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View Full Version : PB gas checks - QUestion



colonelhogan44
02-06-2011, 02:31 AM
I recently read about patmarlin's plain base gas check design, so I thought it would be worth a shot. Being a po' college boy, I decided to make a primitive check maker to (hopefully) duplicate the PB check.

Using primitive tools, I created the following from some nuts and bolts:

http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss301/colonelhogan44/100_3430.jpg

The disk cutter is on the left, and the forming die on the right, along with some finished checks. While this machine is slow, it does make them. I tried some from old cans, and some from an aluminum "no trespassing" sign.

The checks fit nicely on the back of my lee 358-158-RF boolits, but when I went to seat the can checks, they required an alarming amount of force, and part of the aluminum was sheared off and deposited in the lube groove. The sign checks required more force still, so I gave up before I broke something. This was all done with a lee .358 push through sizer, with the boolits base first.

Are they usually this hard to seat, or am I doing something wrong here? The boolits were cast a few months ago and air cooled, out of an unknown hard alloy, most likely WW with maybe a splash of Linotype.

RU shooter
02-06-2011, 01:09 PM
The ones I use on .360 dia rifle bullets go on fairly easy base first with the Lee sizer these are mainly out of soda can which is .004, Now the others I have tried namely litho plate.008 and .010 copper were alot harder to put on actually flattening the nose some on the bullet.

Tim

Swede44mag
02-07-2011, 09:56 AM
Does the Lee die have a taper/radius if not you may need to add a slight taper/radius.
If the edge is to sharp it will cut/shear the check.

You might want to look up Ed's Freecheck III design it is a challenge to make but does work well.
If you do besure to put a radius on the inside of the punch and forming die or it will shear the checks.

I have been making checks for my 45-70 with one.

Just a thought.

badbob454
02-07-2011, 11:26 AM
try with the bullet tip first ... and make sure to lube it . some of the bullets will require a lot of force esp. if sizing a 360 cast with hard alloy