Star reloaders

[itbeme]

Hi,
I am new to this forum and to reloading. I am an avid shooter of 45ACP and have a ton of brass. With ammo pricing what is and going higher, it is time to start reloading. I have recently purchased 2 Star reloaders, 1 38 cal. and 1 9mm. I am a 45 guy. My question for this forum is: what is the best avenue to pursue to get a reloader in 45 acp?? Are there dies available? Is ebay the best resource? Is some one willing to do a trade? Am I able to retrofit other non Star dies and plates for this to work? I am not a big fan of frankenstein items.
Should I sell these and buy a 45acp unit? Are they common enough? I really like the quality and simplicity of this reloader.
Sorry for the long first post, but alot of questions and I have found few answers.
Many thanx
Stephen

[333OKH]

Are your Machines Progressive or Universal ?. The Universal Machine can be changed to diff calibers with the right change over items, George.

[itbeme]

From what I have seen on this site, it appears that they are universal. They both have that part number 79U, shell base locater strap. I have the booklet from Star showing all the parts and a price list from 1983. In 1983 a Star Universal Reloader was $925.00 and that was the new lower price, I wonder what that is in today's dollars
S

[NYKenn]

Ebay is one source, this site in WTB/WTS is another. Read through the posts here. Much depends how much you are willing to pay. Prices can vary on age, condition, etc. Also, depends on patience.

.38 is the most common Star caliber, followed closely by .45. so if you have enough patience you should not have a problem locating a .45 set-uo, if you are willing to wait. Since you have a universal, you can easily swap out the head, and shell plate, and primer punch, and be up and loading in 2 - 3 minutes tops, in lieu of needing a complete machine.

The 9mm is harder to come by than either the above, but other calibers are often even more difficult.
If you have little or no interest in 9mm, you could most likely find a trade.

[Star73]

I would opt for adding the 45 dies, shellplate, primer feed etc to one of the universals. The parts needed should be easy enough to come by on e-bay with a little patience.

Some of those offering parts for auction will have additional parts.

Ron H

[gmmpa]

You have all that you need to reload for .45.  If you are a .45 cal shooter you should change the dies in one of your machines for .45 cal or purchase another tool head for one of your machines with a set of .45 cal dies.  I have two Stars.  One for .45 cal which I never change out and a second which is set for .38cal but can be changed out for over calibers should I need to. 

I believe Ebay is the wrong place to purchase Star parts.  You can now purchase dies from C-H.  I just received a .38 cal taper crimper die that is perfect.  See my recent posting titled dies for the star.  The best place to get star parts is from members of this site or from people at the Gun clubs you visit.  There is a growing number of sources for parts.  You can now get indexers, case feeders and case loaders, variable charge bars, large capacity power reservoirs and dies.