About to purchase my first Star reloaders

[Humbo]

Hello everyone,
I'm new here, and also happy to be a member of what seems to be a great community. The closest thing I own to Star reloaders at this point are a few sizers produced by Magma. I was always intrigued by the Star reloaders, but never got the chance to get one until now.

Anyway, an acquaintance is getting out of high volume reloading, and wants to sell three Star Universals. They seem to be in good shape, and are set up in 38 Special, 9mm and 45 ACP. Dies and conversion for 44 magnum are also included. The seller is asking around $975 for the lot, is that a decent price? I live in Norway, and I have only seen one of these for sale so far, and it was years ago. I don't recall if it was a Progressive or an Universal, but to my knowledge all for sale this time are Universals.

I would like to equip at least one of them with a casefeeder, but haven't looked into options yet. I need to get the Stars to me first and get familiar with them before I start investing in accessories.

A few pictures of the reloaders for sale:

[cc656d]

He must really like you or ? It's a steal !

[Humbo]

That sounds promising! I'm not familiar with these machines and how much they usually cost, so I had no clue whatsoever if it was a good price. This guy needs them gone fast, he is moving to the Philippines in about two weeks.
One question comes to mind, do these machines seat and crimp in two separate operations?

[rbwillnj]

That's not a bad price for one machine, especially in Norway.   The machine on the right is a very late model, towards the end of production.  The metallic gold sticker came into use sometime after 1993.  The Last Star reloaders produced in San Diego were made in 1996 or 1997.

I will have to see if I have a copy of the original invoice for that machine.   If I knew the name of the owner it would help me find it.   They are filed alphabetically.

Looks like you are in pretty good shape, but if you need any parts I can help.

Bruce Williams
Star Machine Works

[Humbo]

Hi Bruce,
thanks for your reply. If the price is not bad for one machine, I guess I did really well with three of them. These machines were sold to Robert Aasen through Willy Klette. Klette was the importer/dealer in Norway, and probably was the original owner before he let them go to Aasen used, but the last bit of info is just an assumption.

I'm trying to arrange a pick up around Tuesday next week, so sometime after that I'll know if I need parts. I really appreciate the help with getting parts if needed.

Is there anything else I need to be aware of when inspecting these machines for the first time? Which parts wear out first?

[rbwillnj]

I did find a Willy Klette invoice, but not for your reloader.   You should ask the owner if he has any of the original paperwork.   I would love to lock down the dates the gold metallic stickers was in use.   Unfortunately I only have copies of invoices for 1993-1997.

My assumption that your machine was made sometime after 1993 is because I know Star was using a Silver metallic sticker in 1990, and it was still in use in 1993.  I have only seen a couple of Gold Stickers and I know they were newer machines.   Also, your machine has a retaining screw for the Rocker Arm Screw and that feature did not come into use until about 1988.

The machines you are looking to purchase look to be in very good condition.   These machines were made to load millions of rounds, so unless they were used for commercial loading, I doubt if anything is worn out.   Look underneath the shell plates to see if there is a lot of wear on the steel base.   Sometimes machines that have been used with indexers by commercial loaders have a wear groove in the steel base.

[tony barone]

I've loaded 250,000 rounds on my 1986 Star and the only broken part was a primer slide spring. The machine still looks new because I deprime and resize on a Dillon 550 with a case feeder to reduce wear on the base of the Star from burnt powder residue.

[Humbo]

I'll try to get the original paperwork when picking up the reloaders, or at least try to find out when he bought them and if he was the original owner.

Thanks for the info on the presses, I'm a reloading nerd and appreciate this kind of info. The guy I'm purchasing them from was not a commercial reloader, and two of the presses pretty much just sat around as spares. I will however look for the typical wear patterns on the steel bases as mentioned.

250,000 rounds without a hitch sounds terrific, not many progressive presses manufactured today can do the same. I have Dillon 1050s for my volume reloading, so the Stars will be used when I feel for some mediation and pure quality time in my cave.

[fc60]

Greetings Humbo,

Your comment about volume loading on a Dillon 1050 made me snicker.

I have a friend that uses a Dillon 1050 for volume loading of "practice" ammo.

For his "Match" ammo, he loads on the Star.

Congratulations on the purchase of three nice Star machines.

Cheers,

Dave

[Humbo]

Hi Dave,
thanks! I then guess it's safe to assume that the Stars will produce ammo at least as good as the Dillon 1050 will. That doesn't make Tuesday come any faster, now I'm even more excited to get my hands on them.

Are there bullet feeders available for these machines?

[tony barone]

Forgot to mention my Star is fully equipped with all MA System attachments including bullet feeder, case feeder, shell plate rotator and eject- ease.  All primers were perfectly seated and never a squib load or double charge.

[rbwillnj]

Humbo,

Before you worry about bullet feeders, the first option you will want to add is a Hulme type case feeder.   I can help you out with that.

The best bullet feeder for the Star was the MA Systems unit that Tony mentioned.  Unfortunately they are out of production and difficult to find.

Bruce

[varmintpopper]

Bullet feeders Bullet feeders,,, I want one !
Congrats on Your new Stars.
Prepare to Tinker !

Go here for a Star reloader instruction manual:   http://pdf.textfiles.com/manuals/FIREARMS/
Alfabetical list, Look for "Star progressive reloader" and then click on "PDF"


Good Shooting

Lindy

[Humbo]

Hi Bruce,
I would certainly be interested in a Hulme type casefeeder.
Thanks!

[rbwillnj]

Message sent.   It's best to contact me by email.  My mail box on the forum fills up quickly and I loose track of conversations.