Buy or Make Gas Checks? Help Decide

[psychbiker]

I cannot decide and am really close to doing one of those linear line graphs to find my break even point on making gas checks

Plan to make them only for 30 cal and use them in a Blackout and M1A. I have plenty copper jacketed for both but figure I'm casting and might as well learn to make a complete round.

4,000 vulcan checks would be about $70. I havent shot 4,000 rifle rounds in the past 4 years so likely they would last awhile BUT for $112 I can buy the Freechex III and make my own in whatever thickness (I think I need .0135 and .0140 material).

Tough decision. I suppose I could pump out several bags of 500 for like $10 to help in the cost of the tool. I also like the idea of being self sufficient.

[Retumbo]

I suppose I could pump out several bags of 500 for like $10 to help in the cost of the tool. I also like the idea of being self sufficient.

thats what I did.

You forget the part about experimenting with thicker or thinner material for those checks.

I have gotten into making my own check makers too since it is not rocket science and all the instructions are on the net.

[Idz]

Its easy to make checks and your own checkmakers. Several checkmaker plans are posted on this forum, including my design for a 1 stroke, 1 check system. I have seen no credible data showing any difference between commercial and homemade checks.
Have fun!

[dragon813gt]

Don't look at it from a monetary standpoint. Look at it from a supply standpoint. I prefer to buy as few components from retailers as possible. The more I can make the less I have to worry about supplies disappearing from the shelves. I like to be as independent as possible. Which is why I make my own checks.

[too many things]

sometimes it comes down to what time you want to spend. making bullets or making checks . think about how many loads you can do for the time it takes to make 1000 checks that cost 30 bucks

[rmatchell]

Buy the freechex 3 then go to coil and foil and buy as many rolls of material as you can and dont look back. It will cost a lil up front but you wont run out.

[dh2]

I has got checks from sage and blamer on here and others I can not see for the price when my reloading time is getting hard to come by making them my self is just not worth it, my reloading time is so short the only boolits that I cast now days are rifles over .366

[bstone5]

I made the gas check makers for all the bullets I cast. When making gas checks from cola can material I make several hundred at a time.

I have gas check makers from 32 caliber to 50 caliber, once the equipment is made to make the gas checks it is easy to keep hundreds of gas checks in inventory.

There is a link for the instructions on making gas check makers written by Ed Smith some years back. Duke In Florida has a link on this site.

Gas checks and powder coated bullets will always result in a clean barrel after hundreds of rounds fired.

[Retumbo]

You know how many people have come to me asking for checks because they ran out and could not wait to receive ordered ones.

I always have it set up and punch a couple strips each time I go in the shed. By the end of the month I have a couple thousand...each and every month. Generally people suck at time management.

I has got checks from sage and blamer on here and others I can not see for the price when my reloading time is getting hard to come by making them my self is just not worth it, my reloading time is so short the only boolits that I cast now days are rifles over .366

[Walter Laich]

I started because I wanted to know how and I've got the time being retired and all. If I were still working I probably would buy them as my time wasn't always my own (I so loved my job)

[500MAG]

I make my own with the freechex not because it's cheaper but because I want to be able to make as much without having to purchase. Although, I still have to buy gun powder.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Buy or Make Gas Checks? Help Decide

Tough decision. I suppose I could pump out several bags of 500 for like $10 to help in the cost of the tool. I also like the idea of being self sufficient.

At one time, I had 5 different gas check making sets.
I've decided I don't like making GCs...I'd rather buy them.
I sold all but one...I kept a FCIII 22 cal, mostly for 'self sufficient' reasons, but I did buy a nice vintage american made arbor press and would have no use for it, without the FCIII die

But the good news is, if you do buy gas check making sets, they hold their value pretty well, so you aren't out much, if you give it a whirl.

[RogerDat]

I guess I have been mulling over this same question. I'm lucky 3 sizes cover all my GC needs. However at the moment it is easier to come up with the cost of a 1000 gator checks from NOE then the cost of a checkmaker and copper. In the end the desire for some level of self sufficiency will probably win out.

I think maybe it is a math problem. If you take the number of rounds you would purchase or make in a year that would tell you how many GC you would need to purchase to have an inventory on hand that you felt comfortable with. Thousand GC's is a lot of ammo for a .44 mag, not all that much for .223 where you might typically purchase and shoot in greater amounts. Thousand .30 cal. checks is a lot for 303 British or 30-06 but is a lot less if you are loading 7.62 x 39. I can see a thousand round weekend for a couple of those calibers, while for others a thousand is a 2 to 4 year supply.

I would have to have better numbers to be a true comparison but 3000 gas checks are around the same price as a check maker. If 3000 checks would last you 10 years I don't think I would make that caliber. If it is only 1 years worth I think the money spent on made checks is wasted, should buy the check maker right off the bat. .30 caliber and .223 will probably be checkmaker purchased before I buy any more checks for those. 8mm mauser I'm not so sure I'll use up 3000 in this lifetime short of the zombie apocalypse... and then only if I run out of .223 and 30 caliber.

[kungfustyle]

For a 22 cal, you can buy them on E-bay for $13 shipped buy thousands of them and be done with it. For just about every other caliber, it's $30 for 1000. That means you are 1/3 of the way to a check maker. First 1000 no big deal but when you run out, you'll buy another and then you could almost have the thing paid for. Get one check maker and try it out. If it's not for you sell it here, someone will buy it. It adds another level of satisfaction to your reloading knowing that you did it yourself.

[Swede44mag]

I made my own free check makers using plans purchased from Ed Smith and make my own checks for different calibers and haven't bought any checks for years.
Some I use copper, pop cans or thicker tall boy cans also use Aremax(sp) purchased from Ace Hardware.
Don't like to be dependent on manufactures supply or lack there of.

[Dragonheart]

Just some of my thoughts to help with your decision. I have a FreeChex III and IV in 30 caliber and a III in 7mm, which Charlie made custom for an H&G mold.

If you buy a FreeChex you have the tool, but you are not finished. You still need a method of compressing the tool under force to punch out a check, https://youtu.be/R5sIuzphTEk . If you purchase the aluminium or copper strips online from Coil & Foil you have the cost of the materials. I figure I get about 25, 30 caliber checks per linear foot of 1/2" wide metal that is .0145" thick.

The other alternative is flashing by the roll, which is considerably less expensive per check, but requires more effort as I have found annealing to soften the metal lets me cut a better checks in addition easier to cut into strips. A roll of flashing will make thousands of checks depending on the length and width of the roll. You may however have to go to some lengths to find a satisfactory thickness for your caliber. So if you are only considering the cost per check this should give you the information to base a calculation for your needs.

However, there is another consideration some have already pointed out and that is to always have gas checks, assuming you have stocked the materials. If you buy your powder in one pound cans and primers by the hundred then this may not be important. If you are paranoid like me who buys primers and bullets by the thousands and powder by the jugs then being able to make your own checks is more important. ( just remember, you are not paranoid when they are really are out to get you)
The last option is to not shoot gas checked bullets, but if you already have some great molds, what a waste.

[tjones]

thats what I did.

You forget the part about experimenting with thicker or thinner material for those checks.

I have gotten into making my own check makers too since it is not rocket science and all the instructions are on the net.

But it was Rocket Science before Ed Smith brought the tool and copied it for the rest of us!!!!!

[PaulG67]

Buy them, I can't see that it would be economical to make them. Unless it is something that you really want to do, if you think you will enjoy it,. I certainly would not make them.

[OptimusPanda]

I've looked at buying the check making tools before a few times and always arrived at the same conclusion. It's just not worth my time. While I could save a few bucks over a sufficiently long time, I could just as well have bought them, saved the time, and prepped brass. Especially when my annual needs is only 2000-3000 checks. Besides, as far as independence from suppliers goes, if tiny copper cups are in short supply, or regulated to be unobtainable, we're in big trouble.

[Beagle333]

I have two checkmakers and one FCIII, but I like copper checks and the cost is nearly the same if you feel you just gotta have copper, so I buy mine. It was just an experiment in making them with aluminum. Aluminum works just fine...... I'm just particular.