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Thread: Material source for making checks?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master brewer12345's Avatar
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    Material source for making checks?

    I recently got my 30 and 35 caliber checkmakers from Pat and would like to try them out. What material does everyone use? These would mostly be for 30-06 and 35 Rem boolits. It would be nice to find an economical source material that makes high quality checks. I went to the first page that came up with I googled and it seemed like the copper sheet would cost as much as factory checks.
    When you care enough to send the very best, send an ounce of lead.

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy
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    I use pop or beer cans, they are really cheap
    Domari Nolo

  3. #3
    Boolit Mold Reloading Rod's Avatar
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    Aluminum flashing for roof, make sure you get the right thickness for your checs. Amerimax is the brand I use.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master brewer12345's Avatar
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    So is there an accepted way to tell what thickness I need? Pats site suggests the .014 amerimax flashing. Is that a universal choice or does it vary by mold or caliber?
    When you care enough to send the very best, send an ounce of lead.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master gpidaho's Avatar
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    I make up checks in a variety of sizes from .010 to .016. One size does not fit all. For my use, .012 seems the best compromise. When you cut flashing for the checks it's a fine line between too large and to small. Contact the folks at Coil & Foil for rolls of aluminum is by far the easiest. Good people and service is top notch. Gp

  6. #6
    Boolit Master gpidaho's Avatar
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    I will add that if you are stuck on using copper and don't want to use aluminum other than being self-sufficient there's not a great savings over commercial checks. Vendors here at Boolits sell checks at a very reasonable price. Gp

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
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    I've found that a piece of soda can folded over and hammered flat works as well as the thicker aluminum flashing, at least for me. I have a Free Chex II in .45 cal, but I also found that I can use the check for my .44 cal. revolver boolits. YMMV....
    Tom
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    Did I ever mention that I hate to trim brass?

  8. #8
    Boolit Bub
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    lyon shim stock
    sold in various thickness and materials, ie copper, dead soft bronze, alum etc, comes in 50 ft by 6" rolls if memory serves correct.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master



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    I use Amerimax Aluminum Flashing (ACE Hardware Stores) for .30, .32, and .357. For my 50BMG cast boolits, I bought several rolls of aluminum strip from Coil and Foil - Great Product. For my .224 cast products - Coil and Foil again.
    Last edited by MUSTANG; 07-12-2018 at 04:03 PM.
    Mustang

    "In the beginning... the patriot is a scarce man, and brave and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    Life is simpler by just getting your stock from Coil & Foil. If you use roof flashing you need the proper thickness, it needs to be annealed then cut into strips.

  11. #11
    Boolit Mold
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    I use soda cans with Pat's Checkmaker with excellent results. You may have to experiment with the right thickness for your boolit. Once zeroed in, you will be good to go. Coil and Foil for us lazy guys but I also have a quick system for making the soda can strips which saves me time. The harder your alloy the thinner/softer your material may need to be considering how much you have to size down. For my 44, bullets drop from the mold at .433 and I size down to .432. My bore is .4295 They swage on tight and do not come off. I have zero leading with a Lyman #2 alloy.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master

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    Are all cans created equal?

    Are some aluminum cans better than others for making plain base checks?
    Pop, juice, beer, energy drinks. Lots to choose from.
    Are the imports better than domestics? 12 oz vs 16 oz?
    Or am I just overthinking the whole thing?
    ..

  13. #13
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dragonheart View Post
    Life is simpler by just getting your stock from Coil & Foil. If you use roof flashing you need the proper thickness, it needs to be annealed then cut into strips.
    I agree and it’s where I get my material from. It’s already preslit so all you do is start making checks. Yonky will take good care of you.

    http://www.coilandfoil.com/

  14. #14
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    Just a SWAG but the same product can will be the same thickness and hardness of aluminum. So if you find Pepsi cans work you can expect any Pepsi can to work. If Red Bull can works you can figure all Red Bull cans will work. It comes down to thickness and hardness. The Amerimax Aluminum Flashing from ACE and maybe a Harbor Freight Paper cutter to cut into 1/2 strips easily is a good way to get going cheap with an aluminum stock known to work.

    Coils and Foils will up your production speed and the ease of making checks by avoiding the cutting into strips first. Roll can also be more convenient. Plus they have some options that ACE won't such as copper or possibly different thickness of aluminum.

    Pop cans are reported to work especially well for plain base gas checks. The gas checks that go on bullets that don't have the base inset for a gas check need a thinner material. Aluminum cans are thin. Too thin I think for the regular gas checks unless as someone mentioned they are doubled up. I have some of the plain base checks for .357 magnum, so I use same .38 special bullet at magnum loads by adding a thin pop can gas check to the plain base bullet.
    Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.

    Kind of hard to claim to love America while one is hating half the Americans that disagree with you. One nation indivisible requires work.

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  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy
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    G,day
    Not everyone will have access to a Jewellery mill,my son has one,works fantastic size roof flashing to req. dia.

    Cheers Hahndorf1874 .Mal.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master
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    Maybe I am missing something, but why gas check a plain base bullets when it would be so much simpler to powder coat them?

  17. #17
    Boolit Buddy dimaprok's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dragonheart View Post
    Maybe I am missing something, but why gas check a plain base bullets when it would be so much simpler to powder coat them?
    gas check has a different purpose than powder coat. PC acts as a lube, GC seals hot gases from traveling past bullet base.

    Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by dimaprok View Post
    gas check has a different purpose than powder coat. PC acts as a lube, GC seals hot gases from traveling past bullet base.

    Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk
    Sorry to disagree, but you are mistaken. A polymer jacket is much more than a lube, which is a common misconception. Polymer is as hard as copper plating and bonds better than plating to the alloy; a gas check doesn't bond at all. Polymer will withstand the extremely short duration of heat ignition, so there is no gas cutting and assuming the bullet is properly fitted to the barrel polymer seals as well as any jacket. Additionally, with polymer there is no metal contact with the barrel, which leaves deposits. The only possible reason I can come up with to put a check on a plain base bullet is to achieve a perfectly flat base without any imperfections to aid in accuracy, but that is assuming the check is installed perfectly.

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy GRid.1569's Avatar
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    Off on a tangent perhaps but... I remember reading about aluminium cleaning rods that once oxides effectively become grinding rods and will wear the muzzle (not good) so why would you want aluminium gas checks ? Surely that would grind down the whole barrel ? I’m probably missing something here....
    May we achieve our aims....

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    Aluminum oxide damage to barrels has been debated for years and as far as I know no one has published anything more than an opinion either way. I personally powder coat over my aluminum gas checks; the aluminum doesn't contact the barrel, so it is a non-issue for me.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check