Gas Checks For 200 Gr 45 ACP

The gas check maker I made was used to build Soda Can gas check for installation on 45 ACP boolits.

The gas checks would at first shear on the side wall as the bullet and gas check were pushed through an upside down Lee push thru sizer.

The problem was solved by lubricating the inside of the Lee size with some hard bullet lube.

The Lee sizer was warmed a little and the lube was smeared around the internal bore of the Lee sizer.

The lube made the gas check and bullet to be easily pushed thru the up side down sizer by a small hand press from Harbor Freight.

I may have made the cup height too tall for this application.

The cup wall of the gas check drags along the inside of the Lee push thru size and the friction must put enough force on the thin sode can aluminum to cause the thin aluminum to tear.

Thicker material with more strength will be tried the next time, the .006 thick roof flashing should be stronger than the soda can material.

After lubing the bore of the Lee push thru sizer the process work alright with the soda can gas checks.

The picture below is of the Harbor Freight Press, Gas Check Maker, Up Side Down Lee Push Thru Size, bullets with gas checks installed.

no higher res shot?

What diameter is the punch used to push the boolit w/gc attached through the size die?? I find that a punch that is .005" to .010" less than boolit diameter is what is needed.

When installing the gas check the punch is not used.
The cast bullets push each other thru the inverted Lee push thru sizer.
The Lee sizer is used the same as it is in the press but the sizer is up side down and the small hand press push the bullets thru one after the other.

The flat part of the bullet nose in the Lee sizer is where the second bullet is set before it is pushed down, the first bullet falls out the sizer and the nose on the second bullet is where the third bullet is set before it is pushed.

A higher resolution picture at another angle is also included.

In the picture there is already a bullet in the sizer that has been pushed, the bullet on top is ready to push and is setting on the bullet nose already pushed flush with the mouth of the sizer.

It took about 2 hours to install gas check on 500 bullets that had already been lubed.

These bullets were purchased some years back and I thought about installing gas checks on them.

The process works but is a little slow.

I can't help but ask the question.....

Why put a g/c on a .45 ACP cast bullet ?

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Originally Posted by Ben

I can't help but ask the question.....

Why put a g/c on a .45 ACP cast bullet ?

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Amen!

same here????

well, my interest is taking one and loading it with 48-50 grains of H110 in a 460 S&W. I think they would work well in an X-frame. But noone makes a cheap GC mold in 45 cal for the lightweights (I know, I know, and for good reason).

Are you applying a GC to a non-GC boolit? and then sizing it all down to the desired diameter? almost like swaging with a half-jacket or a quarter-jacket in this case.

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Originally Posted by 375RUGER

Are you applying a GC to a non-GC boolit? and then sizing it all down to the desired diameter? almost like swaging with a half-jacket or a quarter-jacket in this case.

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He is going with the plain base gas check idea. Some are making dies for just that purpose. I am making one to do this with 9mm pistol boolets. In looking at the pics, the only thing I see different is the deep cup. A shallower cup GC would go in the sizer with less effort and friction. If the sizer is new or nearly so,it may need some use to smooth up. If the boolets are very hard the sizing friction would be high. Possibly some spray on lube on the gas checks would be best.
n.h.schmidt

The cast bullets were purchased about 20 years ago.
They were found while cleaning off a shelf back in the shop.

The bullets have a bevel base and the gas check cup was made tall to completely cover the bullet up to the lube grove.

The Lee Push thru sizer bore was polished in the lathe, the throat of the Lee sizer is also opened up and polished to ease the starting of the bullet with the gas check.

Shooting the bullets with the cola can gas checks leaves no lead in the barrel.

The lee puch thru sizer works well for installing gas checks once the bore of the sizer is lubed.

The gas check maker was also made in my shop.

On an earlier post there are PDF drawings of gas check makers for 32 Cal, 357-9mm, 40 Cal and 45 caliber.

Bullets with gas check have been configured using the Lee Push thru size for all of the calibers listed above.

All of the bullets I cast are normally coated with powder coat, sometimes gas check are also installed but it has been found the powder coated bullets do not require gas check to keep the lead out of the barrel.

The gas check and powder coating remove a lot of the smoke while firing, most of the cartridges are load with W-231 powder.

Smoke is a problem sometimes early in the morning, with a lot of people on the firing line.

The little hand press from Harbor Freight is used to make the gas checks and also to install the gas checks.

This was a fun project just to see if it could be done. I found 4 boxes of 45 - 200 grain bullets on the shelf, I will install gas check on all of them over time as they are loaded.

Why? My .45 Carbine handles the PB gas check hollow point quite well. In fact, better than without the GC.

Been getting a few requesting .45 plain base gas checks every month, so we started offering them. Sales have been very slow as expected. Haven't shot any yet, been too busy. Going to try them in some 460 S&W loads when we get caught up and we will see how that goes. The 10mm plain base GK's have been out for some time now, good feedback so far, people like them.

are they small caps, or are yours also more like a half/quarter jacket or otherwise oversized check?

The gas checks I made are like a little cup. The bullets had a bevel base and to insure the gas check covered the bevel and had enough length to hold on to the bullet I made the height of the cup so as to almost cover the bullet base up to the lube grove.

The gas check were a little tall and due to friction the .004 thick cola can material would sometimes tear as the gas checks were installed by pushing thru an up side down Lee sizer.

I solved this problem by lubing the bore of the Lee sizer with some bullet lube and slowly pushed the bullet with the gas check thru the Lee sizing die.

To date I have installed gas checks of 2 boxes of 45 ACP bullet for a total of 1000.

The cola can gas checks for 9 mm and 38 Special are a lot shorter and goes on easily even though these bullets are also bevel base. I still lube the bore of the Lee die with some bullet lube to reduce the friction.

The thicker roofing valley material in .006 thickness would not have torn as easy ast the cola can material.

I have installed cola can gas checks of bullets for 32 S&W Long, 9 mm, 380 Auto, 38 Special, 45 ACP and 44 Mag.

I install gas check to keep the lead out of the barrel.

Most of the bullets I cast are powder coated and generally do not install gas checks on the powder coated bullets.

The 44 Mag bullets get powder coated and a gas check installed since I push these bullets at jacketed pressures and velocity.

I am still learning as I go along, making the gas check makers and learning how to install the gas checks has been fun.

Shooting gas check boolits in a .45 ACP in my eyes is not much different than shooting jacketed bullets. The .45 ACP doesn't really need them as cast works great. The plain based Boolits work a little better, especially when pushing things a little hotter. Tm using a lot of plain based checks because I make them and so other than effort there is little additional cost.

I have two molds that cast a little undersized at the base as they were intended to be used in a black powder percussion revolver. One is a Lee 450-200 RN and the other is a 450-200 RNHP. Both shot okay in the .45 ACP but shoot much better with the check. Where they really shine is in a 45 Colt Carbine when pushed with a +P load of 4227. They zip right along and the bore shines like shooting jackets.

How much do you alter the powder charge using GC with 45?

I load in the middle so the gun will cycle and does not recoil too much.

At 25 yards these loads usually shoot a little high.

With the gas check and powder coating you can load to the jacket bullet levels with out any problems.

I have a Contender in 44 Mag with a scope and I load a powder coated cast bullet with a cola can gas check near the max for a jacketed bullet and the barrel has no lead and the accuracy is very good.

Find an accurate load at the desired distance.

Very cool. I think I will give it a try.

Is it easier to use the push thru sizers in an Arbor press and not an actual single stage?