Is it my bullet mold or my star luber ???

[hotwheelz]

OK guys I have had my star for about 6 months now and have gotten used to changing things around and getting it set up right but Im fighting with this bullet for along time today. It a rcbs 45-225-RN the base measures .454 but the front driving band { not sure if thats the prpoper term } is only .448 and it semms the lube is filling out the lube cavity and bleeding past the front driving band and getting on the nose of the bullet please help me. IM really fustrated at this point and it time to goto work. Hopefully some of you will have some good ideas for me so I fix this weekend.

[dubber123]

The under sized front band is allowing lube to bleed by. The Star is pretty high pressure too, which makes it worse. The only cure I could see is a mould that casts big enough to seal above and below the lube groove. .448 is really small, so I don't even think lapping will help.

See if you can find out what the specs are on the front band. If it's off, I bet RCBS will replace it.

[HeavyMetal]

Are you base sizing or nose sizing? The direction the boolit faces makes a difference when suggestions are made as to lengthing or shortening the "punch" used to push the boolit through the Star.

In this case if you were nose sizing I'd suggest that you try making the punch longer and try to get the lube groove on your boolit more in line, or just past, the hole in your die and then try less pressure on the Lube reservior handle.

The Star is supposed to inject lube at the bottom of the handles travel not have it inject under pressure as you push it through.

Hope I explained that right?

[anachronism]

I had a miserable time with Lymans 452374 doing that. To make my Star happy, I now only buy moulds with a well defined shank, semiwadcutters mostly. If everything isn't perfectly sized from the mould, my roundnose moulds would regularly leak lube on the nose of the bullet.

[runfiverun]

i think i have that mold somewhere and have never even cleaned the oil off it.
what is it for??

[454PB]

Looks to be a .45 ACP boolit. I'd say you're not going to cure the problem, just the wrong design for a star. To stop it, you need .452" (assuming that's what you're sizing) on each side of the grease groove when the boolit stops and the lube is injected. I don't see that happening with .454" on one side and .448" on the other.

[KYCaster]

Hotwheelz, it looks like you may be casting too hot and not getting complete fill out...especially the third boolit from the left...looks like a void right above the lube groove.

Try casting with a cooler mold, that may help.

Also shorten the stroke on the pump to put less lube to the groove. It looks like your temp. and pressure are OK.

Jerry

[Springfield]

If it is .454 on one sealing edge and .448 on the other I dn't see how ANY sizer will work. That pressure has to go somewhere.

[bobthenailer]

id say its the bullet mould , send it back to rcbs with a note for replacement. i also have 2 stars and the rcbs 230 rn bullet and have no problem sizeing to .452 without lube bleeding past the bullet

[hotwheelz]

I havent been able to track down the orginal specs on the mold and they do not make it anymore so Ill have to call them and see what they have to say. As far as backing down the pressure tried but its such a fat lube grove that it doesnt fill out the whole grove. I tried pushing it down farther that helped what seems tobe be the key to kepping it at a fast pace and easy on the handle downward pressure. Thanks for all the ideas fella's I have regained my patience today and it maybe time to replace this mold with someething else bad part is I really like the bullet profile and it feeds so good into my 625 with moon clips those long taper noses you can almost throw them into the gun from a foot away or I may just do like I did this evening and spend 10-15min cleaning off the extra lube off

[Lloyd Smale]

almost looks like to me you have hot spots on those bullets too. bottom line is if that bullet is really .448 ahead of the lube grove its not going to shoot well anyway. there seems to be a certain temp between to hot and two cold that causes bullets to hot spot between cavitys. Id either try slowing down casting or turn your pot up and cast faster to see if you get bullets that measure bigger ahead of the lube grove. This problem seems to be more prevelent to me when i use alloys that are rich in tin. Another thing that can cause this problem is if your mold isnt cleaned properly before you cast with it. Scrub your molds real well with a tooth brush and dawn dish soap. Alos take a needle and clean out the vent lines real well. Remember when casting that your bullet should look the same everywhere. If it is shinny it should be shinny over then entire surface and if it is frosted it should be frosted the entire surface of the bullets.

[hotwheelz]

The spots are probably my fault when droping them out of the mold into the tray I have couple towels lineing it but sometimes they hit other bullets. But before I cast next time I will clean it and try the needle trick first time I have heard of it I was using a pencil before to clean out the vent lines.

[dardascastbullets]

The spots are probably my fault when droping them out of the mold into the tray I have couple towels lineing it but sometimes they hit other bullets. But before I cast next time I will clean it and try the needle trick first time I have heard of it I was using a pencil before to clean out the vent lines.

Your problem lies in your metal mix. It is starving for tin which is obvious from your photos. Look at the top and bottom fillets of the lube grooves and the bases - they are severely rounded. And there is an obviously tell tale on the third bullet in regards to the large depression which caused the lube to leak past the groove onto the bullet's nose. Also your bullets are frosted which is indicative of trying to overcome an alloy problem by attempting to cast at a higher temperature (greater than 725F).

Add tin to increase the concentration to 2% and your problems will go away. Once this problem is corrected, then and only then can you set the top punch of the Star Luber to the corrrect position. By the way, when you get your tin to 2% concentration, you can then decrease the heat exponentially and have shiny, filled out bullets dropping from your mould free of defects.

I trust that this information will help you correct your problems.

[Shotgun Luckey]

Ditto the above advise, and also...

If you are using a heater, your lube may be a bit on the warm side. over warm lube, and to high of pressure may not be causing all your problems, but it may help to play with those factors....JMHO...(Just My Humble Opinion)

[hotwheelz]

Your problem lies in your metal mix. It is starving for tin which is obvious from your photos. Look at the top and bottom fillets of the lube grooves and the bases - they are severely rounded. And there is an obviously tell tale on the third bullet in regards to the large depression which caused the lube to leak past the groove onto the bullet's nose. Also your bullets are frosted which is indicative of trying to overcome an alloy problem by attempting to cast at a higher temperature (greater than 725F).

Add tin to increase the concentration to 2% and your problems will go away. Once this problem is corrected, then and only then can you set the top punch of the Star Luber to the corrrect position. By the way, when you get your tin to 2% concentration, you can then decrease the heat exponentially and have shiny, filled out bullets dropping from your mould free of defects.

I trust that this information will help you correct your problems.

Thanks for the info I keep my pot at about 650 degrees according to my thermometer , I am using staight WW right now if I add some linotype will that help i have no tin ? what is a good source for tin ?

[Shotgun Luckey]

lead-free solder is nearly pure tin, usually 95-97%

I've been able to get some for around 8 bucks/pound off that online auction site