Homemade "Star"

[rbwillnj]

Thought you folks would enjoy this.   Attached are pictures of a "Star" made by a local machinist.  Word is that he was a machinist at Bethlehem Steel.   Local folks know at least four were made and sold at gun shows at a discount to Stars.   This machine is set up for 38 Special.  I personally know of one other that has tool heads for 38 Special and 45 ACP.

[rbwillnj]

More Pictures

[rbwillnj]

And More

[rbwillnj]

More

[rbwillnj]

The last ones

[johnfreeman]

What a great find. Interesting use of machined billet steel to replace the castings in the Star....

I greatly appreciate the skill and it takes to transform hunks of metal into a machine like this.

John

[NYKenn]

Bruce;

Do you know when they were made?

[rbwillnj]

I don't know off hand, but I will see if I can find out.   I shoot in a Bullseye league with the owner of the one pictured, but I'm not sure if he is the original owner.   

Bethlehem Steel shut down the last of it's operations (at least in this area) in 1995.

[Joatmon]

That is a great piece of reloading hardware.  I occasionally see pictures of handmade reloading presses but they are almost always single stage.  Making a progressive loader from scratch???!  I would love to have the patience and skill to make something like that (and then use it for the next 30 years).  Any more that you can find out about the history would be nice to know.  Thanks for sharing.

[Kirk A]

That is a fine testimony to the design of the Star. Thank you, Bruce. I too would be curious for additional information.

The dedication to reproduce the design reminds me of a machinist, Frank, who scratch-built a lightweight (Ti) IZH-35M for his son. His son, Adam, went on to be a Junior National champion with that pistol and has since spent his career shooting for the AMU pistol team.

[rbwillnj]

The pictured reloader was built by Ben Schrier, a machinist who worked for Bethlehem Steel.  Ben built at least four of these in the 80's.  Sadly, Ben is no longer with us.

Ben was a shooter, and a member of the Lehigh Valley Police Revolver League which is believed to be the oldest continuously operating Bullseye League in the country.  In 2012 we celebrated our 75th anniversary.