Adjusting Locator Straps

[824tsv]

Good evening,
I'm doing a  caliber conversion on a Universal from .38 Special to .45ACP. When I changed over the shell plate from .38 to .45 I noted that the locator straps interfered with the rotation of the .45ACP shell plate. I have loosened the screws holding the locator straps and have adjusted the straps to just clear the shell plate as it goes by, but have noticed that there is no resistance in the movement of the straps. With the screw loosened the straps move easily forward and at times interfere with the movement of the shell plate. Am I missing something? Is there a procedure for adjusting the locator straps? Thanks in advance!!

Regards,
Robert

[varmintpopper]

Hi Robert
There is a set screw that is screwed in or out to adjust for distance from the base and then a filister head screw that tightens the strap to the base.
Loosen the filister head screw and then push the strap against the base while adjusting the setscrew until it just clears a case installed in the shell plate then snug up the filister head screw. The purpose is to align the case correctly under the Die.

Good Shooting

Lindy

[824tsv]

Got it, thank you. I totally missed the small set screw!

[NYKenn]

Which raises the question about how often do the straps really need adjusting?

I have changed calibers and did not find any interference with the shell plates, nor issues with the alignment of the shell case with the die.

I know the necessity of keeping their height correctly adjusted to eliminate contact and possible breakage when contacting the head at it's lowest point.
Beyond that?

[FOR_Star]

I thought they were only adjustable in and out, not up or down.

Since the vertical center line of the shell cases (i.e. the center of the primer hole) must rotate in exactly the same arc regardless of caliber, I would think that changing from .45 ACP to .32 ACP would require adjusting the #79U Shell Base Locating Strap.

That said, as I mentioned in an earlier post, when I switched toolheads from .45 to .38 and vice versa, I never touched the locating straps and never had a problem. (or at least I didn't know of one)  Maybe the bevels on the bottom of the Star dies guide the cases into the dies even if a little bit out of alignment, or if they are giggling around from the indexing movement.

I guess Star thought if you were enough of a reloader to be using a Star that you would figure out how and when to adjust the locator straps; a primary difference between the Progressive and Universal models.  I never found anything in the Star instructions related to adjusting the locating straps.  I had to ask on this site, too.  FC60 provided a very good explanation.

Re: Maintenance after Loooong Inactive period
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2015, 03:00:26 PM »

Bruce, thanks so much for the help!!

As part of the clean-up I removed the three #79U Shell Base Locating Straps.  First time I'd ever touched these, so they were set as the machine came to me brand new.  I was surprised at the amount of gunk accumulated behind each.

I don't think I've ever seen any instructions as to how, when, or why you adjust these.  Is there a SOP on how to set these (the little set screw in each that changes how it aligns the case at that station)?  I've loaded .45's and .38's and all went well without changing the original settings.

Is it just a common sense thing, or is there some actual procedure?  Anybody have to readjust theirs when they change calibers?

Strap Adustment
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2015, 10:59:56 AM »

Greetings,

The various caliber shell plates vary in outside diameter. A little math leads one to believe that the OD is tangent to the case OD.

So, rotate the shell plate 1/12 of a turn. The detent ball should be positioned under a case cutout, not the round 3/8" indexing hole.

Insert the strap with the upper set screw backed off so it does not touch.

Next, lightly tighten the Fillister head screw so the strap just touches the rim of the shell plate.

Last, tighten the upper set screw to snug up the strap and leave a wee bit of clearance with the shell plate.

Test the adjustment with an empty case and you should be spot on.

Cheers,

Dave

[rbwillnj]

The quote from Dave pretty much covers the issue, but I'll repeat just in case it's not clear.  The shell locator straps should be adjusted every time you change calibers.   Shell plates for each caliber have a different diameter.  The best way to adjust the shell locator straps to the proper position is to turn the shell plate so that the shell locator straps are not opposite a shell opening, or as Dave suggests, so the detent ball is in one of the shell openings rather than in a dowel pin indexing holes.  Then adjust the shell locator strap so it just clears the shell plate.  Turn the shell plate to make certain it doesn't bind on any of the shell locator straps.

Bruce Williams
Star Machine Works

[NYKenn]

Bruce

I took a look at my different caliber shell plates. All work and fit in either of the Progressives without issues.
When measuring the diameter (outside rim), found the difference to be less than 100th of an inch between the outer rim of the shell plates. Height varies only slightly.
The diameter of the cutouts where the shell case sits is a different story, which accounts pretty accurately for the varying dimensions of the calibers. 
Is that the diameter area being referred to or am I missing something here.

Are there specific Star measurements for shell plate dimensions?
 

[rbwillnj]

Kenn,  As I said above, the diameters of the different caliber shell plates are different.   Some are pretty close to one another.  Some are quite different, by much more than 0.01"   The specs are generally +/- .001".  The specs for the shell plates are proprietary so I'm not going to go into details.

If you are saying that all of your shell plates fit on a Universal, that would be normal.   If you are saying they all fit on a Progressive, then that is not normal and it's likely that either the Progressive of the shell plates have been modified.

Bruce

[NYKenn]

Thanks for the clarification.
I meant to say Universal, not Pregressive.

I can understand the limitations of the Progressive. The one I have expierience with just fits the .38 shell plate with only minimal clearance. The Universal clearly has significantly more clearance, (visually) although I have not measured. Nor have I ever tried changing shell plates on the Progressive, but always believed they would not fit as mentioned within the many forum discussions.