Resurrecting a Star Universial Reloading Tool

[Colorado_Outback]

My dad got this from a family friend a number of years ago and after watching my buddy run his Dillion I decided its time to bring this ole girl back from the dead.

On with the pics!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8200/8201268177_1fe6aff155_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8204/8201275675_8c18a66903_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8068/8201267061_b2967a97b4_c.jpg

This press was setup to throw 3.7 grains of Bullseye.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8197/8201276655_56884fa3ac_c.jpg

However my fav .45 load is 6 grains of Unique, so we did some fancy math and my buddy at work tossed the measure slide in his mill and opened up the charge hole for me. Now the throw is between 6 and 6.2 grains of Unique.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8204/8202371424_435e56d322_c.jpg

This Star has an aftermarket case feeder that works awesome, however its missing the case feed tube. It could also use a new powder hopper as the one that it came with is badly discolored and a little warped.
I ordered a couple pieces of PC to replace the powder hopper and missing case feed tube.

More pics and info to come as I replace missing components, return this ole girl to her former glory and crank out some .45ACP!

[spqrzilla]

Wonderful to see old reloading equipment being used.

[Great-Kazoo]

Very Impressive, I am truly jealous. Want to sell it:)

[paddywagon]

Very cool! And it probably works great too!

[Jherexx]

Can't wait to see your next post on this, good job on putting an old press back to use.

[Colorado_Outback]

Very Impressive, I am truly jealous. Want to sell it:)

Thats a true compliment coming from you Jim :)
And no, this one isnt for sale. Hope to pass it down to my son one day.

Headed out to the shop to try and run a couple rounds through it.

[Tim K]

That's pretty cool. Take some video.

[Great-Kazoo]

Thats a true compliment coming from you Jim :)
And no, this one isnt for sale. Hope to pass it down to my son one day.

Headed out to the shop to try and run a couple rounds through it.


Thanks man, I like the groovy old shit. Most of the stuff was hand made and or built to tight tolerances. Built to Last i believe the slogan was/is.
I donated an old Homelite XL12 chain saw to the res a few years back. The unit was in show room condition, literally. All correct sheet metal, bar, emblems etc. To date that unit is the only chainsaw the locals on the res have that has not been destroyed. Sthil, Husky, Jonsred, etc none of them have held up to the blatant abuse the XL-12 has and still standing. Here is something close to the condition my XL was in.
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/pp147/hannibal61577/Homelite%20XL-12/IMG_2477.jpg

May your children & grand children enjoy the many years this reloader will hold up. Oh yeah you enjoy it too:)

[Colorado_Outback]

That is bad ass Jim. Undoubtedly built in the USA and made to last.


Well I ran into a slight issue I went out to run some 230's, filled the powder hopper with Unique and checked the first charge. 6.8...[Eek3] The next 3 I check, all 6.8..

Only thing I can figure is when I checked the powder throw initially I only put a little powder in the hopper so I wouldn't have to drain a bunch back out. Now with the hopper full I think the weight of the powder above is compressing more powder into the chamber.

All is not lost though, 6.8 grains will still make a decent 185grn load.

Ultimately an adjustable slide is in order. I can get most of the dims off my slide and reverse engineer the rest from this picture.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8198/8204223935_31a3314fc6_z.jpg

[Great-Kazoo]

Powder baffle. You can find the info to do one yourself. OR I can snap a pic of one i have and fab one up.
http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/reloading/powder-measures-dispensers/rcbs-powder-baffle-90225.html
http://www.storesonline.com/images/common/imagewrap.img?picture.image.url=http://www.storesonline.com/members/696296/uploaded/baffle3x2@72.gif&output=gif&picture.width.max=200
Reverse engineering the slide should not be to hard to fab up, with the right tools.

[Colorado_Outback]

Powder baffle. You can find the info to do one yourself. OR I can snap a pic of one i have and fab one up.
http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/reloading/powder-measures-dispensers/rcbs-powder-baffle-90225.html
http://www.storesonline.com/images/common/imagewrap.img?picture.image.url=http://www.storesonline.com/members/696296/uploaded/baffle3x2@72.gif&output=gif&picture.width.max=200
Reverse engineering the slide should not be to hard to fab up, with the right tools.

Awesome! I was just sitting here sketching out ideas on how to baffle my new powder hopper. That design is way better than my initial ideas.

Ill try that first, I have some brass shim stock I think will fit the bill.

[Zombie Steve]

That is pretty damn cool. I have a star sizer (well, Magma), but I have a buddy that has a bunch of Star gear up in Conifer. It's good stuff.

[Great-Kazoo]

Here ya go.
http://www.starreloaders.com/faqs/faqs.html

Judging by the research i have been doing your machine could sell for an easy $800-1K. There is a lot of interest and people still using them, once again a solid hand crafted product stands the test of time.

[Colorado_Outback]

I have been lurking on that Star reloader forum for the last week or so, lots of good info.

My dad and I mad a baffle today. It dropped the charge a couple 1/10's but not enough to make a difference..
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8069/8209565189_19a3cd4821_c.jpg

Think ill glob some solder in the charge hole and then dial it back to 6 grains.

Ultimately an adjustable slide is what needs to happen.

[Great-Kazoo]

Contact these guys. They work on dillons. but you never know if what they offer might work depending on the thread pitch of your adj rod.
http://www.uniquetek.com

[Colorado_Outback]

Contact these guys. They work on dillons. but you never know if what they offer might work depending on the thread pitch of your adj rod.
http://www.uniquetek.com

Thats pretty cool. I might buy one and steal the guts out of it to use on my custom slide. I have a CMM, and a CNC machine shop at work so making new slide shouldn't be a problem.

[Colorado_Outback]

We decided to solder a blob in the powder chamber to try and take up some of the volume. Managed to get really lucky.. with the blob and the baffle in there it throws 6 grains +/- 1/10th of a grain. First try, lucky as hell :)

Next my dad decided that it needed a base with a hole in it so that the spent primers would drop through instead of building up underneath the machine. So he whipped this out on Friday.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8346/8218957803_699496a254_c.jpg

I ran 250 rounds through it tonight, it runs well no real issues to speak of. One thing I learned is if you do make a mistake (IE forget to index the shell plate) it takes a min to get everything back in the proper orientation.
Here you can see the shell plate full, the round in the back is ready to remove.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8340/8220048336_21ed927b51_c.jpg

[Great-Kazoo]

You need to stop posting pictures. Every time i see this loader,i have a CC in hand surfing the web. One day the deal will miraculously appear.