Sharpen the neck of the appropriate cartridge case and punch your own.
"Experience is a series of non-fatal mistakes"
Disarming is a mistake free people only get to make once...
tayous1,
I run a 60-acre farm and shoot much on my 5 ranges. I do load snake loads for the occasional copperheads and rattlers. I suspect a nickel a gas check for snake loads is a bit much in 2021, but times are changing! Yesterday my local gun shop finally got in 100-round trays of CCI .22 long rifle ammo for $14.90 a pop! I have a few "bricks" of 500 rounds that were $14.00 each, back in the day. Until 2024, NOTHING will ever cost less. Go gas up and see my point.
A nickel, per each, gas check is a BARGAIN at this point in time! Trust me on this.
Be Well.
Adam
You can do it with the burring tool or a large diameter countersink. It has been so long since I did it that way I don't remember if putting the bevel on the outside or inside of the case worked better.
Also you can drill out the primer pocket and use a small bolt and nut to make a powered cutter with your electric drill.
Robert
That's good that you can spend $60 on copper! When there is a lot of free aluminum out there!
Guess I'm the type they would much rather do a little work than spend hard-earned money!
Gas is up everything is up thanks to who is in the office! It was not like this a year ago except with ammo and reloading items!
Why spend good hard-earned money on something that you can make with a little time and effort? Guess that's the self-sufficient person in me trying to not rely on someone else to do a job I can do for free or for 1/8 of the price. I don't have all the money in the world I can dream of owning 60 acres of land. All I have is 10 acres that have never been worked.
I have fences to build areas to till and boulders to move so I can set up an orchard for trees. Have to fence off all the property that has not been taken care of since 1995 have to cut several trees down to make room for the fence as I work a regular job 40 hours a week and worse I work evenings!
$60 might not be much to you but a guy who has to fence his land by hand has other obligations and jobs that's have to be done!
So $60 is a lot for something I could make for free or about free!
I live in a house that was built in 1940 the well has never has had a water softener that I installed last year. So all my pipes are rusted, the home has two old water heaters I can't even both electric that sucks up money each day. I need to buy two propane instant water heaters. Also, have to replace my microwave/stove that is electric with propane for the oven and just make it a double oven!
Have to update my stovetop as it has not been cleaned properly so I need to get a new burner.
Last for this my home since in South West Texas did not come with a heater! All the propane heaters were taken out because they are not up to standards! My family suffered last winter as our power went out for 5 days! No power no water even though we have a well but no Power!
Have a generator to buy! So my wife can do her job at home that makes a lot more then I do I'm talking a lot $$$!
So $60 is a lot to me! I'm not talk even about what needs to be fixed inside.
I have not made many snake loads, not much need for them up here in the Frozen North.
But I have punched several hundred overshot cards from white plastic milk carton.
I use the 3 liter lactaid jugs as that is what my wife and I have on hand.
Set of harbor freight punches, a rubber mallet and a chunk of 4x4.
Even those might need to be sharpened a little. Dremel with a sanding disk or stone.
I have also sharpened many cartridge cases. Chamfering tool works fine, do most of the work on the outside.
Those styrofoam trays they sell meat on cut real easy. They are a bit thicker. A drop of glue or a dab of hot wax will hold it in place.
Mine I punched the primer out, then slid a blowgun dart into the cartridge. Roll the far end or glue a piece of branch on the sharp point. Cut 3 or 4, give it a push and out they come. I have one made from a .444marlin brass that has cut a lot of plugs.
Its all about finding the right size brass for the application. Then sit down and use your head. Good luck!
I truly believe we need to get back to basics.
Get right with the Lord.
Get back to the land.
Get back to thinking like our forefathers thought.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you
and give you His peace. Let all of the earth – all of His creation – worship and praise His name! Make His
praise glorious!
tayous1,
Yessir, all your points were well taken. To answer your question: One way to sharpen an empty cartridge case very sharp to a knife edge is with a chamfer and deburring tool.
Hope this helps.
Adam
DIxie Gunworks Catalogue
Price 5.00
Shipping 15.00
Harbor Frieght 9 piece hollow punch set, $10.
Bleach bottle punch outs for overshot wad.
357 mag seating die for crimping mouth on 45 acp ss
Nail polish for sealant.
But upside down .375” gas checks do work well for 45 ss
Last edited by Bwana John; 07-30-2022 at 01:30 AM.
I used a 3 inch section of 1/2 inch steel tube with 1/16 steel wall, drilled a 29/64 hole in the end approximately 1/3 inch deep then sharpened around the outside edge with a file. This made a nice card over powder wad for 45 colt snake loads. Hit the punch on a suitable thickness card stock backed up with the edge of a 2x4. The end only. Just push one side of the card in and pull it out with tweezers. A hand punch is slow but a lot faster than you might think. I use 7 grains of AA#5 an over the shot wad and 160 grains #8 shot then close with a 200 grain semi wadcutter bullet or a 200 grain Lee tumble lube. This way I can do in any snake or anything else that can hurt me! #12 shot would be better but I had #8 and a sack of #12 is costly.
watch what type of card stock you use. the white glossy card stock is coated with a white clay> milk carton, paper plates, solid bleach is clay free> black powder catalog sells punches sized for what you need.
I use one of these and punch a plastic “card” from an old shot shell, cut open, laid flat, on top of a piece of hardwood and smack with a hammer.
https://www.harborfreight.com/9-piec...YaAtsBEALw_wcB
How many .44 shot loads will you actually shoot in a year? Does the cost of the gas checks really matter?
Cognitive Dissident
My thoughts exactly. A thousand is a long term supply. Another material I’ve used is the thick black foam meat trays. They’re almost 1/8” thick and it’s easy to cut them with a sharpened cartridge.
Sometimes life taps you on the shoulder and reminds you it's a one way street. Jim Morris
Styrofoam would melt or burn before the shot load has left the barrel, so not much good for over-powder wad.
Cognitive Dissident
In 41mag and 45apc I use a 410 ga. wad trimmed flush and a top wad punched from primer box.
The 3 people a man must be able to trust completely are his gunsmith his doctor & his preacher ..,his gunsmith for his short term health ,his doctor for long term health ,and his preacher incase one of the others mess up.
Well spoken. Either in my Sharps or an original 1887/Model 1885 High Wall SS in 45-60/70 400-535 gr bullets are unstoppable
on most anything above ground. Decided to research this site in the interest of medical science. Elmer Keith was right.
** Might as well start off with a bang: if a gas check falls off from the base of a cast boolit onto the powder below, in a
bottle -neck rifle cartridge, you will have a pressure excursion, and it may be exciting for you and your rifle. It DOES happen
and this writer has seen it. GCs are like rattlesnakes with anything but straight wall cases: leave em under the rock or in the box they
came in. ** OR, harden / temper yo bullets so they's not necessary.
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 |