Dillon 450 and Star Machine Works

[kman300]

Dillon

Thanks

 

[Rory McCanuck]

That's a nice haul of some pretty good equipment.
I see some assorted reloading stuff in the background, do you
already reload? If not, set out all the odds and sods your
buddy gave you, and we can inventory what you have, and
give you an idea of what you'll need.

It looks like there is a die installed in the Star, have a look
and see if there is any info stamped on the sides of the die.

 

[kman300]

Figured it out

 

[Canuck223]

The version of Star press you have I believe uses proprietary dies. My guess is yours is a .38 Special. They were the poo back in the day. Mike Dillon got into the reloading business making parts and eventually a press largely derived from the Star pattern. (RL1000)

There are still a lot of Star fans out there, and if you google, you can find replacement parts.

The Dillon 450 is the father of the 550. The 550 adds a removable tool head, and automatic powder dropping and primer feeding.

I believe the items in the last picture are cast bullet sizers. They are used to size cast bullets down to the proper diameter.

 

[Auggie Doggie]

Those are cast bullet luber/sizers.

Auggie D.

 

[kman300]

Thanks

 

[Canuck223]

For the 450 you'd need the 40s&w conversion for the 550 and possibly the primer assembly if the one on the press is the wrong size.

 

[kman300]

Thanks

 

[Spawn-Inc]

That would be 20179 and then also a set of 3 piece dies?

How can I tell if I have the right primer assembly?

not 100% sure, but you should be able to push the arm/handle forward and match up the primer "pin/pusher" to the size of primer.

 

[kman300]

How?

 

[buckbrush]

as far as the Cast Boolit sizers go, the Green one is a RCBS LAM11, it is their current model. The two orange ones are Lyman 45's, discontinued in the early sixty's, but uses current dies and are useful.

 

[bear.23]

You can do a frame upgrade on the 450 to a 550 takes some time and big hammer to change it all over..

 

[kman300]

I called dillon today. Very helpful and professional. I ordered 40 s&w dies, caliber conversion and the auto primer kit. Mine was set up for large primers and they no longer have the parts for small primer on the old manual primer system so I had to upgrade to load small primers. Cost me a little over $200. Will update again when it all gets here.

Cheers