Home Made Gas Checks... Lets See Them

[35 shooter]

Took some to the range today on some .308 boolits and despite their somewhat ratty look they shot pretty well Hornady copper and home made aluminum checks. Five shot groups at sixty paces. Hornady checks 1 1\4 inch home made 2 inch and 1 1\8 inch groups all in all not bad as Im just a plinker not a bench shooter. I cant say the home made checks cost me any accuracy. Im thinking with a little tinkering I can get them to look a little better. Help me out with your best ideas Guys. Thanks GP

My .014" al. checks had to be annealed for best accuracy in my rifle. After annealing they shot better than commercial checks. 400* for 1 hour in oven and let cool...works for me.
Seems some al. has a bit of springback in it, and annealing helps eliminate this.

[gpidaho]

cndgunner: Yup I got Burrs 35shooter: I did anneal some of my .014 checks but could not tell that it did much (450 for one hour) but Im just getting a start at this. Aluminum checks seem harder to start on the shank, maybe annealing would help in this respect. thinking of annealing the cut strips before punching. Thoughts? Ive been using a small ball bearing to open check up some before placing them on the shank. But I was happy with the groups first try. GP

[35 shooter]

Never tried annealing before punching out checks. I don't know if it would put added stress on the check die or not? Some al. doesn't seem to have the spring back after sizing, but mine did. I simply tried annealing because i couldn't get the accuracy i wanted at much over 1800 fps. After annealing the groups were cut in half and they shoot better than commercial in my rifle now at any speed i shoot.
It does seem to pay to experiment a bit with it. I now look at the check as just as important as any other component in the load, as thickness, hardness and type of material their made from can make a huge difference. And yes, my al. checks, like yours, snap on very tight, which i like.
I've seen lots of reports of folks using al. checks without heat treating and getting great accuracy, while others had to heat treat to get the desired affect. Probably comes down to what an individual gun likes or what speed your shooting , etc.

Good luck with your homeade checks guys!

[cdngunner]

I will post a pic of the checks done with the burrs on the disc faced down in the die. I seem to get a better result.

I think it is the burr left by the P.M. check maker that is causing the problem.

If someone could post a pic of the disc after being punched and then the formed cup, I would be great full....especially from a free check maker.

I am going to try to make a die to punch a smaller disk to see how that works.

[cdngunner]

Mind going numb...reading about influencing factors causing wrinkles in deep drawing of cylindrical cups and associated deep drawing ratios.

[cdngunner]

So you can see in the first pic how the die kicks up a burr. The second pic shows checks made with burr up (foreground) and two with the burr down (background)

[dragon813gt]

I would be great full....especially from a free check maker.

It is all one step w/ a Freechex. It's the main reason it's a lot quicker. I have never gotten rough edges on any of mine regardless of material used. I will say that there is no comparison between the Amerimax aluminium and what Yonky sells. Yonky's material is a lot higher quality which is reflected in its cost. But you are saving a lot of time because it's already slit to the correct width.

[cdngunner]

It is definitely the burr created by the punch causing all the problems.
Took some 600 emery cloth and took the burrs of the discs before shaping. See what happened.

So what to do next...Idaho, you say you have the same problem? try some of the things I did and see if your setup gives the same results. I am going to punch up a few and throw them in my vibratory cleaner for a bit to see if it will knock the edge off

[gpidaho]

cdngunner: After todays test I am convinced that the problems Ive been having can mostly be attributed to metal temper. I did some boolit casting today mostly for the molten lead. As stated in another post I dipped the cut aluminum strips into the pot and left them submerged for about 10-15 seconds. Discs were still somewhat burred when cut. When stamping the checks it took noticeably less pressure to form and the serrations were nearly gone.(placed burr down as you said) Also I made an annealing chamber out of black pipe. Cap to 3 1/2 nipple to elbow to 3 1/2 nipple to Tee. So cap and nipple could be submerged in the melt. I put in some checks that weren't from annealed strips and let them soak inside the black pipe while I cast They now seat on the shank beautifully and crimp on tight. Im very pleased with the resulting checks. Thanks so much to the guys that posted these annealing tips in other threads with their help Im finally getting some very nice checks. GP

[PatMarlin]

Get out and shoot...! The proof is in using the checks.


Are you guys interested in checks that look like what you see in a box or perform on the range and at the target? ..


What you consider a "problem" is actually not. The rougher the edge, the more bottle capping, has had no detrimental effect and if anything improved performance. That is a fact and has been proven over and over here at Cast Boolits and elsewhere.


Yes- my dies can leave a burr on a disk, and bottle capping on the checks you form, depending on metals used. My dies have also consistently produced outstanding (accuracy) results and we have the photos and reports to prove it, going back years.


Here's some more info on the subject:


Explanation of the Theory and Engineering behind Checkmaker™ Gas Check Forming Dies-
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=89742

[gpidaho]

Pat: I have no problems with the accuracy potential with the checks from my limited testing they preform very well. As posted above Ive worked out some issues today that make them even better Posted yesterday that there was no noticeable difference homemade to Hornady with my loads. Gunner: I tried the 600 grit trick IT WORKS even IM not anal enough to sand all those little buggers off and it makes flat spots on your finger nails. LOL GP

[cdngunner]

I have made a bunch of checks for my friend to try. As I am NEW to all this gas check stuff I am still figuring stuff out.

My crazy brain needs to know how things work , why things are the way they are and how can I improve on it. Just the way I am wired. Call me a perfectionist or anal, I'm guilty.

Now that someone has actually spoken up that they are good to use as is, I can get on to testing them.

All is good.

[WILCO]

Okay so I don't make my own checks YET; however, I do have a lot of respect for those of you that do.




So the point of this thread will be to see some photos of what you have done.

Hi Aaron!

Take a look at this thread: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...and-GC-Trimmer

If gas check burrs bother you, it's easy to make a gas check trimmer.

[littlejack]

Actually, I see the burr as an asset. I form the cup with the burr inside, so when I size the gas check to the boolit, it actually grips the base better. Whats not to like?
Jack

[gpidaho]

Very helpful thread. Thanks Wilco GP

[Jr.]

Thanks for the link Wilco.

Anyone else have some ingenious design to show?

[WILCO]

Very helpful thread. Thanks Wilco GP

Thanks for the link Wilco.

You're welcome.

Actually, I see the burr as an asset. I form the cup with the burr inside, so when I size the gas check to the boolit, it actually grips the base better. Whats not to like?
Jack

I agree. That's one reason why I developed my gas check trimmer. It squares them up and leaves a rough surface to grip the boolit.

[cdngunner]

I am wondering if the tool had burrs of its own, I am 500 checks in and am noticing the burrs are not as prominent as they once used to be.

With the burrs faced down to form the check, I am getting results I am quite happy with

[cdngunner]

Well....up to about 1000 checks. Things certainly get tedious having to do everything twice. When I get a chance I will try to make a checkmaker and if that does not turn out I will get a freechex

[PatMarlin]

Hang in there cdngunner. You may find reloading and the cast shooting process can be tedious and requires patience, uniformity, and the attention to detail as well...