My first Star

[rangedog]

Well here goes with my first attempt at a few pics of my first Star.
I must say a brief thank you to Bruce(rbwillnj) who went above and beyond to set this press up for me in .38supercomp and get it safely to Australia.
The high quality of Bruce's parts and press restoration was well matched by his determination to help generally.
Thanks also to Dave(fc60) for the wonderful dies and Ray/Ruby Brandes for the terrific indexer and case kicker.
I've learnt that it's one thing to read about Stars and look at pics and want one, but it's wasn't until I actually got mine on the bench and stripped it down that I really fully appreciated the quality that goes into these machines.
I couldn't be happier, a Star is surely one of the finer things in life.
Thank to all for your contributions to this site, it's a great resource for newcomers like myself.

[rbwillnj]

Thanks for the kind words Geoff, it looks like it has found a nice new home.  Just keep feeding it brass and it will make you happy for a long time.

[fc60]

G'Day Geoff,

Nice looking set of dies. 

Cheers,

Dave Wilson

[Joatmon]

Geoff, That is one nice looking tricked out Star you have there.  You will not be sorry.  I picked up an indexer from Ray last spring and was really impressed with the quality.  There are some really helpful folks here that can help out a lot too (as you already know).  But, I gotta ask, is that an RCBS GREEN MACHINE that I see in the background on your bench???   

[rangedog]

Ahhh yes the green machine.
It's in 45acp , I won it in an IPSC pistol comp in the mid 80's.
It's had an easy life and has never loaded a single round, but I love the look of it so keep it on the bench !!
 

[ARTINCT]

Hi Rangedog:
I have the exact same setup as you...  in .38 SuperComp.  Dave's dies, Moon Unit indexer and case kicker.
It all works great.
Good luck with your new "old" Star machine.
I you have any questions, give me a holler as our set ups are essentially the same.

BTW what bullets are you shooting in .38 SuperComp? 
I am using the 125g Zeros or Montana Golds in a Brazos BCG Pro Sx.

[rangedog]

G'day Artinct,
Look forward to swapping notes !
I'm not loading .38 supercomp yet, we have pretty restrictive gun laws in Oz and ave a 6 month cooling off period when applying for a new pistol, which includes purchase of reloading components.
I've been out of pistol shooting the last 16 years hence delay in licensing...but..
I shot truckloads of 38 super in the IPSC early days though(mid 80's) and we were initially cutting/turning down .223 brass to shoot "super"before factory brass was readily available, great fun....
Back then we started with a 158gn projectile which fairly quickly got to a 125 grain by around the early 90's if I recall correctly.
There was only one Aussie shooter back then(80's) who ever talked about a Star and I didn't have any idea what he was on about...his name was Glen Cook, he had a Star and he represented Australia in the 1990 world shoot, with ammo loaded on his Star...
 

[ARTINCT]

Yes the 38 super comp (StarLine Brass) is a .223 rear end case, close but not quite like a .38 Super.
The rim on the supercomp is flush with the case wall and does not sit proud.
The Star with Dave's dies and Rich's shell plate does a great job.
I am using a Rich Daniel's adjustable 00 powder slide and am reloading with IMR SR 4756 with an 8.7g load.
This load functions the comp and popple holes and the Brazo's runs like a sewing machine with that load.

Just remember, with the STAR.... if the machine balks or locks up, first thing to check is the primer follower.
It acts like a safety... the plastic tip will fall into the primer feeder and stops the machine... many forget this.

Art