit. The theory is that the holes need to be spaced to match the lube grooves. This is because the lube is injected while the boolit is not moving, whereas it IS moving in a Lyman or RCBS while it's injected, because there is constant residual pressure on the lube reservoir. So, theoretically the boolit has to stop in the proper alignment with the grooves for them to be filled. On a Star, the bottom of the handle stroke triggers a high pressure pump to inject lube. In reality, the lube holes are spaced so closely that nearly any boolit will get all it's grooves filled with some travel adjustment via the base punch.

I use the same Star sizing die to lube about six different .45 caliber boolits, from 200 gr. SWC for .45 ACP to 335 gr. 452651 Lymans for my .454 Casulls.

[Tom Myers]

I am sure that Star would like to sell you a different sizing die for each style of bullet that you intend to size. However, you can order a die with up to 27 lube holes bored into the useable lube section. The holes are spaced radially in 6 rows with three rows of 5 equally-spaced holes and three rows of 4 equally-spaced holes.

With this setup, you can lube just about any configuration of lube grooves.

Since the lube pressure is applied only when the bullet is in a stopped position, about the only time one would need to plug some holes with shot is if the lube groove section of a bullet is shorter than the length between the end holes bored in the sizing die.

I didn't figure that out until I bought a couple of Star dies on eBay that were the size that I was looking for and they had all those hole in them that I thought I was going to have to plug and found out that, as long as the bullet is stopped in the right position and is of sufficient diameter to seal the sizing die, the dies would lube just about any bullet that I have in that size.

FWIW

Tom Myers
Precision Ballistics and Records

[garandsrus]

Ron,

I purchased some Star dies recently also. The lady that answered the phone asked me the same question. I told her that I was going to use it for multiple bullets so she sent me a die with four or so sets of holes (.358). It works great...

John

[Dale53]

Magma are great people and the lady that answers the phone is just trying to serve you the best way possible. I seriously doubt that they are trying to sell you multiple dies for the same caliber. Some bullet designs will have you tearing your hair out to try to get it matched up with a generic die (been there and done that). She just wants a satisfied customer.

That's just my take on it (just ordered another Star die from them, today).

Dale53

[ANeat]

A lot of bullets will have a different center to center dimension on the lube groove spacing. If you have multiple lube grooves the die will need to match that. If the lube grooves on your bullet are .200 apart you wont want a die where the holes are only .100 apart.

When possible I try to get molds with only one lube groove. In 45acp for example I have everything from a 185 swc to a 230gr tc and all have one lube groove. Luckily the dimension from the bullet base to the lube groove is close enough on all of them that I can lube/size them with no die changes or adjustment.

[ron brooks]

Okay and thanks. I have, or will have when some of the group buys come in about a dozen 30 caliber molds, a dozen 45 caliber molds and a hlaf dozen 44 molds so getting one die for each mold, well......

I totally understand what you are saying about customer satisfaction I was just mighty bewildered that was all.

I'll give them a call back and just tell them I need the die for multiple molds and get a generic one. If I have trouble getting the die to lube a bullet corrctly I'll get one designed for it's lube grooves.

Thanks again,

Ron

[cbrick]

Sundogg1911, No, that's not the case. Most of my Star dies have three rows of lube holes, some have four. By plugging the un-needed holes with lead shot I have yet to find the bullet that I cannot properly lube with any of my dies.

I haven't tried "Tom Myers" method of not plugging the holes but it sounds interesting. I'll have to tinker with that.

Dale53's take on Magma is the same as my experience with them, pleasant and eager to please. They have bent over backwards for me. Because of my experiences with Magma I rank them as one of the top business's in the shooting sports to do business with and that's saying something.

Rick

[Marshal Kane]

. . . it looks as if I may need to buy multiple sizing dies for the same caliber. (I have about 6 different mould designs for .45 ACP alone) If that' sthe case i'll probably just stick to the old Lyman 450.

If your .45 ACP moulds cast bullets with single grease grooves you have nothing to worry about and can get by with one sizing die. Have seen Star sizing dies with two and three rows of grease grooves so by adjusting distance using the top punch, you should be able to line up with a grease port. If you have multiple grease grooves like the .38 WC, Star will need to know the distance between them. All my handgun moulds have one grease groove so I need only one sizer die for each caliber.

[hammerhead357]

When I used to order dies from Star the man I talked to always wanted to know what boolit I was going to use the die for. I seem to remember that I would tell him I was going to use it for several different boolits. I was never disapointed with a die but then all of my moulds except some of my rifle boolit moulds have only one lube groove...Wes

[Springfield]

I use the same dies for my 44-40's and 45 Colt bullets, and plugging the holes works fine. But on my 45 -70's with 4 lube grooves they sometimes line up perfect and sometimes not. With a regular bullet is probably wouldn't matter, but with the larger grooves on the Big Lube(tm) bullets it works better if they line up perfect as you get a better flow. Also easier to adjust if the holes are perfect. But it is not required.

[ELFEGO BACA]

So if what I 'hear' is correct, I can lube my 46/70 bullets on my Star sizer. For example bullets coming out of my Saeco #745 and Lyman 457125 molds?

[David R]

I measured my boolits and told them the #s. I ended up with dies that had 5 holes deep. Three rows of 3 holes, then 2 in between offset from the first three. I plugged all but the bottom 2 rows and can lube all my 2 lube groove 38s. I did the same with 30 cal, but have to remove one more row for my 311407 group buy and my lyman 311466. NO problems so far. I also have 2 rows of holes for my 45 auto, but the same die works for my one groove 45 colt.

When the lady asked me the distance for my .452 die, I asked her if she knew what a 452460 was. She said no. I gave her measurments for all 3 dies I ordered, but all the ones came with the same 5 rows of holes.

The shot is kind of hard to remove. The instructions say to drill them out, and that is what I did. I used a pin vice and proper size drill bit. (did it by hand)

Love my Star
David