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Messages - rbwillnj

91
Star Reloaders / Re: Powder Slides
« on: April 04, 2020, 04:50:18 pm »

Why were the powder slide housings made of zinc vs. aluminum?

As Dave said, I think the powder slide housings were zinc because they were easy to cast and machine, and I think they would hold up better.   
The first powder slide housings were actually bronze/brass, but changed to zinc very early.

I actually have an #11 base that was cast with zinc rather than aluminum.  It weighs twice as much.

Bruce Williams

92
Survey Says... / Re: receiving parts from the NEW Star
« on: March 30, 2020, 01:54:39 pm »
secantogive,

I guess you could call it the New New Star now.   Bill Cunningham of Pioneer California purchased the Star reloader business from San Diego back in 1997.   In Late 2014 I purchased the business from Bill and moved it to New Jersey.  I have pretty much every part for Star reloaders in stock and I'm shipping orders everyday.  I also offer some aftermarket  products like case feeder and collators.  I also repair and rebuild Star reloaders and offer rebuilt machines for sale.  If you need something, send me an email or give me a call.

Bruce Williams



I'm confused about this forum.  No one has replied to this topic for thirteen years???   Is this "New Star" business still in operation?  Where do people find parts these days other than on the buy/sell topic?

93
Star Reloaders / Re: Help identifying Seater Dies
« on: March 17, 2020, 12:01:04 am »
They are both original Star seating dies.  The one on the right is older, but not the oldest style.   I think I have encountered at least four, maybe five different styles.  The one on the left is much newer.   You didn't say what caliber, I'm guessing 38 Special.  If it is, that style was used right up to the end and I still have a bunch of those in inventory. 

Bruce Williams

94
Star Reloaders / New Bullseye Powder VMD
« on: March 13, 2020, 11:24:33 am »
As many of you know, I offer powder slides that accept interchangeable bushings, and I make custom bushings for the charge of your choice.   I calculate the hole size based on the published VMD data, (essentially the powder density).   Of course powders do vary from lot to lot, so the published VMD for a given powder may not match the VMD for your particular lot.  Usually it comes out pretty darn close, generally +/- 0.1 grains.  Some powders seem to vary more than others, but Bullseye has been pretty consistent.

A while back, I did  a test with a 00 bushing I had made to drop 2.7 grains of Bullseye.   I used three different lots with very different production dates (three different labels) and with the three lots I got charges of 2.65, 2.70, and 2.75 grains.

I was recently contacted by a customer who was using a bushing for 4.0 grains of Bullseye, and with his previous lot of Bullseye he was getting powder drops very close to the target charge.   However, with the newest version of Bullseye, he was getting 3.6 grains.    There can be a number of explanations for this, but I was wondering if anyone else was seeing a significant difference with charge weights for the latest version of Bullseye.


95
I have 32 S&W Shell Plates, also 32 S&WL top plates for the Hulme Case feeder.   Not sure what you mean by "arm" for the Hulme, but I have all of the parts for Hulme case feeders

Best to contact me directly by phone or email.

Bruce Williams

96
Star Reloaders / Hoyer Indexer Instructions
« on: March 01, 2020, 04:47:18 pm »
Does anyone have a set of instructions for a Hoyer Indexer?   Trying to help out a customer.   I have the patent, but not the instructions.

Bruce Williams

97
Stars Want to Sell/Want to Buy / Re: WTS 1/2" Powder Slide Kits
« on: February 25, 2020, 07:43:29 am »
Are these still available?  Prices still current?  How much for the 1/2" spacers for the OO housings?


Still available, prices are correct except that now I include custom bushings for the charges of your choice, and the spacers are original Star spacers.   I was offering these kits long before I purchased Star Machine Works.

A Set of Star Spacers by themselves is $20.

Best to contact me directly.

98
Star Reloaders / Re: Powder Measure mounting
« on: January 23, 2020, 02:26:28 pm »
Star, Phelps and Berdon all use the same hole pattern for mounting the powder slide housings.   Center to center is about 1.9".

99
Star Reloaders / Re: Powder Measure mounting
« on: January 20, 2020, 09:27:46 am »
I'm sure whoever made your machines spent many many hours on them, but its pretty easy to pick out the differences.   If you take a look at some of the Star and Phelps machines on eBay you can easily see the differences.   Here are a few;

The aluminum base has the wrong profile and looks to be machined rather than cast.
The manner in which the powder slide cam is attached is all wrong.
The Crank Shaft is wrong for a Star, but could be a Berdon.
The Crank Shaft Casting doesn't look like a casting, it looks to have been machined from a solid block, and the profile doesn't resemble anything from Star, Phelps or Berdon.
The Powder Slide Housing looks to be machined steel.  Star and Phelps used zinc.  Berdon used cast iron.

With more pictures I'm sure I could pick out some other differences, but you get the idea.

Bruce Williams

100
Star Reloaders / Re: Powder Measure mounting
« on: January 19, 2020, 02:41:02 pm »
Well, Its not a Star, not a Phelps, and I don't think its a Berdon, but it may have borrowed some parts from any one of those.   Right now I would say its a home made copy.

If you do a search on the forum for homemade or home made, you will see several other examples.   Sometime back I picked up one with a brass tool head.


101
Star Reloaders / Re: Powder Measure mounting
« on: January 19, 2020, 12:19:31 pm »
Could we see some more pictures of the reloaders?   From the little I can see in the pictures, i'm not sure either is a Star.

102
Star Reloaders / Re: Meaning of part number on angular lever cam
« on: January 16, 2020, 04:27:21 pm »
No, the Angle Lever Cams for Progressives and Universals are different and not interchangeable, not even with severe bending.  The tool heads are the same except the Angle Lever Cam.

Why are the different?   The steel base of a Universal is about 1/8" larger diameter than the steel base of a Progressive.

103
Star Reloaders / Re: Meaning of part number on angular lever cam
« on: January 16, 2020, 12:16:52 pm »
The numbers on the Angle Lever Cam and Tool Head, as well as the numbers on the Bronze primer casting and the steel base are assembly numbers.   In both cases, they were parts that were hand fitted, then went on for further processing.  The numbers allowed the parts to be re-matched with their mates during final assembly.  On machines made in the early 30's, the numbers on all four parts matched.   On very early machines, the #45 Primer Punch Rocker Arm was stamped with the same number as the steel base.

In the case of the Angle Lever Cam, after it was fitted to the tool head, it went on to be hardened.   You can use an angle lever cam with a different or No number, but it will likely require some tuning.

The numbers were reused many times.   The highest number I have seen is 115, which probably means there were at least 115 machines in that batch(?).   Star also used letter stamps.

Bruce Williams

104
You might want to consider having me rebuild it.

https://starreloaders.com/forum/index.php?topic=1373.0

The original tube was Excelon 2000 which I believe is a clear PVC (or at least that is what Excelon 2000 is now).  In any case, the size used by Star is not a standard size offered today, so I'm sure you would have to order a very large quantity.

I use clear polycarbonate, but tube I use is much thicker than the original and the ID has to be machined to fit your parts.  It seems to hold up very well without discoloring.  I have not had good luck with thinner polycarbonate

Bruce Williams

105
Are you possibly talking about the tube to feed brass to a Hulme case feeder?  If so, polycarbonate tube with an ID of 1/2" and an OD of 5/8" will handle brass up to 41 Magnum (including 45 ACP).   The original Hulme case feeder tubes were a little larger and could handle 44 Magnum and 45 Colt, but I haven't found a source for that size tube.

You can purchase the above tubing from McMaster-Carr and many other sources.

Bruce Williams