Aluminum or copper?

[wyofool]

I'm ready to order some gas checks and would like some opinions on what to buy. I'll be casting Lee C 309-120-R, 150-F, 180-R 200-R. Rifles are DPMS 308, 30-40 Krag, and 30-06 M1. Powders available are Varget, IMR 4064 4350 and 4198. Any suggestions or comment will be appreciated.

[tradbear55]

I prefer copper gas checks but would not hesitate to use aluminum if they were the only ones available. Fit is more important than material.

[GhostHawk]

Same here, copper is first choice but if price or availability comes into it you use what you can find.

[bangerjim]

I have used "home-made" (by members on here) Al checks with very little success. Do not fit/fall off/smear/etc.

I use ONLY commercial Hornady Cu checks on all 223-44 cal boolits (that need them for velocity). Those are Hornady checks from local big box gun stores and go on perectly, stay in place, and perform admirably in all situations.

They DO cost more, but are well worth it! I will never use Al checks again.

bangerjim

[35 shooter]

I've been using homeade al. checks for years now in my 35 whelen. They snap on tight and once sized, they stay on for the ride.
I started with Hornady copper checks and with the same loads my al. checks shoot tighter groups in every load.

Lots of folks are making quality al. and copper checks for sale here.
I got some from Sage's Outdoors in al. 35 cal. and they shoot just as well as the ones i make and you can't pull them off once sized without mangling the boolit.
Both mine and Sage's outshoot Hornady's by a wide margin in my rifle.

A good idea may be to work up some loads with hornady copper checks first and then get some al. checks to compare for accuracy in your rifle.
I'm doing that very thing in a new .308 right now. Once i work up loads with the hornady's, i'll switch to al.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy copper or al. checks from the guys here. You just need to measure your boolit shank so they know they're getting you a good fit.

[blixen]

I hadn't been able to find ANY hornady gas checks locally for a few years, so I bought aluminum ones from people here and I think they worked fine some of my rifles shot fantastic groups and some not so good. But hornady checks are available again, so i'm going to use them and see if my groups tighten up significantly.

I'm still a novice at boolits. How do you know if it's the gas checks causing inaccuracy as opposed to the thousand other factors?

[wyofool]

Thanks for the input. On my next casting day I'll try all four molds and measure the bases and go from there.
Thanks again to everyone.

[maxreloader]

Not sure if this matters... but Aluminum (Oxide) is pretty abrasive.

[DLCTEX]

Members have shot many thousand aluminum checks and no one has reported any damage. I think it is a non-problem.

[Yodogsandman]

A normal 30 caliber boolit gas check shank is .284". Some might be .285" or even tapered to the base. If you want to size your boolits to say .310", be sure to order checks that are at least .013" thick and maybe a little more. The gas checks must be at least thick enough to fit the gas check shank tightly when the boolit is sized. So, thicker gas checks are needed for larger sized diameter boolits.

Boolit size (.310") minus shank diameter (-) (.284") equals (.026") then divided by the two sides equals (.013") the thickness needed.

[35 shooter]

I hadn't been able to find ANY hornady gas checks locally for a few years, so I bought aluminum ones from people here and I think they worked fine some of my rifles shot fantastic groups and some not so good. But hornady checks are available again, so i'm going to use them and see if my groups tighten up significantly.

I'm still a novice at boolits. How do you know if it's the gas checks causing inaccuracy as opposed to the thousand other factors?

In my case i already had my accuracy loads worked up in my whelen with the hornady copper checks.
Using the same loads and only switching the checks(to aluminum) gave tighter groups. The only variable was the check. I think it may well be i simply got a better fit with my homeade checks than anything to do with copper vs. aluminum.
I love my al. checks, but i'll always let the individual rifle decide which IT likes best lol.

[Walter Laich]

I love the looks of the copper GCs but not sure that is a valid reason to pick Cu over Al. Both have worked for me and $$ comes into play come purchasing time

[JeffinNZ]

It's not a simple as Al or Cu. Let's not forget that commercial gas checks are not pure Cu; they are gilding metal so have a Zn content to make them harder. Likewise pure Al is very soft but alloyed Al can be very make harder. Brass is probably the best option for making your own checks if you want a really durable product for top end pressure/velocity.

[Russ303]

ive tryed them all and heres what ive found out.
Brass and Copper checks work well in all sizers as long as they fit the bullet.
lube-a-sizers will use al checks just as good as any other check.
When it comes to the lee sizers the thin .013 al checks will sometines get buggered up.
The best alaround check ive found is the 303 check from sage outdoors its .319 thick i perfer it to all other checks for bullets from .309 to .314 the thinner ones just wont stay on bullets over .310 when using lee sizers.

[Dragonheart]

If the check doesn't fit, it make little difference what material it's made of. I have used copper and aluminium and haven't found a difference in performance. Copper looks better; never tried brass. I make my own checks using the FreeChex III and IV tools.

[leadman]

I use alot of aluminum gcs might do have to switch to copper when installing them on very hard boolits (32 to 34 BHN). The aluminum will smear up the side of the boolit when sized on these hard boolits.
I do have some very old Lyman brass gcs and they do not fit well, even on boolits cast from very old Lyman boolits.
I have used the aluminum gc up to about 1,800fps on 15 to 18bhn boolits with excellent results. Since I coat the boolits with Hi-Tek after seating the gcs corrosion is not an issue. Have not had any uncoated gcs corrode either.

[dragon813gt]

I make my own out of aluminium. Since I control every aspect of the check there are no issues. I've found no difference in accuracy between them and commercial checks. I still use commercial copper checks for my 375 H&H. I doubt I will ever use all one thousand of them. Investing in the tooling to make them myself just wasn't worth it for this application.

[Boolseye]

You're shooting alot of .30 cal–consider investing in a checkmaker. There's a little learning curve, but I really enjoy making checks with it and I can tailor them to different bores (I use a thicker-than-can-be-bought check for my Mosin's .314"bore). Otherwise, I recommend Hornadys or Gators, equally great. Al has the best prices for Gators at NOE (actually, I think James sells them at sageoutdoors too, same price). I agree with the previous post about little-shot rifles. Just buy the checks.

[trapper9260]

You can also get the Gators from the one who makes them also. I have been doing that when I need some and the larger amount you get the less it will cost you.They are made of CU and are crimp on ones.

[Silas Longshot]

I have had good success with buying and making Aluminum gas checks. Wrote up a blog page on how I make mine:
https://survivingurbancrisis.wordpre...-lead-bullets/