Leaving Off The Gascheck

[greenlizard]

I'm thinking about about omiting the gaschecks on some of my lighter loads.Has anyone who has tried this a. had a leading problem, b. been able to shoot as accurately as with the checks.Thank You in advance.

[halfslow]

I don't use them in the pistol cartridges, but then I don't load them very hot either. I just bought a lee mold for my new .500 S&W Encore.
I don't plan on using gaschecks.
I'll bet there is a measurable accuracy advantage with checks, but as long as the gascheck bullet without check shoots to minute of varmint, I for one am satisfied.

[Cactus Farmer]

Minute of varmit ,hahahahaa. What kind of varmit needs a 500 S&W to dispatch it?

[xr650]

Grizzley barmints.

[halfslow]

And right there is the beauty of reloading.
When we are finished loading the 500 S&W down to a more reasonable level, what we have is a pussycat that we can safely crank up to a tiger whenever we want.
BTW, the varmint in this case will be feral pigs.

[windrider919]

since the GC is there to stop leading at higher velocities it really does nothing at lower velocities except make a square and even base ( assuming correct installation! ). I found that UN gas checked bullets can be very accurate at low, non-leading velocities. However, mostly I have done this on fifle bullets, not pistols.

[Throckmorton]

Are we talking about using a gc-based boolit,but just not putting the check on?
I have a bunch of thutty thutty boolits that are made for checks,but wondering if they could be shot ,using 'pistol' powders,at ,say, 1300 fps?
Not sure how hard theyare,they are LaserCast,and I"m told their boolits are 'hard'.?

[Papa smurf]

Been leaving off the check for years. I have had very good luck with Lee 30 cal and 8mm as cast lubed with Lee alox. I use Unique and NO fillers and found best accuracy around 1100 fps. Good luck---Papa.

[RU shooter]

Been leaving off the check for years. I have had very good luck with Lee 30 cal and 8mm as cast lubed with Lee alox. I use Unique and NO fillers and found best accuracy around 1100 fps. Good luck---Papa.

+1 if you keep the vel. in the 22lr range accuracy can excellent even out to 200 yds but at that range you start getting vert. stringing.

Tim

[Cherokee]

I use GC bullets w/o the GC installed for light loads in my revolvers. Works great. YMMV

[Jim]

Years ago, I tried some Lee 150s w/o the checks in an old Win. '94. I could have done better with a slingshot. HOWEVER, I have had good results shooting GCs w/o the checks in peestolas.

[w30wcf]

greenlizard,
I get good accuracy (1" range @ 50 yards) from my .30-30 leverguns using the 311291 bullet (175 grs.) made from wheel weights with no gas check @ 1,400 f.p.s. using 16/4198.

throckmorton,
At one time, I had a bunch of Lasercast 170 gr. bullets (311041) and I did shoot some of them without the gaschecks using 12/H4227 and they shot pretty darn well with no leading and good accuracy. 16/4198 or 14/5744 would probably work ok also.

w30wcf

[Alex Hamilton]

Are we talking about using a gc-based boolit,but just not putting the check on?
I have a bunch of thutty thutty boolits that are made for checks,but wondering if they could be shot ,using 'pistol' powders,at ,say, 1300 fps?
Not sure how hard theyare,they are LaserCast,and I"m told their boolits are 'hard'.?

Provided the bullets are good fit you can get away with velocities up to 1600 - 1800 ft/sec, but the maximum velocity will depend on calibre, rate of twist and bullet hardness. It does not matter whether the bullets are designed with the rebated base for gas checks or not.

As for fast powders, yes they can give you superb accuracy, but the pressure builds up quickly, so start with low charges and go up in small increments. The fastest powder I use in 308W and 303Brit is Red Dot.

Best of luck,

Alex