Any one else had a problem EBAY aluminum gas checks?

[JedYonkers]

Started casting for 223 today bullets turned out great NOE 225-55 mold.

I ordered some gas checks off of ebay and had nothing but problems getting them to seat firmly or evenly. The checks were a bit uneven and had a nice burr where I imagined there were stamp out.

I remembered reading a post about using a ball bearing to flare them a bit. So I got to thinking and walking to the hardware store. I picked up a brass acorn nut and a machine screw and any ways a quick tap with a tack hammer and all is well.

I was using a lee sizer and feeding base first because I couldn't get them to crimp well nose first.

Anyone else had a problem with them and maybe know another source of cheap gas checks? The free chex is out of my budget right now.

[koehn,jim]

I have found it depends on which seller you buy from.

[Casper29]

I make my own, from a pat marlin gas checker

[JedYonkers]

I make my own, from a pat marlin gas checker

Does he offer one in 22 cal?

[altheating]

I also cast the 225-55 FN and just started making checks with the Freechex III tool. They snap right on and crimp on perfectly. With the Freechex III tool you get one complete check with each press of the handle. No putting them back in the tool to reform the disks like with Pat Marlins tool. I just finished making 8000 checks, about 2000 per hour if I have the strips pre-cut. No place to get cheap checks unless you make them. The cost of the tool equals out to the cost of 5000 checks and postage give or take.

[badboyparamedic]

What material do use to make the checks?

[altheating]

.008 roof flashing. I have Litho Sheets coming today. They are 8 mil. The sample that was sent with the freechex tool was 8 mil and that also worked well.

[Jeff Michel]

I recently aquired some 7mm checks from Sage Outdoor. I understand they are made with Freechex tooling. My questions is: Is anyone having issues with oversized checks from this tooling? I bought these specifically to see how they compare with the commerical offering before ordering a Freechex. Is there any dodge or way around this oversize issue? I've heard of people using superglue of hot melt glue to affix the check prior to lube/size. I'm curious to hear from anyone who does this and their sucess.
Thanks,
Jeff Michel

[Kraschenbirn]

Which supplier was the source for those checks from fleaBay? Any idea? I browsed through 'Gas Checks' over there a couple nights a go and noticed there are several sellers.

Also, while he's not a Cast Boolits vendor, there's a guy in Florida - The Gas Check Store - who offers aluminum checks in .008, .010, and .014 thicknesses (Hornaday copper checks are .014). Haven't tried these but may order one of his sample packs just to see what they're like.

Bill

[mdi]

Most aluminum beverage cans will be too thin to make good gas checks. I've found most run .007" to .010" and for my molds I need at least .014" to get the checks on tight. I was carrying my mic. with me every time I went to the hardware store checking various sheet metal/shim material. If my free-check tool isn't lined up perfectly, I'll get lopsided checks or a burr. I'm normally a tinkerer, and speed isn't important, but the free-check tool is pretty sloooooooow even for me...

[Jal5]

I just lubed and sized some of those NOE boolits for .223 yesterday using Blammer's checks available on this site. No problems, they fit perfect and you hear a click as they go on. In my Lee push through sizer they go right on and crimp on the boolit. Joe

[Shamus]

I recently aquired some 7mm checks from Sage Outdoor. I understand they are made with Freechex tooling. My questions is: Is anyone having issues with oversized checks from this tooling? I bought these specifically to see how they compare with the commerical offering before ordering a Freechex. Is there any dodge or way around this oversize issue? I've heard of people using superglue of hot melt glue to affix the check prior to lube/size. I'm curious to hear from anyone who does this and their sucess.
Thanks,
Jeff Michel



I know a growing number of our customers are using LEE molds that drop bullets with small shanks. The 7mm Soup Can we tested was tapered and undersized. So, Sage's Outdoors is making .017 7mm's now as standard. We only had two complaints recently out of thousands sold. But, we saw the issue first hand with our own fresh out of the box 7mm Soup Can mold.

We make custom fittings, send out thicker or thinner options etc. By far most of our business is repeat customers that have old military rifles. .303, 7mm and 8mm are gaining in sales every month. Unlike the usual aluminum checks, we use the thickest material as practical. We use .017 material often now, .014 is mainly used on .30's and our .45 pistol checks.

If we haven't sent the .017 7mm's to you already, drop us an email with your info: sales@sagesoutdoors.com

[xacex]

I have tried the .22, and they were to tight on both the Lee Bator, and MiHec 5.56. Also tried the .30 cal which worked fine, and I now own that freechex III tool. I just tried the .50 cal checks and they can be pulled off, but go on nice. I wont use the .22's and will load up these .50's before I make a judgment call on them.

[captaint]

While I've not shot that boolit, I have used Blammer's Gator Checks, and they work
great. No problems at all. Cheap enough, too. Mike

[uscra112]

Have a batch of boolits bought from a seller who used some sort of aluminum check. He glued them on, because they wouldn't crimp properly. Would not have known except I tried to melt the blue lube off, so as to replace it with my own, and the heat caused 90% of the checks to pop off. On examination they have two obvious problems. The draw is too shallow, so they grip only the very end of the shank, and secondly there is no burr on the edge, (like Hornady gilding metal checks have), to be swaged into the lead to enhance the grip. That's it for me. My opinion of cheap aluminum checks is that they are overpriced for the value received.

[tinsmith]

I would like to purchase some .30 cal. and .35 cal (357 Mag.) gas checks. Midway is sold out of most gas checks. On Ebay they are going for crazy prices. Can anyone recommend a supplier for good quality gas checks? I would be willing to try aluminum checks if they are as good as copper. I don't shoot enough to justify buying a check maker.

[uscra112]

From what I've learnt, buy only from somebody who's using Pat Marlin's tools, if you have to buy aluminum at all.

[johnnybar]

Lot's of talk here about checks and check making tools not working out, with certain bullets or molds, without mentioning all pieces to the puzzle: measured bearing surface diameter of sized bullet, measured base diameter of presized bullet, measured material thickness of check and measured throat diameter of bore if a performance issue. The fly in the ointment can't be caught without all the information.

[1Shirt]

Have used Sage GC's in 22, 6.5, 7mm, and 30 cal. without any problems.
1Shirt!

[sthwestvictoria]

I have used sage checks, only in .30. For me they stay on Lee shanks 150FN and 170Fn. I size with Lee push through. I find the Sage GC in my backstop so they certainly stay on.

[uscra112]

I don't learn well, apparently. Needed some .22 checks for a new rifle, and bought off-brand from a Gunbroker listing. Turn out to be made on a Freechex tool. Over 1/3 would come off the shank as I pulled them from the sizer. Just the stickiness of the lube was enough. Could flip many of the rest off with a thumbnail. Ordered up some Hornady checks next day. Same boolit, same sizer, same lube, and ZERO percent of the last 160 boolits that I processed had the check pull off.

[Reg]

Have only played with .22 and .30 cal in aluminum checks but have learned one size will not fit all.
In the .22 cal., not only did I have to use several different thickness of aluminum but also wound up making two different punch sets. In the .30 cal., one punch set so far seems to do it but have used a total of three different thickness of material.
It's hard to imagine that it would take all of this to come up with proper fitting checks but for me at least, it does.
Having checks so loose as to require gluing on would not be acceptable.
Going back and measuring all the Lyman and Hornaday checks I could find it looks as some of the Hornaday material ( copper ) especially will come out to .014 in thickness and even found a odd few as thick as .017. Evidently it was this thickness that was relied on in the crimping process using a supported tool such as the Lymans etc., to lock everything together. Because of the way the bullet was supported top, bottom and side there was little distortion as long as the proper nose punch was used.
You don't get this total support when using the Lee push through sizing method and have noticed a lot of distortion of the gas check itself if too thick of a gas check material is used. The bottom will either be bowed out and the bullet will not sit flat or it might be uneven and creightered in appearance. We are talking very minor differences here but that's all it takes to make good or bad bullets.
I still think the push through method will produce a much more central and accurately sized bullet to the extent I have sold my old Lyman 45 sizer but have learned you must match the thickness of the check to the dia. of the of the bullet base. Seems to be a balancing game. You don't want any distortion, the base must be level but the checks must be tightly affixed.

[Changeling]

USCRA112, you seem to have a pretty good handle on the gas check problems. Why is it that the guys using Horndy gas checks have no problems, when the other guys all seem to have problems/complaints.
I have to add that I haven't heard any complaints about the Gator checks, but I really don't know.

What's your take on this situation?



I don't learn well, apparently. Needed some .22 checks for a new rifle, and bought off-brand from a Gunbroker listing. Turn out to be made on a Freechex tool. Over 1/3 would come off the shank as I pulled them from the sizer. Just the stickiness of the lube was enough. Could flip many of the rest off with a thumbnail. Ordered up some Hornady checks next day. Same boolit, same sizer, same lube, and ZERO percent of the last 160 boolits that I processed had the check pull off.

[uscra112]

USCRA112, you seem to have a pretty good handle on the gas check problems. Why is it that the guys using Horndy gas checks have no problems, when the other guys all seem to have problems/complaints.

I have to add that I haven't heard any complaints about the Gator checks, but I really don't know.

What's your take on this situation?

Well, first off the Hornady checks feature a turned-in burr on the inside of the cup rim, which digs in and grips when the check is swaged onto the bullet shank. Take a magnifier to see it, but it's there. To accomplish this requires blanking the check and drawing it in separate operations, and the blanking dies are deliberately dull, so as to create that burr. Keeping them the right amount of dull is probably harder than keeping a die sharp. :D

Second, the Freechex tool this guy was using was cutting a "divot" out of the check sidewall, because of the stripper design. The divot was about half the depth of the draw. This means that the rim of the check has no "hoop strength" to maintain tension on the shank. Think rubber band holding a sheet of wax paper on a jar. Cut the rubber band, and what happens?

I faintly remember using some .30 cal Gator checks with no obvious problems. Have never had any Pat Marlin check to evaluate, so don't know about them.

I'd love to see what kind of presses Hornady uses. I remember a company called Minster, that made presses that would do that. They ran so fast they were called "Hummingbirds", and the flow of finished stampings in the exit chute looked like water.