Another Homemade Star type reloader

[rbwillnj]

This one was given to me recently.   No idea who made it, but some interesting features.   In particular it has a pressed in bearing in for the crank shaft assembly and roller bearings for the shell plate.  It has a Phelps tool head and a Star shell plate.  The underside of the Star shell plate was machined to give a smooth surface for the roller bearing.

I'll give it an A for effort as I'm sure it was a lot of work.

[johnfreeman]

Hi Bruce

Thanks for the photos. That looks like a very nicely made unit.  The split nut with the roller bearing race inset it in is interesting.  I'm impressed that it's all machined.

Did you get any history with the unit? Does it seem workable

John

[rbwillnj]

I have no history on the unit.   The tool head was missing the angle lever cam.   I tried angle lever cams from both Progressives and Universals and neither were right.   A Progressive angle lever cam could probably be bent to work, but I didn't take it any further.   

Since it doesn't have an spring anchor hook, its a real pain to take it apart and reassemble.   

[rbwillnj]

Another homemade Star type reloader.   Although it came to me from an entirely different source, it is so similar to the one above that there is little doubt that it was made by the same individual.   This one is entirely functional.  Most notable is the Brass (Bronze) tool head.

[rbwillnj]

More Pictures

[333OKH]

Thanks for the pics Bruce.

[rbwillnj]

Went to a gun show this weekend and saw this Star inspired reloader.  It was stamped "Country Gunsmith"  "1991"

It did not come home with me.   The Star next to it was Universal in 9MM, but all of the dies were turned down RCBS & Lee Dies, so I left that one on the table too.

[824tsv]

Interesting, thanks for posting. On the Star to the right in the picture, what manufacturer made the case feeder? I've never seen one that looked like that.

[NYKenn]

Just out of curoisity, do you know what the asking prices were?

It would be interesting to know what the incentive was to the maker in 1991 as original Stars were still readily available. While price could have been the factor it still seems to have been a lot of work.

[rbwillnj]

824tsv   It's actually an older style Hulme case feeder, but it has a shop made steel top plate attached to it.

NYKenn  I didn't ask the price on the Red one.   He wanted $400 for the Universal, which wasn't too bad except I figured I would have to replace all of the dies. 

[rbwillnj]

Looking back at the pictures I notice the builder used a somewhat different system to operate the primer feed.  I can't tell if he used a classic Rocker Arm & Primer Punch to insert the primers or a different system.