Another Free chex update

[Boerrancher]

I pulled a quick load from the Lyman 46th edition manual for my Mil Spec '03-A3, as I wanted to test two things: The accuracy of the old rifle, and how well my home grown gas checks worked. My checks were made form 2 layers of the tall boy Arizona Ice tea cans, because they are 0.006 thick, and I need 0.012 for a tight fit on both the base of the boolit and while it is traveling down the tube. I only loaded 15 rounds to test it with and see if I could zero the rifle. Here is a pic of the Rifle and pics of the results of the trip to the range.



Here is the results after shooting 12 of the 15 to get it zeroed.



Here is a quarter for comparison to the group. As you can see by the first photo, there is no scope on this rifle. I just can't wait until I can get more loaded to do that at 100 yards instead of 75. I just wonder how that old rifle would shoot if I could see as well as I did 20 years ago?



I am nearly finished with my custom build 308 mountain rifle on an '03-A3. I have only been working on it off and on since 1991. I hope it shoots as well as this old Mil Surp rifle does.

Best Wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[NuJudge]

ICE TEA cans to make gas checks? Come on, at least use Red Bull cans!

What self-respecting bullet would wear such in public?

[Just joshing. Excellent results.]


CDD

[RU shooter]

An alternative to 2 layers of can matl. to get you to .012 would be trim coil(the matl. they make facia and window trim out of) I believe that 28 gauge is .012 the coil I have been using for chex's from is .012 and works perfectly.Anyone know the thickness of alum. siding?

Tim

[Boerrancher]

For my 30-30 I have to use the aluminum bud light cans. They are 16 thousandths and shape quite well.

Redbull cans would work but they are not thick enough, only 4.5 thousandths just like most standard alum beverage cans.

Tim,

The reason I use cans is because I am a cheap bast@#%. I did have some old coil stock laying around and tried it, but it didn't form as well as I would like. Maybe it was too old and had set out in the weather too long. I know it didn't work well enough for me to go out and buy any. I also used alum siding, but never mic'ed it but would guess it is somewhere around 18 to 20 thou. I know it is a PITA to form, and a good many of them break before they form, but the ones that do form work great at high speeds. When I say high speeds I am talking J bullet velocities with no leading. I noticed that the checks made out of siding material, were springy, and even though they locked on to the boolit, they had a tenancy to spring outward and be a thou or two over sized. They made a great seal in the bore between the boolit and the hot gases. I would still be using siding but I got tired of working my butt off and only having enough gas checks to load a box of rifle shells.

Best wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[quasi]

I hope aluminum siding doesn't work well. Think off all the people with aluminum siding that will think they had a drive by shooting, when it was just their neighbor getting some free gas check material.

[timkelley]

It's a shame Alum. Siding isn't good, I have an old trailer (about 12X60) I have to get rid of. Visions of a Million Gas Checks were floating in front of my eyes.

[PatMarlin]

That's some fine shootin' with that old beast Joe. Nothing to be unhappy about there.

Just remember when bear hunting though to use Hamm's..

[Boerrancher]

I must note, that my Gas check maker is not a true Free chex. It is something of similar design cooked up by a friend of mine, but it works on the same concept, little disks being shaped in a forming die.

Thanks for the compliment Pat. I would not mind using Hamm's cans but they aren't thick enough. I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that the old rifle shot that well. I loaded up some more 06's last night and bumped the powder charge up some to see if I could tighten it up a bit more. If that doesn't work I will go back to the old load.

Best Wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[JeffinNZ]

Nice work Joe. I am really beginning to think the alum. you guys can access is a harder grade than I can get. Have you done anymore testing yet? Look forward to some more results.

[Boerrancher]

Jeff,

I am not convinced on the hardness of the alum. The 16 thous thick alum that I use for my 30-30 is really soft and ductile, much more so than the standard alum soda or beer can. I have found with my 30-30 that it seems to shoot better with softer alloys and thicker softer gas checks. This could be because my boolits are the same size as the bore, and most likely need to obturate some to completly seal off. That old 2 grove springfield slugs at 305, so my boolit is 4 thousandths larger than the bore. I have noticed this with some of my other rifles as well, if I shoot 3 to 4 thousandths oversized, they just seem to shoot better than boolits sized 1 to 2 thousandths over. I have to watch my loads as this does up the pressure some, but I will take reduced loads with higher pressures to get the accuracy.

I am thinking it will be monday or Tuesday before I can get back to the range and shoot. I need to pick up some more range scrap and smelt it to sell the copper so I can buy another pound of powder.

Best wishes from the Boer Ranch

Joe

[Meatco1]

Hello Boerrancher:

I just grabbed a 4 pack of AZ tea drank one, then cut & measured the thickness. According to my old Starrett, it measures .055. I don't know if the cans you are using are made out of a heavier casing, or if this old micrometer is off.

In any case, I used a paper cutter to even up my knife cuts, and will try a couple of these on a Ranch Dog TLC311-165-RF. I will be shooting an old mdl. 99 in .300 Sav. I have to admit, I am curious as to the differences between the Hornady, and Freecheck designs.

I for one, appreciate your starting this thread.

Thank you,

Richard

[Boerrancher]

Hello Boerrancher:

I just grabbed a 4 pack of AZ tea drank one, then cut & measured the thickness. According to my old Starrett, it measures .055. I don't know if the cans you are using are made out of a heavier casing, or if this old micrometer is off.

In any case, I used a paper cutter to even up my knife cuts, and will try a couple of these on a Ranch Dog TLC311-165-RF. I will be shooting an old mdl. 99 in .300 Sav. I have to admit, I am curious as to the differences between the Hornady, and Freecheck designs.

I for one, appreciate your starting this thread.

Thank you,

Richard

Richard,

The main thing is that the check is thick enough to fill the gap between the base of boolit and the inside of the bore.

I am going to take some pics of my check makers and disk punches and get them posted as well.

Best wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[Boerrancher]

Here is the pics I have been promising of my Gas check making tools. I will post the descriptions of each tool below the pic.


This is my disk punch that I use for the tea cans, it is nothing more than a 3/8 in Chinese made punch that has been heat treated to harden it. If they are not hardened they fold up.


This is a disk punch that a friend of mine made. I use it on thicker material because it cuts a disk with a cleaner edge. It also fits nicely inside a Lee O frame press, so you can just work the lever and feed in the strip of Aluminum.


Here are my two 30 cal gas check makers. The one on the left is a free chex tool I bought from Charlie off of Ebay. The one on the right is one made by a friend of mine. I like it better because it is larger and easier for me to hold. Both work well for making checks.


Here is some of the checks made from the 16 thou material, which comes from the new aluminum bud light bottles. I these in my 30-30 because of the over size bore.


Here is the double layer Arizona Ice Tea checks that I shoot out of my 03-A3.

The nice thing I like about making my own gas checks is that I can customize them to fit the rifle. By being able to adjust the thickness of the gas check I can always be assured that I can get a perfect seal on the base of the boolit.

Best wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[JeffinNZ]

Hi Joe.
That 16 thou alum is exactly what I need for the .303 Brits I work on. Lucky boy!

[Boerrancher]

Jeff,

I don't know if you get Bud Light Beer down there, or in the Alum bottles either, but I have seen several other beverages now being packaged in them, and since I can't stand to drink Bud Light, I will try out some of the other drinks that are packaged that way and see how thick they are. I get tired of hunting for Bud Light alum bottles in the ditches along the highway.

Best Wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[JeffinNZ]

Jeff,

I am get tired of hunting for Bud Light alum bottles in the ditches along the highway.

LOL. Take up cycling. I get a lot of wheel weights going to and from work though less than I used to now my route is shorter since we moved house.

I am getting by with 2 ply checks. There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for me with alum checks too. Tried some more the other day and I think I might have it sorted. Will report once I am sure. Probably on my 80th birthday.............

[PatMarlin]

That looks Good Jeff.

I should ask Ben if he will post his pics doing a comparison using Hornady checks and our Checkmaker die set produced checks.

He loaded identicle rounds with .002 aluminum, .006 copper, and Hornady's.

The tightest group was with the Hornday's, then they opened up a little with the .006 aluminum, and the futher opened up with the .002 aluminum.

So it looks like what everyone is finding with all these tests is the thicker and closer to desired sized boolit diameter is producing the best accuracy.

[PatMarlin]

Here's a few of Ben's pics from that day.

He used one of our prototypes. The final version should be in my hands God Willing, the middle of this week. My buddy has been waiting for a couple of milling bits.

[Bigjohn]

Has anyone tried annealing the aluminimum to make it easier to work? I remember doing this for a workshop project in High School, some T....y years ago.

John.

[Boerrancher]

John,

I thought about doing that with Alum siding, but have never gotten around to it because of the availability of other materials to use. One of these days when I run out of everything else I will try annealing some of that siding.


Best wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe