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Thread: anealing gas checks -- benefits / technique

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    anealing gas checks -- benefits / technique

    I have been considering annealing gas checks but I have a couple of questions about the benefits if any and the technique.

    Generally does annealing the checks help with accuracy? Are there other benefits?

    How do you anneal your checks? I anneal lots of case necks with a propane torch. Can I just lay the checks on a non flammable surface and heat them with the propane torch? I use color and heat movement through the case to let me know when the cases have had enough heat. How do I know when they are done when heating checks?

    Can aluminum checks be annealed? I only use them in one diameter but would still like to know.

    Thanks!!!!

  2. #2
    Boolit Master

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    The system i use is to use a piece of black pipe threaded on both ends , install a cap on one end and dump in a box of checks. place some paper on top of the checks ,to deplete the oxygen so they dont discolor / spot , and install the cap on the other end of the pipe , heat the pipe until cherry red with a torch or in a fire and remove pipe assy from the heat and let it cool down ., remove cap and you now have annealed gas checks.

    As far as accuracy ive never made a comparsion between the two .

    I orgionaly first did this when using 45 cal gas checks @ .452 dia bullets as gas checks for that caliber have to work for bullets of .451 to .460 dia
    and did not hold the base tight enough. i now anneal all gas checks for all
    calibers.
    Last edited by bobthenailer; 01-01-2014 at 10:05 AM.

  3. #3
    bhn22
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    I anneal checks by placing them in a shallow tin plate in a single layer, then hitting them with a propane torch, first lightly, just to warm them, then individually and watch them change colors. I try not to let them get red hot, and usually move off them at the end of the "straw" color phase. I can do perhaps fifty at a time. The downside with doing it this way is that there appears to be a coating on them that burns off, leaving a blackened, charred appearance. I'll usually do a few hundred at a sitting, then toss them in the tumbler with walnut media to remove the scale. You can also boil them in white vinegar, but don't breathe the fumes! I don't think they're particularly harmful, but you will do some heavy duty coughing!

    A properly annealed check, once installed looks kind of like it was cast in place. It fits snugly, and I can see much of the detail of the bullets base. They pretty much always go on straight, and I've never had one come off that I'm aware of. I don't use checks much anymore, so I don't have anything currently ready to offer you a picture of. I do feel it's worth doing, but I freely admit to being a bit too detail oriented for my own good at times. I've never tested annealed checks for accuracy.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    I put mine in a small 4" cast iron frying pan and heat them red hot with a propane torch, ni such thing as over annealing a gas check. The benefits of annealing the gas checks is all the spring back is removed making sizing take less pressure not distorting the bullet when sizing making the bullet more accurate.

  5. #5
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    I use bobthenailers pipe method as well. When annealed and bumped in my swage the bases are crisp and not rounded. Once I got a lot of aftermarket 30 checks that were very hard and when seated they were vary round. Annealing them really helped, They went from well over 2” 10 shot groups at 200 yards to under 1.5” in my 30 BR.
    I cant always prove it gives smallest groups but they sure do seat nice and easy. I have only done this in 30 and 22 caliber.

    Dan T

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy
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    I do the same as bobthenailer, but I heat them in a gas grill for one hour at 500 degrees. They do darken slightly.
    NRA Endowment Member

  7. #7
    in Remebrance
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    Aluminum checks can be easily annealed by heating on a pan in your wife's oven at 400 degrees for one hour. Allow to air cool, done! GW
    "If you can walk with crowds and keep your virtue,
    Or walk with Kings, nor lose the common touch,
    Yours is the earth and everything that's in it,
    And, which is more, you'll be a man my son!" R. Kipling

    "Brother to a Prince, and fellow to a pauper, if found worthy." Kipling

  8. #8
    Boolit Master


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    Do annealed checks tend to foul easier?

    I have some .30s that are a very tight fit on my bullets, so tight that some have ended up being canted once installed, and I annealed a pile of them for the next use.

  9. #9
    Boolit Bub
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    i just put them on a brick. i dont anneal many at a time. then just see the checks change colour it takes the spring out of them. dont shoot many checked boolits.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master 35 shooter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Goatwhiskers View Post
    Aluminum checks can be easily annealed by heating on a pan in your wife's oven at 400 degrees for one hour. Allow to air cool, done! GW
    I did that exact thing this past weekend with my al checks. I had been having trouble holding good groups in my 35 whelen over 1800 fps. with aluminum. I tried them over 54 and 54.5 grains of imr 4350 with a 200 grain boolit and with a clean bbl and 5 shot groups. After a fouling shot it put the next 4 that could be covered with a nickle easily @ 100 yards. The next group put one about 1 1/4" out and 4 jammed @ 54.5 gr.
    Annealing definitely works. popper made the suggestion on another thread and i remembered you cooked yours at 400* so that's what i did and voila! Now they're shooting better than commercial checks. Another member here estimated the speed at around 2400 fps. give or take a little. Haven't chronoed it tho. Thanks for the temp tip!

  11. #11
    Boolit Master detox's Avatar
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    Would the pipe method work by setting pipe full of checks in 700 degree lead melt for about 15 minutes? I can get the short stainless 3/4" diameter pipe and caps from my job.

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy elwood4884's Avatar
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    Has anyone compared accuracy of annealed vs non annealed. Kind of curious if the work is worth it.
    John

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    I've been struggling on working up a load for a new bullet in a new Ruger 77/44.... I tried some aluminum checks and the accuracy was dismal at best... I noticed the AL checks were thicker and more rounded... so I tried annealing them.... at the same time I annealed the CU ones I had on hand... I loaded up several different loads using various crimps, wts of my desired powder and both AL and CU checks( annealed and not)... I use the OnTarget PC program to record all groups and then record the data on an excel spreadsheet for comparison....I finally got out on Tuesday to shoot some groups... I paid no attention to what I was shooting, just kept them labeled so I would know what they were... I had some really bad groups and some WOW!(for me)... When I got thru entering them on the computer it really hit me..... the annealed CU checks (IN MY RIFLE) were way superior to any other load... the next best was the non annealed, but substantially worse.... the annealed AL were better than the non-annealed AL..
    So, after learning this.. I will use the already sized and checked non annealed loads in my Redhawk for plinking and only load CU checks that have been annealed... The best 2 five shot groups were under 2 inches with fliers... best 4 shot groups were under and inch...The non annealed went as high as 6"....

    TheMoose
    Last edited by Themoose; 04-04-2014 at 09:19 AM. Reason: Omission of word
    Perhaps my learning skills have diminished in my senior years.. 50 years ago I could read something once and then "have it"... Now I read it about three times, do it a couple of times and then... "have it" only about half the time.

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy
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    I set a couple of hundred copper checks in a little empty aluminum carton (used for small-dog food, etc).

    I sit this on the melted alloy at the top a casting furnace of my alloy at 750F and leave it there for 1/2 hour, exposed to heat and air.

    They all turn dark, anneal nice and have a fine layer of crusty oxide dust.

    That dust is what I want, it acts as a powerful friction adhesive to keep checks on the bases that would otherwise risk a 'drop off'. I can easily pull clean home-made checks off many mold designs, but a 'dirty' annealed check push-on with a distinct squeak sound, and bite on like a Pit-Bull when sizing.

    At my indoor range, where the floor is clean and easy to see spent wads, checks, etc, when I use GC designs annealed and 'dirty', I find maybe just 1 check per 25 rounds only occasionally off the floor when I sweep up, versus maybe 5 or so per-session when I use clean, un-annealed checks.

    So I say, anneal them in heat and air and leave the annealing oxides and carbon on (it cleans up on the outside when sizing/lubing).

    Then the lubing process cleans the outside of the check. Easy to wipe clean the flat base if this is an issue.

  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy
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    I load for a .303 British and am starting on a .30-30. I plan on using a Lyman 311041 boolit for the .30-30, with AL gas checks. I had ordered a bunch of them but found that they were hard to fit on my .303 boolits. They are a .30 cal check. I don't know the thickness, but they look sort of crude, with a burr or indentation on one side. When first used, they either went on crooked or would not stay on when sized.

    So, I annealed them by putting them on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for an hour and the fit was better. But, I still had the angled seating on the 311041 boolits. I took a round-head bolt and "flared" the mouth of the checks using a small hammer. Now the checks are a slip fit. I haven't tried sizing them yet but I'm hoping thes combination will work.

  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy
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    I anneal copper gas checks in a pipe that is capped on both ends. Put in a wood stove until red hot, pull it out and let cool. I weld a 1/2 washer on the pipe so I can get it out of the stove. I haven't put paper in the pipe yet so mine come out sort of cruddy looking and I clean them up by boiling in vinegar. Never could see any difference in accuracy annealed vs non-annealed. One advantage of annealed gc's is with linotype or heat treated bullets is they crimp on a lot easier in the lube sizer.

  17. #17
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    Tried the pipe method, now put in a pan one layer then hit with a weed burner, quickest way I've found.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by fastfire View Post
    Tried the pipe method, now put in a pan one layer then hit with a weed burner, quickest way I've found.
    Oh great! Another use for the weed burner besides catching my kids birthday cake on fire. I will have to try annealing my aluminum gas checks to see if there is a difference myself. Amerimax is pretty soft to begin with.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by bobthenailer View Post
    The system i use is to use a piece of black pipe threaded on both ends , install a cap on one end and dump in a box of checks. place some paper on top of the checks ,to deplete the oxygen so they dont discolor / spot , and install the cap on the other end of the pipe , heat the pipe until cherry red with a torch or in a fire and remove pipe assy from the heat and let it cool down ., remove cap and you now have annealed gas checks.
    AHA!

    Go camping, roast hot dogs, drink beer, and anneal gas checks at the same time.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check