No more Star Greasers....

[fc60]

Greetings,

When Star of San Diego closed, Magma Engineering purchased the Greaser tooling and parts.

I have now learned that two weeks from today, 09FEB2024, the assets of Magma Engineering will be auctioned off.

Mr. Clausing said that sourcing of castings and other material along with not being able to find skilled conventional Machinists led to his decision to close shop.

No one has come forward to purchase the company.

So, if you want a Star Greaser, now is the time to buy.

Hopefully, we will not see Star Greasers of Communist China on the horizon.

Good news, taken care of, the Greasers will outlast the owner.

Cheers,

Dave

[brian_a_mcmillen]

I just noticed that Magma is gone.  I think I ordered the very last die about 3 weeks ago but I forgot to order the top punch and tried to call on Monday…no answer.  It’s a real shame that yet another family-run shooting company has gone away.  Any ideas where I can find a .223 top punch?

[rbwillnj]

I assume you want a flat punch like those offered by Magma.   I can make Lubesizer punches.

As it turns out, I have a bucket of unhardened expanders that use the same thread as the lubesizer punches.   They are easy to turn down into punches.   I can also do nose punches, but I need a sample bullet.

I also have the punch nuts as they are the same as the expander nuts.


Bruce Williams

[Humbo]

What about dies, is there someone who makes dies for the Star sizers?

[fc60]

What about dies, is there someone who makes dies for the Star sizers?

Greetings,

Original Star dies are made of Tool Steel, hardened, outside ground, inside honed, and the leade polished.

Not to mention the holes on the side to grease the bullet....

Also note the profile of the entry hole of the die. It is a slightly larger diameter followed by a taper.

They look simple; but, are a precision tool.

Lots of folks are making dies made on a lathe with no heat treat.

Only a small piece of grit will scratch/score the inside of the die and your bullets will now have a scratch on the outside.

If you mistakenly press a slightly oversize die (the 0.7500" diameter) into your press, all your original Star dies may start to leak lube at the top and bottom because the hole in the Greaser was swaged larger in diameter.

Machining a die properly is not difficult; yet, it is time consuming to do right. Especially one die at a time. Doing ten identical dies would make it less tedious.

I do not envy your quest for aftermarket dies.

Cheers,

Dave