Messages

1

Stars Want to Sell/Want to Buy / Re: WTB 38 Super Carbide sizer die

« on: February 18, 2025, 11:59:37 am »

You might contact LEE Engineering in Wisconsin. A few years ago they had some old inventory of Star threaded sizing dies in both undersized and oversized dimensions. I purchased a couple of the .38 Super dies as well as some .380 ACP.

Good Luck,
21-50

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Stars Want to Sell/Want to Buy / Re: FOR SALE Stars Machine Works Progressive reloader

« on: December 02, 2024, 01:56:05 pm »

Could you post some pictures with your offer to sell so that many people can see the condition of all items to include your accessories, the bullet number on the mould blocks, and anything that you have available. The photos are helpful to potential buyers, me included.
Thanks/2150

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Star Reloaders / Re: Meaning of part number on angular lever cam

« on: January 17, 2020, 05:31:39 pm »

I have a question concerning the meaning of single digit numbers stamped on a Tool Head and the Angular lever cam. I have had Universal machines on which the cam lever could not be correctly adjusted to the position where the lever cleared the brass primer mechanism without putting undue stress on the primer slide as it hit the center post. There must be some significance to the numbers used by Star on both the tool head and the adjacient lever cam. Any Answer?
Thanks,
21-50 standing by//

Thank you for the solid information.

When I was visiting Star back in 1982 Rob Wilkinson showed me the shop and we discussed the proper way to adjust the cam lever for a smooth and stress free operation of the machine. He said that many people used the hole in the handle of a large Cresent wrench to slip over the lever, to about midpoint, and then apply steady effort to bend the lower half Out. To move the lever back towards the center post a dead blow with a lead hammer was the best. Hensley and Gibbs offered an aluminum mold that cast a double ended hammer head around a steel shaft handle. I got one and it works well for that adjustment as well as for its intended purpose of striking spruce plate on molds.

A few years later I bought a couple of Universals from a retired commercial reloading operation. The owner sent many accessories to include a reference to a cam lever adjusting tool given to him by Srar. The tool was missing but he provided a rough drawing that described a slip over sleeve that wound allow for leverage both In and Out --- a refinement of the Cresent wrench hole with much more surface support.

I knew of the machine specific cam lever for a Progressive vs. Universal.

Regards/21-50

4

Star Reloaders / Meaning of part number on angular lever cam

« on: January 16, 2020, 09:53:06 am »

I have a question concerning the meaning of single digit numbers stamped on a Tool Head and the Angular lever cam. I have had Universal machines on which the cam lever could not be correctly adjusted to the position where the lever cleared the brass primer mechanism without putting undue stress on the primer slide as it hit the center post. There must be some significance to the numbers used by Star on both the tool head and the adjacient lever cam. Any Answer?
Thanks,
21-50 standing by//

5

Stars Want to Sell/Want to Buy / Decapping stem for older steel .38 resizing die(s)

« on: March 07, 2013, 06:12:16 pm »

I have several older Star .38 Special steel resizing dies that probably were part of a Star Progressive tooling. Apparently "Star" offered a couple of different configurations (threads and depth of stem) on their decapping stems. I am seeking a usable original, if available. I believe I could turn "an adaptor" that would utalize either a Lyman or a current RCBS decapping stem assembly -- but an original would be "nice". Thanks for any information and offer.

3-11-2013: I got the decapping stems and an explaination: Apparently the older Star steel resizing dies and the Phelps dies had similar, but dimentionally different patterns. The two did not fully interechange; "problem solved" and knowledge "acquired" for future reference. Thanks/Brad

6

Stars Want to Sell/Want to Buy / Re: Wanted to Sell Starr Presses and Accessories

« on: January 17, 2013, 06:09:33 pm »

End of story; Thanks//

7

Stars Want to Sell/Want to Buy / WTB/ "0" Powder Slide(s)

« on: February 10, 2012, 05:54:55 pm »

I would like to purchase a couple of size "0" Powder Slides for use in a Star Progressive machine. They can be the usual 2.7 BE or anything close. I will ream the charge hole to drop about 3.3 grains of Bullseye. If they are in usable condition, then please contact me. Thanks.

"21-50", standing by//

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Stars Want to Sell/Want to Buy / WTS/ Hulme Case Feeder

« on: February 06, 2012, 01:39:25 pm »

2-07-2012: I sold the Hulme case feeder; thanks for looking//

9

Star Reloaders / Re: Problem with the primer assembly

« on: December 06, 2011, 02:43:07 pm »

Star used to offer a special tool that slipped over the angular cam lever and then allowed for a bending of the part to accomplish the task of "proper engagement". A friend had one of those tools but it has been lost over time. He provided a diagram and an explanatory note about his experiences with the adjustments -- it is an acquired "art form". When I last visited Star in the early 1980's one of the staff used the "0" hole in a crescent wrench that slipped over the lever and provide sufficient leverage to move the angle either in or out.

10

Star Reloaders / GUN DIGEST article from circa 1964 on the Star

« on: June 06, 2011, 07:24:07 pm »

I believe that Kent Bellah had an article in an early 1960's edition of Gun Digest, possibly in 1964, that pictured D.L. Cooper in a Texas DPS uniform loading on a Star. He had some tips and comments on using the progressive loader: avoiding Double Charging was discussed at length. "D.L." put on shooting exhibitions for the Department of Public Safety at various venues around the state. He and Kent loaded some 127 grain Harvey bullets for use in the .357 Magnum revolver back when the standard load was a 158 lead SWC. The results were "impressive". I have a "00" powder charge bar that belonged to Kent and is marked 5.2 Unique -- his heavy .38 Special load with a 160 cast bullet.

Captain Dan Combs did a similar form of exhibition shooting for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. Dan did the lead-in shots for the 1970's movie "Dillinger" using a 1928 Navy overstamp Thompson SMG that belonged to the Patrol. He cut a playing card in "half" with one continuous 50 round burst from the Thompson's drum at 7 yards. Dan loaded his .38 Special "blanks" used for indoor demonstrations on a Star Universal -- in about 1963 each trooper in Oklahoma chipped in a Quarter and bought Dan a Universal Progressive with extra tool head (.45 ACP) and a Star Sizer Lubricator. 

11

Star History / Re: Cool old picture

« on: May 17, 2011, 12:13:04 pm »

I believe the Salt Shaker contains a bullet casting flux for ease of application into the SAECO electric furnace. I still use a GI grease can similar to the one pictured ahead of the powder keg to catch my mould sprue while casting. The back drop looks like it could be a training room in a "modern" department or an indoor shooting range in a large city during the 1950's.

I started bullet casting when I found a ten cavity Hensley & Gibbs mould for the classic Number 50 .38 wadcutter in a dark corner of a supply building. It was sitting on a shelf next to a plumbers blow torch (pump pot gas burner) with several five gallon cans of tire weights nearby. I had some idea about the mould and how to clean the dirty lead but knew nothing about the operation of the plumber's furnace. It was the item that caused the most concern about safety. A mechanic helped me to set the apparatus up correctly and clean off the accumulated debris on the adjustment features. Another fellow knew about proper fueling and lighting -- it took a little while before I was comfortable working next to a potential Molotov cocktail. Once the cast iron pot started to liquefy the old lead alloy things got better very quickly. Within a few hours I was dropping good quality wadcutters with each cycle of the mould. It was difficult to cut off the gas and stop casting when things were up to temp and rolling along. That H&G mould had produced a lot of practice bullets for the Tulsa police department -- because of its weight it gained the moniker "Popeye" .

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Survey Says... / Re: Camp Perry

« on: February 11, 2011, 08:40:04 pm »

I must have shared the same mess hall with NMBOB, STAR 73 and I know that NYKENN and I attended the same NY State R&P Club picnic at the clubhouse on Lake Erie. I was a guest and snapped a few 35mm pics that featured people that Kenn knew from that year's matches. We did not know each other at the time but I purchased a Star thru Kenn a few years ago and during the course of our dealings the National Natches came up. "Perry" was a great experience for me (1981-84) and I always enjoyed the "tradition" of the campus. The old water tower and RR tracks at the front gate are visible in a series of pictures over the years. Getting block ice at the fishing docks and a new plastic box fan for the hut window was just part of setting up camp. Great Times!

I am proud of having been an NRA Bullseye shooter over the years; it's a discipline that develops pistol shooting like no other.
I was in the era when the NRA wanted to transition American NRA shooters into ISU competetors. In 1984 some of us went to Colorado Springs for the ISU training camp. We shot at the Air Force Academy indoor gallery range and had Erich Buljung and Frank Higginson as our two outstanding instructors. The most talented shooter of our group was Robbin Vinnola who was an EXCEPTIONAL pistol shooter and a very nice person. He was killed in Cuba while participating in the International Matches (March 1987).

Keep Holding 'Em & Watching the Front Sight!  

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Star Reloaders / Re: Relief cut on Expander Plugs

« on: January 07, 2011, 07:40:58 pm »

The cuts appear to have been factory turned and "probably" served to make a smooth transition from the straight diameter of the plug shaft onto the tapered cone portion of the belling process. I imagine that any "crud" that had formed on the inside of the case mouth could be mechanically peeled just before the trip up the expander/belling slope. I will try and get some good quality photos to share. Apparently the relief groove was not necessary, did not work or was of insufficient value to warrant the extra machining operation and was discontinued.     

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Star Reloaders / Relief cut on Expander Plugs

« on: January 05, 2011, 01:32:49 pm »

Recently I acquired an older Star Universal Progressive reloader circa 1951. It had tooling for both .38 Special and .45 ACP. The machine was little used and apparently all original. Each of the case Expander Plugs had a small "relief cut" at the junction of the full diameter bullet shaft and the angular incline which initiates the belling process. On the .45 ACP plug the bullet shaft was about 2/3s of the length of the the traditional expander plug. I have seen many sets of Star tooling since the late 1960's but this was a first encounter for me. Any information to share? Thanks/BFJ

15

Star Lubricator & Resizers / Re: Trade lube sizing dies

« on: November 22, 2010, 06:24:43 pm »

Did you receive my Private Message concerning a possible trade?