22 caliber gas checks

[.429]

Thanks for the reply.
I'm still wondering what the problem was for you when using .006" material for gas checks.

I never tried .006". I don't know anyone that uses or sells .006"

[Rizzo]

I never tried .006". I don't know anyone that uses or sells .006"

Hmmm,....OK.
I must have misunderstood you when you said in an earlier post:
"I know from experience that .006 is way too thin. I'm not the one that's confused."

Not trying to start anything, just trying to understand.
Cheers.

[JeffinNZ]

6 thou is going to give a final diameter of .226 on your .214 shank so 6 thou is going to be the minimum. I would be inclined to use 8 thou or a bit larger as it will form a better gas check and allow for the die to squash in onto the shank firmly. I like to use material that extrudes ever so slightly during forming as this creates perfect checks.

[merlin101]

6 thou is going to give a final diameter of .226 on your .214 shank so 6 thou is going to be the minimum. I would be inclined to use 8 thou or a bit larger as it will form a better gas check and allow for the die to squash in onto the shank firmly. I like to use material that extrudes ever so slightly during forming as this creates perfect checks.

Thats how I was figuring it too.
Forget the formulas, K.I.S.S = Keep It Simple Silly!

[.429]

Hmmm,....OK.
I must have misunderstood you when you said in an earlier post:
"I know from experience that .006 is way too thin. I'm not the one that's confused."

Not trying to start anything, just trying to understand.
Cheers.

I started with .010" and they were too thin, and wouldn't stay on at all. I moved up to .012" and they're better. Not perfect, but better. I just went through the same exact ordeal with my .44 boolits. I see lots of folks on here using a minimum of .010" on all calibers, and moving up in thickness when they're too loose. All the popular places on here that are selling checks, are selling .010" and thicker. I hope that .006" works well for your new mold. Please report back here after you give it a try. Joe

[FLHTC]

I just received my Lee 225-55-RF mold and the gas check shank appears to be .214".
I will be sizing the gc boolits to .225".
So,...as I understand it, the gas check material thickness should be:
.225" - .214" divided by two.
.225" - .214" = .011" divided by two = .0055" gas check material thickness.
If making your own checks, .006" material can be purchased here:

http://www.coilandfoil.com/

Here's another useful link:

http://www.thegascheckstore.com/

Your .01" material seems a little thick to me.

Rizzo, your math is correct but using .006 aluminum on a .214 gas check shank, will leave you with .0005 to compress against the shank to hold the gas check tightly in place. That .0005 thickness won't have enough grip on the shank and the checks will likely fall off. I use at least a .002 thickness to hold the gas checks in place. That's .012-.013 aluminum or copper and they grip like they're glued on.

[Rizzo]

Rizzo, your math is correct but using .006 aluminum on a .214 gas check shank, will leave you with .0005 to compress against the shank to hold the gas check tightly in place. That .0005 thickness won't have enough grip on the shank and the checks will likely fall off. I use at least a .002 thickness to hold the gas checks in place. That's .012-.013 aluminum or copper and they grip like they're glued on.

Thanks for the reply FLHTC.
I just bought and received a FreeChex 3 for the .225 cast bullets and Charlie (FreeChex 3 Seller) recommended .008 - .010" material.
He also sent some .008 stock and some .008 gaschecks that he tested my unit with.
So, despite the math like you mentioned, real world experience seems to win out.
I haven't installed and sized them yet but did cast some boolits and they do snap on fairly tight and I imagine the sizer will "swage" everything into a nice tight fit.

[FLHTC]

Rizzo, you can make anything sound good here but real world experience says that material won't grip tightly enough. I have Charlie's original and his II in 25 caliber but neither one worked for me on any 25 caliber mold Lyman makes. The tolerance on the II was such that I couldn't use anything over .008 without it tearing the material. The .008 checks had a torn like edge and would all peel off with a bare finger and having that happen within a loaded round just didn't seem safe to me. That's some real world experience that I'll leave for you.