Gas check installation

[Gordyf]

Hi all
I am new to the cast boolit thing. Have only dabbled in it, but want to get deeper.
First project is to load for my 1898 Springfield, 30-40.
I have on hand, left to me by a passed friend Bullets... Seem to be RCBS 30-180 mold, diameter .309, and a baggie full of gas checks. I think this is a good place to start... However
How do I install the gas checks???
Do they need to be pressed on with a special tool or pushed on finger tight then set when the bullet is pressed in.
These bullets have not been lubed, mold marks still on the driving bands, so I have to guess not sized, but I can live with .309 and can figure out the lube thing.
Not new to reloading, have done lots of hand gun and jacketed rifle stuff, just never fooled with gas checks.
Hope to run these loads in the 2000 FPS range, but that is not set in stone. The rifle is all original and I want to be gentle to it out of deference to it's age.
Also see no future in spending hours cleaning lead from the bore.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Aloha
Gordy

[35 shooter]

They need to be pressed on the base ,then run through a sizer so they stay on nice and tight.
Especially if the boolit will be seated below the neck. You could use a lee bullet size die of the right dia. to keep things simple. If you use the lee dies you'll have to tumble,pan or finger lube the boolits.

[Gordyf]

Thanx! That's what I figured. I have no sizing dies, and these will for sure seat the base just below the neck.
Pressed on as pushed on with your finger, I can do that, then swaged with the die?
I am a Lee fan, use their stuff a lot. The dies I have for reloading the 30-40 are RCBS however.
The lube part I can deal with. Don't mind stuff on my fingers
With all of you folks help, I am sure we will prevail!
Thanks
Gordy

[35 shooter]

Gordyf yes pressed on by hand and make sure their seated nice and flat on the base of the boolit. The lee die i was talking about is just for sizing boolits and the gas check but will screw into your loading press like a case sizing die in case you didn't know.
Of course another option is get a lubra-sizer and you can lube with it at the same time you size and seat checks.
If the check goes on a bit cocked you can try to tap it on a flat surface before sizing or get a gas check seater to make sure their on flat and straight before sizing.

Good luck with it...you'll be hooked soon!!

[gwpercle]

Gordy, welcome to the addiction.
If you haven't already, you might want to pick up a copy of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, I started with the Third Edition and recently Lyman came out with a Fourth Edition. Have both and use both. When it comes to cast boolits this is one of the best sources and answers to most questions can be found in this book.
As with anything , there are several ways to do everything...seating checks, sizing, lubing and there are no one right way...they all work, you just have to find the way you like doing it.
I tried several methods and found a Lyman 450 lube/sizer was for me. Best money I ever spent and have enjoyed using it for 30 years now.
Read, try different methods, find a way to do it that you like.
Load safe...Gary

[Gordyf]

Thanks guys!
Yes the book is a must. If they work it won't be long before I use up this half tuna can of bullets and need to make more.
Need to slug the bore, I have not done that, and I think Gary is right a lube sizer is next along with a proper mold.
Meanwhile just a way to swage a gas check on a bullet will get me started. If finger tight is OK, they should tighten up as I press the bullet into the case. Enough one would hope. I can also machine something to squeeze them on.
I am a collector and feel that all the casting and reloading is a part of the hobby. It also becomes a necessity here in the provinces sometimes as oddball ammunition is scarce.
Thanx
Gordy

[35 shooter]

Gordyf just pressing them on with a finger and seating in your case won't squeeze them on tight enough to stay on the boolit all the way to the target most likely. They will probably drop off at different places along the boolit path and thereby affect accuracy. Also if seated below the case neck there would be the possibility of them coming of and dropping into the powder charge.
Best to get them run through a lee boolit sizer or lubrisizer first before loading. Or as you said, make something to squeeze them on good and tight, but that is something i wouldn't know how to make for myself. The lee bullet sizers are very cheap to get started with.
Bottom line they need to be sized on with something BEFORE loading.

[robg]

some guys tap them on carefuly,i do mine with a lee push through sizer then there on straight and sized

[Gordyf]

Thanx you guys
These push on kinda easy and sit straight, but seem to be expanded a bit.
They for sure aren't seated properly.
I will be slugging the bore on this old rifle and getting the right tools.
There is no sense being cheap! We will do it right.

Aloha
Gordy

[Doggonekid]

Gordy, I am relatively new to Cast Boollits but I am not new to casting boolits. A lube sizer is a must if you are going to use GC's. If you cut too many corners your boolits will not do what you want them to do and you might give up on a whole new world of casting and reloading. I have had 2 RCBS lube sizers one old and one new. My old one was at my buddy's house more than mine so I just got me a new one. I never had a problem with a GC installed by lube sizer.

[Retumbo]

I use the lee sizer. I have found that everything depends on how cleanly the spru is cut off. I have made myself a jig that I use to tap on the check.