Flare Gas Checks??

[VTDW]

I have always had problems with gas check fit. I believe the reason for this is I use oversized boolits and gas checks come undersized for the boolits I load.

For example, my Hornady .44Cal gas checks measure .401-.402 inside diameter and my boolit bases measure .405-.409. I looked around and found a punch with a radius'd head and use it to flare my gas checks. Wow but what a difference it makes!! No more uneven gas checks and they crimp nicely when run thru the sizer. I also do this for my .308MX as I use .311 boolits. I haven't gone to the trouble of writing down the dimensions for the .30 Caliber gas checks or my boolit base sizes but they sure crimp on nicely and I don't have to bounce the lever on my Lyman 4500 sizer to try and get the gas checks square with the bases. I tried annealing with and without quenching and it didn't help but flaring sure does.

Anyone else do this?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v354/vtdw1/Gas%20Checks/HPIM0101.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v354/vtdw1/Gas%20Checks/HPIM0107.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v354/vtdw1/Gas%20Checks/HPIM0108.jpg

[NVcurmudgeon]

Yes, combining annealing with flaring works the best for me. For .35 cal. the punch is a .22 Hornet case driven into a 7 Rem. Mag. case mouth to mouth. For .30 cal. a slightly turned down at the square end Volkswagen air cooled fuel pump push rod is a perfect fit. If the GC shank is too big flaring is needed, and if it is too small, annealing prevents spring back.

[Shiloh]

This is often necessary for "fat .30" boolits. The regular commercial mold boolits, Lee and Lyman,
often won't need it. Beagled molds may benefit from this procedure also.

Shiloh

[VTDW]

Thanks folks!:drinks: I was hoping I wasn't doing something silly.

Dave