Topics

1

Star Reloaders / Reloading 22 TCM

« on: November 28, 2023, 07:23:40 pm »

In the spirit of my quest to load all of the pistol cartridges that I shoot on my Star equipment, I have (with a tremendous amount of help) gotten a setup to load the tiny 22 TCM.  First, Manuel Cepeda designed the most challenging part which is the powder spout.  I sent him a hand full of casings and he spent over a month designing a spout that could put 10.6 grains of H110 through the .222 opening with nearly 100% accuracy.  His design is very ingenious and works perfectly.  I am seeing less than half of 1/10 of a grain variance between charges.  I designed the top plate of my Hume case feeder using Tinker Cad and had another buddy of mine print it on his 3D printer and presto, I can feed the 22 TCM case!  I then borrowed the .223 shell plate from my Dillon Super Star Conversion kit and I am cranking out the TCM almost as fast as I can shoot them. 

I would really like to thank Manuel Cepeda for helping me with this project!

2

Star Reloaders / Hulme case feeder dimensions

« on: October 15, 2020, 06:57:52 pm »

I recently started reloading 45 Colt and 44 Magnum and have the shell plates, expander dies, and the case feeder adapter for the Hulme case feeder.  The problem is that the case feeder is too narrow to let either case drop into the feeder.  The rim of either case is too large.  My question is how much do I need to widen the case feeder to allow the 44 and 45 cases to be fed.  Also, if I have the case feeder opened up to accept the bigger bore cases, will it adversely affect feeding the 45 ACP, 38 special, and 40 auto cases that work now.

3

Star Reloaders / Powder funnels

« on: November 05, 2019, 05:28:56 pm »

Just wondering if there are different powder funnels (at least that's what I think they're called) for the Star Universal.  I have both the 45 ACP and 38 special tool heads and they both have what appears to be the same powder funnel.  I am thinking about rounding up the parts (dies etc.) to load 44 magnum and 9 mm and am wondering if the powder funnel is something I want to look at.  Specifically, is the standard funnel long enough to load the 9 mm or will powder spill given the distance from the funnel to the case.  Also, since 44 magnum takes a large quantity of powder would a funnel with a larger diameter work better?