OK, so I started using my Star lubesizer for the first time after I bought it used from a gent here on buy/sell. The machine is awesome and even tho is looking like the old model it cycle great.
The only issue I have is adjusting the darn punch height so I won't have lube on top of the bullet.
Now please let me know if in my steps I did any mistake so I can correct it.
After an initial trial I realized I need to remove the die to inspect which holes are plugged. Well, none were plugged so I said it's gonna be easy. I plugged the top and bottom holes with 7 1/2 shot and let just the middle holes open.
Then I put the die back and start fiddling with the punch height. Here I start hitting snags. First I had lots of green lube (that was already in the machine when I bought it) on the tip of the bullet. I unscrewed the punch to make it longer.
Even I did it in small steps and then tried it over and over I still couldn't fix the issue.
At a certain point I unscrewed the punch to much so I could see using a flashlight that the grease was coming up on the bottom of the last bullet inside the die. I was actually looking at the lube coming out and forming a thin lube wire. So I said I'd screw it back a little so no lube should come out on the bullet base. Fixed the lube coming out on the base but I still had all the bullets with lube on the tip.
Kept playing over and over even firing up the heater and keeping it at just a warmish temperature and not boiling the heck out of the lube.
No matter what I tried after 500 bullets I couldn't fix the issue.
Few mentions to make:
-I added red lube from LLA stuff (BAC) so at a certain point I had green and red mixed together
-I tried to keep a constant pressure in the lube tube, not to big not to small. I don't have the air pressure on it.
-bullets have one single grove(Magma mold, .38 cal 124gr)
My observation is that the lack of constant adequate pressure may be a decisive detail in the lubing process. At times when (is just a guess) the pressure was right I almost had perfect lubed bullets but lasted for just 3-4 bullets. After that the mess came back again.
I just don't know what am I doing wrong so any input will be much appreciated.
I'll post few pictures for a better understanding of what am I talking about.
These are the first trial. Total disaster.
These are after I plugged the top and bottom holes and fiddling with the punch height.
These are the "best" I could get. Please let me know if my "best" looks good enough.
And these are the 500 bullets after I finished all the adjustments I could find. Would you load them or I should melt them back and start allover again.
Thank you in advance for input.
Nick