Gas Checks On Plain Base Boolits?

[Milanodan]

I think I already know the answer, but I bought a bunch of plain base .30 cal. boolits at a very good price, because they don't have gas checks. This was before I read about how much GCs help at higher velocities. They weigh 115 gr and 165 gr.

I don't own a sizer (yet), but is there any way to put GCs on the base of these non-GC boolits? I plan on shooting them out of a 30/06 Rem 760 carbine w/18.5" barrel.

I do not want to use any kind of fillers-had bad luck in the past with them (my fault).

I could just use the 115 gr. as low speed plinkers, but thought there might be a better way.

[longbow]

I would say that without a sizer there is no way to put a gas check on a plain base boolit ~ certainly no easy way I know of. Also, you can't use a regular .30 cal gas check. The gas checks designed to fit plain base are just that ~ larger diameter and swaged onto the base of the boolit through a sizer.

You might try wax "soft checks" I believe they are still available or you can make wax sheets yourself. The thin sheet is pressed over the case mouth to punch out a thin disk of wax then the boolit seated over it. The wax helps protect the base of the boolit

Some have used reversed gas checks as well but in a bottleneck case you would have to be sure the check was still in the neck and not fallen into the cartridge so seat shallow. Likely not a problem with the light boolit but might be with the 165 gr.

Good luck.

Longbow

[Milanodan]

Thanks, Longbow

I guess I'll just shoot them as is, at fairly slow velocities.

[Gadzooks Mike]

Seems like somebody mentioned something once about supergluing small disks on the bottom of lead bullets. Instead of a cup around the bottom just a disk covering the bottom. I could also be mistaken, so don't take this for a fact.

Anyway, I shoot a lot of those 115gr lead bullets using 9gr of Unique out of my 30-30 and they're a real fun plinker! It's cheap and fun shooting, and they also make pretty good rabbit rounds, too!

[Shiloh]

Why??

They are plain base boolits.

SHiloh

[Maven]

All, John Haviland, who writes for "Handloader" magazine, wrote about this several issues ago and found no joy (accuracy) with most attempts to turn a PB CB into a GC'ed CB. However, several here have had great success using PB CB's without GC's, albeit at reduced velocity. Why not hold the fps to 1,500 or less and just load and shoot them?

[Wally]

I tried a reverse gas check using .30 Caliber Freechex...with my rem 700 .30-06. I used a Lyman 311410 with 13.0 grains of Red Dot....At 100 yards I got some very small groups under 2"... Moving out to 225 yards I was able to "pop" 3.5" wide steel plates most of the time..that's about as proficent as I can shoot.

Did the same proceedure with a Lee .38 Cal 140 SWC bullet in a .357 Magnum...it too was very accurate and just as good, if not better, than when not using a GC.

One needs to size the GC's so they are at the same bullet size--I use the Lee push trough sizer using a wood dowel. It does take some effort to install the reverse GC on straight---some may find it challenging.

[maddog2020]

I have taken 44 checks and reversed the bullet thru a lee sizer and put checks on 41 mag pb bullets, gotten excellent results. I just pushed the bullet and check with nose down and base /check thru first