Finally ordered a Star
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thebrasilian
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ignorant question since I don't reload...What is it? Why does it need heating?
It's a machine that sizes cast lead bullets and at the same time puts the wax lube on them. The heater is for the harder types of wax lubes, it warms the machine and allows the lube to flow through the ports into the grooves on the bullet easier.thebrasilian said:
There are lots of lubes which will not flow without being heated up first.
The Star is unique and fast to use because you simply place a bullet in and the next bullet pushes the first one thru the die then it drops out the bottom. Most sizer/lube machines require you handle each bullet twice - put one in and then take it out in order to put the next bullet in.
Hey Shootist that must be the ultimate set up you have with air and all. I'm looking forward to working on a Star after all these years of hearing people rave about them.
yea it works very good, the tricky part is to adjust the timing on the bullet in the die when the lube is applied. the directions will tell you how. the air and heater is worth the money, with air you never have to turn any thing to apply the lube. just set it to 5psi to 20 psi depending on one lube groove or two. when i got mine the air gauge was bent, i called they sent me another. i had a problem with a die seating gas checks, they sent another all at no charge. the only problem now is when i go to lube 500 bullets or so, i finish to fast! i had a rcbs. i sold it on e-bay...............
I'm almost too embarrassed to update this post but I gotta come clean. I've had the Star for almost a year and sized no more than 150 bullets. This was due to issues with adjusting the punch correctly. I was constantly getting excess lube on the nose of the bullet.
I finally had the time and the mind set to tackle this once and for all. I determined that the lube ports in the sizer die were incorrect for my bullet. Now I chose to use these ports when I first set up the machine since the directions suggested so.
In the end I used a lower set of ports and hot dang it worked like a charm. This thing is a bullet sizing speed freak. I sized & lubed about 1000 9mm bullets tonight in less than an hour and a half!!!! BTW that included plugging/unplugging the ports & adjusting the machine.
My 9mm ammo stash is soon to be replenished and I anticipate some serious Beta mag usage with the HK's in the not too distant future.
I finally had the time and the mind set to tackle this once and for all. I determined that the lube ports in the sizer die were incorrect for my bullet. Now I chose to use these ports when I first set up the machine since the directions suggested so.
In the end I used a lower set of ports and hot dang it worked like a charm. This thing is a bullet sizing speed freak. I sized & lubed about 1000 9mm bullets tonight in less than an hour and a half!!!! BTW that included plugging/unplugging the ports & adjusting the machine.
My 9mm ammo stash is soon to be replenished and I anticipate some serious Beta mag usage with the HK's in the not too distant future.
Working on a home made air feed set up for this. Machined a brass plumbing fitting to use as an adapter for adding the air regulator & gauge.
Let you know how it works when I have a chance to assemble everything.
Total cost for this upgrade = zero dollars. Had all the stuff littering the garage already.
Let you know how it works when I have a chance to assemble everything.
Total cost for this upgrade = zero dollars. Had all the stuff littering the garage already.