Will a gas check help?

[Motor]

I'm loading a 440gr Lee .501" for my .500 S&W

The load is 13gr Unique.

I don't have a bore leading issue. I fired 40 rounds yesterday and the last was as accurate as the first and there was no accumulating leading. The bore cleaned easily.

The problem is with the muzzle brake. It is getting painted with lead on it's interior.

Will a gas check stop the muzzle brake from accumulating lead?

Motor

[jhalcott]

I doubt it, but I do NOT shoot gas checks thru my muzzle braked guns. I shoot Jacketed bullets for them.

[robinsroost]

If your bore is not leading up but your muzzle brake does, then blow by, as the bullet leaves the barrel, is melting lead from the base and sides of the bullet. A gas check may help with your problem, buy some and try them before you go to the expense of a GC mold.........Robin

[Motor]

Robin. The mould IS a gas check mould. I have no problems with shooting low end loads with my other gas check boolits without having them checked and really not having any with these except for the muzzle brake.

Motor

[44man]

Robin. The mould IS a gas check mould. I have no problems with shooting low end loads with my other gas check boolits without having them checked and really not having any with these except for the muzzle brake.

Motor
That is most of the problem. I shoot nothing but PB in my big bores but they ARE PB. I will not shoot a GC boolit without one and do not like a BB boolit either.
I do not own a gun with a break but know what those gas jets can do.
Clean the break, put the checks on and see if it helps.
Are there any burrs where the brake was cut? Maybe bore lapping in the brake area will fix it.
I don't like the things because I hunt and do not want the noise.

[Motor]

No burrs. The brake is large inside. Then restricts at the muzzle of the brake. I'm going to have to look into making a check maker. Being a machinist making it should not be a problem.

It would probably be a good idea though to try some first. The guys on the gas check thread hooked me up with a link and they sell smaller than 1000 quantities.

Motor

[Geezer in NH]

For the price clean it after each shooting section. I always clean after each. Lazy and wait I have no help.

[Motor]

That's what I've been doing. The boolits are water quench lead/linotype and measure 12bhn. I can easily make harder boolits and with a metplat like this not worry about their ability to kill as an option too.

Thanks for the input gentleman I now have several options and really any of them should be satisfactory.

Motor

[RobsTV]

Great timing post. I've been spending the last several hours cleaning the same part for the same reason. Rarely clean muzzle break thoroughly like this. Maybe 150-200 rounds since last good cleaning? Tried stainless pin wet tumbling for a few hours, with little progress. Finally ended up going with the 50/50 dip method, which cleaned it out spotlessly. But, I always use gas checks with that boolit. Many (most?) don't stay on during flight, and are found on ground on the way to target. Accuracy much less than I had hoped, with 2" groups at 50 yards from sandbags on a good day. Also had to ream then lap cylinder .501 to get it this good. Usually run the 440gr at around 1350fps.

The S&W 500 version I have (later model 163501) includes 2 muzzle breaks, one for jacketed and another longer version for lead. They still both seem to have the same crud/lead buildup after a few shooting sessions, although I think the lead version helps reduce muzzle rise the most. Switching to PC and no gas check to see if that helps anything here.

[Motor]

My 440s are sub-sonic and accurate. I don't know if you saw on other posts but I also load the Lee 250gr REAL sized to .501"
I load these with 12gr Unique. My brother's 500 has a 2x-7x scope on it. Off a sand bag rest at 50 yards you can shoot as many as you want on my steel swinger and all will be in one impact spot.

What's even more impressive is they are 12bhn and lubed with A-Lox and hardy leave any trace of lead in the bore..

I am seriously considering getting the 320gr REAL just for the 500 Smith.

Motor

[Echo]

An early smith talked about the 'tails' that are formed on lead bullets due to the rifling swaging some lead backwards, so that as the bullet leaves the muzzle, the tails are blown off. When I was early in my competition career, I used an issue High Standard that had a brake, and I had to dig the lead out every few months, a couple times per year.
So I believe a GC will help your situation - but that is only rationalization, as I have no experience in oyu situation.