tight fitting checks on the Ranch Dog mold

[44man]

As all of you know I like tight checks anyway but needed to seat a bunch before the alloy hardened and expanded too much. I am going to lube and size when I have time but wanted to get the checks on. I was tapping them on or putting an oak stick on the nose and putting my weight on it. Too hard!
I found an old RCBS .44 size die and screwed a nose punch in it a little way. Then using the punch from my Lee size die I got it to work. I set the boolit in the check, set it on the punch and put the boolit into the nose punch. A little pressure on the handle and I can feel the check seat.
Works like a charm and I didn't have to make anything.

[felix]

Yes, I do the very same thing in the Saeco luber machine. Seat and crimp the check when the lead is going to swell too much when aging. Entirely mold dependent. Some have shanks which are way too big for use with swelling lead. However, I usually do not complete the sizing operation until the lead is entirely finished swelling (6 or more months in most situations). ... felix

[Lloyd Smale]

i took a pair of vise grips and ground the jaws smooth and it works great for me.

[Pepe Ray]

Seems to me I recall someone saying that the Lyman Gas check Seating Tool was a useless piece of junk. I wonder about that.
Pepe Ray

[VTDW]

Seems to me I recall someone saying that the Lyman Gas check Seating Tool was a useless piece of junk. I wonder about that.
Pepe Ray

I had been sizing and lubing along with installing the gas checks on my Lyman 4500 for over a year. One day I decided to try the GC installer tool because I would sometimes have the gas checks come loose when I pulled the lubed/sized boolit out of the die. I absolutely love the way I can feel the GC seat. I will continue to use this little tool even though it is another operation. I am retired and like to putter in the shop anyway.

Dave

[44man]

After I lube the boolits, the final size die will crimp the checks. They are too tight a fit to use the lube-sizer to get them on. My Rcbs would work if I blocked the ejector punch so it would not go down. Trouble is that I don't have a .432 size die for it but I do have a lapped out Lee. That is the size I want to try in the Marlin.
Just getting the checks in place was important.

[looseprojectile]

Been seating checks with the Lee sizer in the 44 RD and the 50 cal. Lee boolit.
Just put the check on the base and size nose up. Give it a few taps with the ram before you push it all the way through and have have had no rejects yet. Makes them nice and square.
My shooting partner is impressed with the accuracy and consistancy he gets with these boolits.
No leading with just one application of LLA after sizing. You don't have to lube the boolits before sizing. As a matter of fact I think the greater resistance with no lube is helpful in seating the checks. He is getting over 1300 FPS in both the 445 DW and the 500 S&W.
Also 44 Man, I traded off my 44 Mag. carbine with the MG rifling and 38 inch twist for a CZ 452 in 17 HMR last night so don't have the Marlin problem anymore.
Life is good

[44man]

I tried that but these are the tightest fitting of any mold I have, even my home made ones. Even going through a Lee die upside down and dry, they are not fully on the base. They just will not seat unless I anneal them. That is for another test in the future as I find soft checks only work for some applications. Accuracy has changed for me with certain alloys and different hardness checks.
Anyway, the setup I use has taken all the trouble out of getting them on.

[Bass Ackward]

Anyway, the setup I use has taken all the trouble out of getting them on.

Will the degradation of personal values never cease? Soon to be a LLA man.

Wasn't there a line about old .... dogs?

[44man]

Now Bass! These boolits hold a lot of Felix lube.
I was worried until I got the mold, afraid I would have to use my pile of LLA bottles. The bottles look real pretty sitting in the drawer. I still only use the stuff on plinking loads.

[mroliver77]

After I lube the boolits, the final size die will crimp the checks. They are too tight a fit to use the lube-sizer to get them on. My Rcbs would work if I blocked the ejector punch so it would not go down. Trouble is that I don't have a .432 size die for it but I do have a lapped out Lee. That is the size I want to try in the Marlin.
Just getting the checks in place was important.

44man,
The Lyman gas check seater does just that. It blocks the ejector punch. It works very slick.
J

[44man]

Good to know. That will work good with some of my other boolits. Now does anyone have a picture of one?
I am sure I can make something up if nobody does.

[fourarmed]

I ran a bunch of Beagled SAECO 7mm boolits this week. The checks were too tight for finger installation. On my Lyman 450 and 4500 I just lay the wrench across the top of the die nut and press the boolit into check. Lay the wrench to the side and size. Works pretty fast.

[Ricochet]

This is a great idea, thanks!

Several of my group buy moulds have given me a good bit of trouble seating gas checks, and I've been reluctant to start annealing and expanding checks due to the extra work involved. This is definitely worth a try!

[EDK]

I put the sizer for my 50 in the LYMAN 4500 and then use the gas check seater on the RANCH DOG 432 265s since I am sizing them to .432 in the STAR. The biggest die I have for the 4500 is a .430, so I'd either size the whole thing or have a reduced diameter base...not good.

Lars is sending me some LIQUID XLOX so I can try that. Has anyone used regular lube when they sized the RANCH DOG tumble lubes and then a second lubing with the ALOX/XLOX? The lube grooves work, I'm sure. I have confidence in Mike's rsearch and development work. BUT the grooves sure look tiny compared to the stuff I've cast and lubed for the past 40 years! Old habits and opinions THAT WORKED are hard to change!

I slid down the hill to the shooting range yesterday and did 50 rounds of the GLL full wadcutters in 2 VAQUEROS...the ice and snow were melting a little...BUT there's about 2 inches of powdery white that arrived overnight!