Seating Gas Checks

[INGarand]

Using the lee sizing die, sizing and seating gas checks on the 7mm cast bullet. The lee sizing die will not seat the gas checks on the bullet, most of the time they are crooked. The bullet is a gas check design. I have to seat the checks with a mallet before sizing. Any ideas?

[Misery-Whip]

Have to open the check up first. Some use a ball bearing, others make a punch.

[imashooter2]

Annealing can help checks seat easier. I’d try that before I resigned myself to using a tool on every check.

[michael.birdsley]

NOE sells a very good system for starting gas checks. they go on straight. The NOE system doesn’t crimp the checks on though. if i remember correctly it’s rough $35 and now ships fast.


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[BLAHUT]

I use my lube sizer to seat gas checks; on Strate and crimped;

[TurnipEaterDown]

Not every mold is made to take every check. Some mold makers specify checks. There are different thicknesses.
Didn't say what mold & check, so it could be a good thing to verify that the check is correct for mold.

You do say that you had to seat the checks w/ a mallet, and that seems pretty forceful. Usually mine will snap on w/ just a hint of effort (Hornady checks are what I usually use on 30s, 32s (8mm), 35s, 416s, and 44s).
Some of my LEE molds produce bullets that are very hard to get checks on. I always inspect the bullet base condition for flash if I start experiencing it. I think the LEE diameter control is just a little loosey goosey (i.e. SPC is not their strong suit).

(Since the LEE sizer itself is a budget form of the idea of the Noe sizer, the following comments..)

In any event on some bullets where they do snap on squarely I run them through twice with the NOE sizing die -- first time base up (nose punch in the ram adapter) to get the check crimped, then I pan lube and run them through nose first with the flat ram. Doubles the work, but in the instance I am describing I just don't care because 500-700 last me a long time.
On some that are a little tough to seat I have used the LAM II to seat the checks squarely and then run up in the NOE sizer.

(I don't do this w/ everything, just a work around explanation. For instance: Some things I run through the LAM II in one step w/ the GC.)

Probably some wiser fella could give a 'less work' recommendation, but these things have worked for me.

[michael.birdsley]

Not every mold is made to take every check. Some mold makers specify checks. There are different thicknesses.
Didn't say what mold & check, so it could be a good thing to verify that the check is correct for mold.

You do say that you had to seat the checks w/ a mallet, and that seems pretty forceful. Usually mine will snap on w/ just a hint of effort (Hornady checks are what I usually use on 30s, 32s (8mm), 35s, 416s, and 44s).
Some of my LEE molds produce bullets that are very hard to get checks on. I always inspect the bullet base condition for flash if I start experiencing it. I think the LEE diameter control is just a little loosey goosey (i.e. SPC is not their strong suit).

(Since the LEE sizer itself is a budget form of the idea of the Noe sizer, the following comments..)

In any event on some bullets where they do snap on squarely I run them through twice with the NOE sizing die -- first time base up (nose punch in the ram adapter) to get the check crimped, then I pan lube and run them through nose first with the flat ram. Doubles the work, but in the instance I am describing I just don't care because 500-700 last me a long time.
On some that are a little tough to seat I have used the LAM II to seat the checks squarely and then run up in the NOE sizer.

(I don't do this w/ everything, just a work around explanation. For instance: Some things I run through the LAM II in one step w/ the GC.)

Probably some wiser fella could give a 'less work' recommendation, but these things have worked for me.

to expand on this a little. one of my older lee molds i bought second hand. had a little chunk taken out of the mold where the gas check sits. looks like maybe the mold was dropped at one time. so on the bullet it produced quite the burr where the base of the bullet met the gas shank body. some times i have to take a file a clean that up before i can put the gas check on.


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[Wheelguns 1961]

I give another vote for the NOE gas check seater. I have an .30 caliber mp mold, and any gas check is tight on the shank. They are very hard to get right. With the NOE tool, they all seat perfectly. I also have the NOE gas check expander, but it isn’t needed with the seater.

[MarkP]

Try to snap them on by hand before placing on the sizing punch, also NOE makes a chamfer tool for the heals of cast bullets. It breaks the edge and put on a small chamfer. If you have one that it is stuck and crocked grab nose of bullet and push the other end of the bullet or gas check against a hard surface to get it to snap on fully before running into a sizing die.

[Winger Ed.]

Like Mark, I snap them on by hand on the bench top,
then stand them on a real flat surface to be sure the boolit is standing straight up before going into the sizer.

If they are a problem child and won't act right, there is often a little bit of a flashing from the mold seam.
If that won't easily scratch off and it act right, that one goes back in the pot.

[bosterr]

I've used the round end of a ball peen hammer and tap it with a rubber mallet. I had a small number of .475 checks to use up and this is how I made them work.

[INGarand]

Thank everyone for the suggestions, The bullet is the Lee 7mm gas check 130grn bullet. So far not the most accurate bullet in my 7mm rifles. Tapping the checks on with a plastic mallet seems to work. Not quite as nice as the Lyman lube and sizer but will work with the limited amount I load.

[imashooter2]

Annealing is pretty easy… can’t hurt, might help.

[ascast]

What exactly is the process for annealing gas checks? I'd like to know. FWIW - I generally se Hornady gas checks and seater them in the luber/sizer. Never really noticed any issues.

[MarkP]

Thank everyone for the suggestions, The bullet is the Lee 7mm gas check 130grn bullet. So far not the most accurate bullet in my 7mm rifles. Tapping the checks on with a plastic mallet seems to work. Not quite as nice as the Lyman lube and sizer but will work with the limited amount I load.

An inexpensive 7mm mold to try: Mid South Shooters Supply has a 7 mm Soup Can mold. I think you find it under custom molds. It is a LEE mold either 2 or 6 cavity. Or at least they used to sell both. They shoot pretty good in an old 7 x 57 Roller and a 7-08 Rem M Seven.

[imashooter2]

What exactly is the process for annealing gas checks? I'd like to know. FWIW - I generally se Hornady gas checks and seater them in the luber/sizer. Never really noticed any issues.

Same as annealing brass, except you want them completely soft, so you can’t overheat them. Heat them to more than 700° F and then let them air cool. The process can be as simple as putting them in a covered pot on your stove. What I do is put them in a large pipe nipple with a piece of newsprint and the caps screwed on loosely. I throw that in the fireplace and when the fire goes cold I fish it out, and pour out the checks into a mesh basket to let the paper ash separate. The loose caps won’t allow pressure to build and the paper uses up all the oxygen so the checks don’t tarnish.

If you use pipe, buy black pipe, not galvanized. The zinc burning off galvanized pipe gives poisonous fumes.

[PopcornSutton]

Good points made here. I think a check needs to be seated into the check. The base of the bullet is square, the inside corner of the check isn't. Plus, many checks (Hornady) are cupped from the forming process. A tool that will hold the bullet straight then tap the bullet into the check so it's flat is needed. I made my own, but others may do the same thing. Annealing is a good thing too, they need to be dead soft so they don't have any spring back and they form well.

[cuzinbruce]

Lyman made (or makes) a gas check seater for their lube-sizer. You put it on the rod below the die and it limited the travel. You could only seat the gas check.

[Seeker]

I have 1 bullet that I cast and the checks go on them hard. All my sizing dies are Lee push through. With these hard to install checks, I take a bullet punch from another set and put a wrap or two of electrical tape around it and push it up into the sizing die so it doesn't fall back out. I then push the check onto the bullet a good as I can get it by hand and hold it in the press upside down, then run the checked end up against the other bullet punch. This method works well for me.

[cwlongshot]

NOE sells a very good system for starting gas checks. they go on straight. The NOE system doesn’t crimp the checks on though. if i remember correctly it’s rough $35 and now ships fast.


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100% THIS!!

https://youtu.be/84mNH9ekPDs?si=wLSKuWS43cNQA_0n