Seating gas checks...

[madcaster]

What method do you use?
I usually use the lubrisizer and just sit the gas check down in the sizing die,level it and sit the bullet in there nice and square,and pull the press press handle,which usually works.
But with my luck I usually get some that are not seated square on the shank of the bullet.
So I have started using an engraving hammer and tapping the gas check down on the bullet,sometimes with the nose of the bullet in a block of that white plastic derlin block,it keeps the bullet from being deformed on the nose end.
Any suggestions from you guys?
Thanks,
Jeff.:coffee:

[44man]

I make my molds for a tight gas check fit. I just spread some on the table, insert a boolit as much as I can, then tap the base on the table top until the check is all the way on. I can hear a difference in the sound when it is seated fully. I do not like loose checks.

[jhalcott]

I use a thick (.062) between the bullet base and the lubrisizer nut.Jigling the ram up and down as I rotate the bullet to be certain it is on flat.

[mag_01]

----When I'm lubing and using g/cs if I have trouble seating them I chuck them up in a drill and a little trimming with a file saves a lot of aggravation. its the easiest method I have found---- Just a little pressure of the chuck on boolit is required-----Mag

[357maximum]

44's method is my preferred method...I actually lap the check areas of the mould to attain that type of fit if they are too easy to install...........loose checks=loose groups...

[MT Gianni]

If my checks don't seat square then I use the Lyman gas check tool to make sure the base is seated flush. It is the only usse I have found for it. Gianni.

[Dye]

What method do you use?
I usually use the lubrisizer and just sit the gas check down in the sizing die,level it and sit the bullet in there nice and square,and pull the press press handle,which usually works.
But with my luck I usually get some that are not seated square on the shank of the bullet.
So I have started using an engraving hammer and tapping the gas check down on the bullet,sometimes with the nose of the bullet in a block of that white plastic derlin block,it keeps the bullet from being deformed on the nose end.
Any suggestions from you guys?
Thanks,
Jeff.:coffee:

Madcaster
On Lyman and RCBS luber sizers. Take a 45 degree stone and put a slight taper on the die,just enougt so the check sets on it square. The bullet will seat it's self if things are not to far out of kelter .

Be carefull Dye

[NVcurmudgeon]

Most of my GC moulds are pretty user-friendly, so I can easily start the GC on the boolit good and square by hand and the sizer die does a perfect job. A few others just don't fit, either the GC is hand rotatable after sizing, or it won't start on easily. In both cases annealing is the answer. If the GC is too big, annealing eliminates springback and makes for a secure fit. If the GC is too small, annealing makes it easy to expand the GC with a homemade punch so it will start on easily.

[fourarmed]

If it's just an occasional one, I lay the die nut wrench across the nut, and press the boolit into the check.

[grumpy one]

I started out trying to tap the bullet down into the check with a punch, but found I was making a mess. I switched to using a Lyman-type seater in the lubesizer. That ensured the checks went on straight, but there was still the problem of getting the tight ones to be centered, so they didn't shave the bullet base on one side. I fixed that by adjustment of the depth setting on the lubesizer, so that when the I section is pushed right down against the stop (which is the gas check seater) the bullet is deep enough in the tapered section of the sizing die for the die to just touch the rearmost driving band. The gas check and the bullet are then both centered by the sizing die. When I put the bullet in I rotate it a bit to ensure centering, and can feel whether it is sitting properly or not. Then I just pull gently on the lubesizer handle, and can feel the bullet sliding down inside the check. I usually pull the bullet out rather than pushing the lubesizer handle up, because if I do the latter the I section will be up too high to center the next gas check and bullet.

Minor point: I use a Lyman 45 lubesizer, so I can't use an actual Lyman gas check seater - I made my own based on the same principle as Lyman's.

[RayinNH]

I do the same as fourarmed when I get tight ones...Ray

[Baron von Trollwhack]

I have a piece of old 22 barrel threaded to fit a reloading press. One end is bored out to take the lyman nose punches of their sizer and has a set screw. i put that in the press and lay an electrical box knockout slug across a shellholder. I like to use thinned alox on the as cast 257420s, sort of stick on the GC by hand and seat by press-good feel.

[44man]

There is one thing I don't like when I try to seat a tight check in the size die. The check will crimp before it is all the way on the base and it will be a poor fit if forced on at the bottom of the die. Like seating a boolit in a case without flaring it. I prefer to get the check all the way on before getting near a size die.

[leftiye]

44 - you might try flaring the gas checks with a short , tapered , wide nosed punch first in that case. That is if the check/bullet combo does that a lot. Wish I could figure out how to make a mold cast smaller bases, but it' like cutting some wood back onto a board.

[felix]

Just a small amount of aluminum stearate in the pot will allow the shank to contract a little, by taking all the sharp edges off of the boolit. Using the correct amount will not contract the diameter of the boolit from the driving bands. For a 20 pound pot full of lead, I use several large caliber boolits with lube containing aluminum stearate in lieu of sodium stearate. This amount of aluminum in the pot seems to be perfect for a bare minimum contraction. The amount of contraction needed is the basis for the amount of aluminum required. ... felix