"One man's junk is another man's treasure"
Quote unknown
For quite sometime I have been fascinated by vintage mechanical items. Be it firearms, tractors, steam engines, etc. I have held them in High regard as to the level of craftsmanship it took to craft such an article to be both functional in its day as well as to be capable of surviving decades latter. The star reloading company is no exception to this standard, for quite some time I have desired star reloading equipment but have put off purchasesing due to my existing equipment. I went on to buy a Phelps copy of a star universal in 45 acp, I bought a automated star from a loading shop in new York state, and finally after being impressed i deemed it necessary to have a star set permanently in 357mag.
Well you may have noticed the price of loading equipment is through the roof for some reason this year , so finding a progressive star that would not break the bank was a challenge...... which I overcome.
I located this scrap metal heap and gleefully paid 250 shipped for the press. From what I understand from the seller the press was under water for 10 to 20 years in a abondanded state. I love a good story and bringing items back from the brink of death.
The rust had everything welded in place and the only thing that let me save this was my own personal experience as a machinist in a hydraulic shop, a propane torch, wd40, and praying to jesus for things not to break or twist off
It took a month of soaking in various penetration oils and even then I was not able to save everything as I broke the safety cam pin attempting to pull out of steel base. (Its a two piece pin and once heated the hat slides off) so I will just have to use caution, the same as you would on a dillon 550.
I will now give credit where it is due for the parts, ideas, answering countless emails, and taking my phone calls and dealing with a 28 year old dummy. Thank you Bruce Williams of the star machine work company in new Jersey. They are amazing and they single handedly support and keep these presses running for decades to come.
Now the after pictures.....
The finished and at this point unused press due to time constraints. It is set to throw 14.5 grains of 2400 and will need a case feeder to be made and mounted but every thing in due time.
Quote unknown
For quite sometime I have been fascinated by vintage mechanical items. Be it firearms, tractors, steam engines, etc. I have held them in High regard as to the level of craftsmanship it took to craft such an article to be both functional in its day as well as to be capable of surviving decades latter. The star reloading company is no exception to this standard, for quite some time I have desired star reloading equipment but have put off purchasesing due to my existing equipment. I went on to buy a Phelps copy of a star universal in 45 acp, I bought a automated star from a loading shop in new York state, and finally after being impressed i deemed it necessary to have a star set permanently in 357mag.
Well you may have noticed the price of loading equipment is through the roof for some reason this year , so finding a progressive star that would not break the bank was a challenge...... which I overcome.
I located this scrap metal heap and gleefully paid 250 shipped for the press. From what I understand from the seller the press was under water for 10 to 20 years in a abondanded state. I love a good story and bringing items back from the brink of death.
The rust had everything welded in place and the only thing that let me save this was my own personal experience as a machinist in a hydraulic shop, a propane torch, wd40, and praying to jesus for things not to break or twist off
It took a month of soaking in various penetration oils and even then I was not able to save everything as I broke the safety cam pin attempting to pull out of steel base. (Its a two piece pin and once heated the hat slides off) so I will just have to use caution, the same as you would on a dillon 550.
I will now give credit where it is due for the parts, ideas, answering countless emails, and taking my phone calls and dealing with a 28 year old dummy. Thank you Bruce Williams of the star machine work company in new Jersey. They are amazing and they single handedly support and keep these presses running for decades to come.
Now the after pictures.....
The finished and at this point unused press due to time constraints. It is set to throw 14.5 grains of 2400 and will need a case feeder to be made and mounted but every thing in due time.
