litho sheets

have acquired several hundred sheets of print plates, these aluminum sheets mic out at .012 plus or minus, they seem fairly soft & bend very easily and can be easily straightened. Question is? has anybody tried these for gas checks I have recently purchased new PM 44 &45 dies and really don't want to destroy them if I can help it (I'm known for that sort of thing around here) should I be annealing these if so how much heat and how long? If it will work I have probably got 25 lifetimes supply. suggestion and info would be a huge help.

I use aluminium sheets that mic around .008 for my 6.5 gas checks. Then for .270 I use .012 sheeting. If it is soft then there is no need to anneal. It wont do anything.

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S couple of members also use them. Go ahead.

Nice find. I'm jealous, they make great gas checks.

For the calibers, I make gas checks for, 22 - 32 cal

PM dies are made for specific material thickness.

Are your PM dies for plain base boolits? If so, I suspect .012 is too thick.
If they are for conventional GC boolits with gas check shank, .012 may be too thin (for 44 or 45) to get crimped tightly onto the shank when put in the size die.

As to hardness, you won't wreck your dies just trying to cut .012 litho...if it's too hard, you'll get tearing instead of shearing...as well as having some forming problems. I use .006 litho for 22 cal checks, it isn't too hard, doesn't need annealing.
Good Luck

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Originally Posted by brass410

have acquired several hundred sheets of print plates, these aluminum sheets mic out at .012 plus or minus, they seem fairly soft & bend very easily and can be easily straightened. Question is? has anybody tried these for gas checks I have recently purchased new PM 44 &45 dies and really don't want to destroy them if I can help it (I'm known for that sort of thing around here) should I be annealing these if so how much heat and how long? If it will work I have probably got 25 lifetimes supply. suggestion and info would be a huge help.

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Where did you find it? I am personally on lookout for any aluminum sheet source and soft aluminum is great.

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the local print shop does some custom work so they still use one of the older lithograph machines I enquired about aluminum sheets for another project and they said come out back and they set 2 skids about 50 inch high on my truck and said a donation to the shop coffee fund would be great! I can go back any time a get more if I have need for them (I gave several timmys gift cards and mugs)

I have used the exact thing for 30 cal checks and they work very well. Since there was no way to crimp them on, they were used only for full power loads. They may be better than factory checks....


P.S. In a full power load, the tapered check shank on the bullet and the aluminium check smash in and fill the grooves full.... Amazing what 40,000 psi can do...

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Originally Posted by Rcmaveric

I use aluminium sheets that mic around .008 for my 6.5 gas checks.

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I also make 6.5 gas checks, using .008" litho plates and homemade dies. I get great results, no annealing necessary.

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Originally Posted by brass410

have acquired several hundred sheets of print plates, these aluminum sheets mic out at .012 plus or minus....

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I just noticed you said .012" The ones I acquired a month ago are only .005 which is barely thicker than pop can (.004) and it's painted/powder coated. I found they fit 22 cal but I don't like paint as it strips during sizing. Also will probably be good for plain base .357 If i didn't have ton of pop cans already for that.


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.012 litho can work on some regular GK shanks like, .357, 6.5, .41 Lyman etc. But .008 litho has been the best thickness for plain base. When we started out with Plain Base checks we bought used .008 plates from the local newspaper, but its nasty dealing with the gummy ink sometimes. Put the painted litho side turned in, shiny side out where the sizing die will contact the metal.

Normally we suggest you use .014 to .015 for .30's, .015 aluminum or copper is great for most .30 cal rifles up to .312 or so. The Hornady, Gator, Sage's Outdoors .017 thick copper .30 caliber's are made with about the same gilding brass / 210 copper, those can be sized above .312. The .303's I make use .018 metal and size .318 good. Commercial .22's are made with .010 to .011 usually.

thanks for input guys I will probably start making some in feb will let you know how these work out

Just something to consider is litho plates run in a fairly acidic bath and it may be a good idea to give them a good rinse with clear water before using them. This will also remove any gum arabic coating that is often applied to the plates to keep them from oxidizing between press runs.

I started out with these litho sheets from the newspaper office, gave then a quick "wipe down" with a alcohol soaked rag (outdoors), scored them and made strips. I did the same with Beer cans (I happen to like Bud Lite nice blue color). punched out the disks with Pat Marlins 30 cal. maker. Did a pile of the Litho strips and then the Beer cans, each separately. Then stacked one of the Litho and one of the beer can in the former part wound up with .013 or .014, they worked fine, except the one next to the powder, generally the pop or beer can would come off not to far out of the muzzle.
I shot these over 3031 out of my 30-30 and over Unique in the 308 Win.
In the FreeCheck Maker you can double the strips together, they work as well.
Accuracy seems to be as good.
I used this system until I locate the Amarimax 68104 Aluminum material, which is all i use now.

Some litho sheets make good barn shingles. Just sayin.