Shooting a gas check bullet w/o one

[oldracer]

I was in the hospital over the weekend and had lots of time to surf the internet and was looking and all the various shooting suppliers websites to see what was new. When looking at Lee's bullet mold listing I noticed that their 500 grain flat nose bullet had a picture that showed it with a gas check mounted. I thought for a minute and then remembered that I had actually started shooting black powder with this bullet and was NOT using a gas check. I started lubing by pan as recommended by Doug Knoell and I have a home made tool that pulls out the bullet cleanly and leaves a nice even ring of lube on the bottom where the gas check would be. I checked my targets today that I have been saving and noted that the accuracy is the same as the 500 grain pointed bullet which has a normal bottom! Actually it seems at 100 and 200 yds to be a slight bit better grouping so I am trying to get an idea why? The only thing I can figure is the OD is sealing well coupled with the juice carton / newspaper wad combo and resulting in NO leading and soft fouling.

Any thoughts on this?

[zuke]

I use mold's that are cut for gas check's but have never used one.
I paper patch all my 45-70 so I don't have to worry about leading.

[bigted]

a very good question. i have a mould that i really like the nose area ...being flat with a huge me- plate... but it also is cut for a check. i would like to hear an answer on this question too.

[oldracer]

Well Ted, I would say to give it a try. Mine work really great and I was actually shocked when I saw the picture as I did not remember the difference in bases. Might be that ignorance is bliss as they say and since it is pan lubed the bottom grove is full of Doug's lube so I get a good seal. If the seal was bad I would experience some pretty bad leading due to the fired powder getting around the bullet?!

[lkydvl]

Gas check shanks are easy to remove. You can send it out to a couple folks on the net or do it yourself on a small lathe or mill.

[RMulhern]

a very good question. i have a mould that i really like the nose area ...being flat with a huge me- plate... but it also is cut for a check. i would like to hear an answer on this question too.

"a very good question. i have a mould that i really like the nose area ...being flat with a huge MEPLAT but it also is cut for a check. i would like to hear an answer on this question too."

Fixed it for you!:bigsmyl2::idea:

[oldracer]

Yesterday I finally got around to shooting my loads out to 300YDS and both bullets seemed to have the same accuracy?! I shot them in my Badger barreled Rolling Block and also my Pedersoli limited edition Sharps. The flat nose with the gas check bottom seemed to hit about the same grouping as the pointed ones with the flat bottom so now they look okay at 100, 200 and 300 and this was using cross sticks.

[Freightman]

I cut the GC out of my 457-500 F LEE mold works great adds about 7-9gr not a problem. I did it with a drill bit and then some fine emory cloth, worked good for me just do it slow.

[Jon K]

Ditto Freightman & lkydvl...REMOVE the GC.

Jon