Bought Free Chek III tool : results

[milprileb]

I ordered a Free Check III tool and Charlie sent it in 2 days time from Calif to my house in Virginia. He sent me punches for .308 and 303 in this set so that covers my rifle cast bullet needs

My set up is like the guy on You Tube using a wood jig and the Harbor Freight Arrbor Press, 1 ton model . I departed from the design by taking off the plate and bolting my metal plate with wood tool holder to the press body itself. I greased the press with Militech grease and put on a Lee reloading press wood ball handle on the arbor press arm. This makes use very fluid and fast.

The Tool itself is exactly like the one on You Tube in operation. Feed strips into slot and crank the handle. I had 200 checks in no time at all. Checks fall into a cup and they fit my Lyman and Lee mold produced bullets.

One check drops with every crank of handle.

I am good with all of t his. I won't be put on back order for gas checks any more, won't be buying them at 30 bucks for 1000 either. Granted , the $100 for the tool
will take 3000 checks to pay for itself but I see that happening in the next year alone so tool investment will pay dividends for years to come.

Yeah, had to buy a paper cutter (7 bucks) and a arbor press but I needed an arbor press so thats a scrub.

Tools pay for them selves and have always been good for me. However, if you don't shoot tons of bullets like I do, casting and making gas checks is a waste of time.

Oh yeah: its a hobby so making checks is well spent time for me.

[TCFAN]

Great isn't it. I have three of the FCIII and I will never be out of gas checks again. I made 2400 35 cal checks from one sheet of lithographic plate .008 thick and it cost me all of .50 cents at the local newspaper office........Terry

[milprileb]

We don't have any local newspaper offices here so its Ace Hardware and .014 or .008 thick aluminum flashing.

This hobby of casting has a time line... we use wheel weights, linotype, lithograph plates and EPA hated lead . All things vanishing from our world .

Had to order from Ace Hardware for the right size flashing, even that was not in stock.

The hunt is never ending for all this stuff. Bullet casters are an endangered species.

[TCFAN]

milpriled, you are so right. I got lucky at the Ace hardware I went to and found 2 rolls of the Amerimax .014 flashing. It is good stuff for 30 and 44 cal. checks................Terry

[VHoward]

I tried a FCIII in 35 cal myself. I could not get the lith plate in .008 as mentioned and the tool jambed on anything else I tried it with. Charlie refunded my money.

[Oreo]

I don't think its a dying hobby at all. It will never be mainstream but the increased cost of ammo is driving shooters to reload and reloaders to cast. If anything we're on the cusp of a revival just as the gun rights revival has fed the mainstream interest in firearms TV programming. The raw materials may change with technology but the hobby will live on. The very fact that we are in the midst of a golden age of custom mold availability and that there's enough demand to support bringing a gas check making tool to market is evidence of the fact.

[milprileb]

Oreo, I certainly hope you are right about the future and certainly casting gear is not seen for sale at gun shows etc etc these days so demand for it is high. But...finding casting metals (not store bought alloys) from scrap yds and other sources like tire shops is a real struggle and linotype is long gone in my area. I know this is situational as on west a buddy of mine in Oregon can find all the lino he wants but WW is hard to find.

With zinc WW more and more the majority of what I find at recycle vendors and tire stores blowing me off as they got contracts to sell WW to metal vendors, the hobby is a dynamic to fuel with resources here in Northern Virginia.

As to gas checks... you can hit every gun shop for a 150 mile radius and not find a single box.

When Midway had a sale and Lyman checks were $40 bucks... that drove me to getting tools and taking this variable of gas check supply and outrageous costs under my direct control.

I am sure the same reasons as all who read this thread.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

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[Sagebrush7]

I tried a FCIII in 35 cal myself. I could not get the lith plate in .008 as mentioned and the tool jambed on anything else I tried it with. Charlie refunded my money.

They are three people on this site that sell .008 litho plate. I would have given you some! Sorry that you gave up a great tool.

[Love Life]

Give Yonky a holler. He has dead soft .008 aluminum coil. It is the bee's knees.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

,,,,,

[VHoward]

They are three people on this site that sell .008 litho plate. I would have given you some! Sorry that you gave up a great tool.

I wasn't sure if I just couldn't find the right material to make the gas checks with or if the tool was defective. Charlie was very quick to respond to my emails with suggestions and trouble shooting tips. When nothing seemed to help, he offered the 100% refund. I didn't have to ask. I will probably try again and get some lith plate from members on here or get some of the coil from Yonky.

I have been making checks with a Pat Marlins check maker and it works well with the .014 aluminum flashing I have, but it gets extremely tedious to do it in a two step process. It is a good tool otherwise.

I bought some Gator gas checks from on here to supplement my gas check production as I have been casting faster than I can make gas checks.

[JeffinNZ]

Yes, I have three coils of Yonky's 16 thou material I will be chugging through at the gun show later with month. It's a productive way to fill in the day between customers.

[milprileb]

Hey guys, .008 material is a bit slim and ill fitting on my 30 caliber bullets but .014 flashing makes checks that are nice and tight when seated on my Saeco lubrisizer press.

I am perplexed on what .008 might offer me.

Isn't Yonky in United Kingdom? Thats a long way to ship check material unless there is some cheap solution I am not aware of. Granted, he sells rolls and no cutting needed.

.014 seems ideal... am I missing something ?

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

3on!!

[Love Life]

I use the .008 for 357 gas checks if that helps. I would use a thicker material for the other calibers as needed.

[TCFAN]

I have found that if you fold the .008 and then punch it out you will have a .016 thick gas check that works good on the 30 and 44 cal boolits.

VHoward..If you will go to Lowes and get some Union brand flashing that is .009 by 10 inchwide 10 foot long roll it will make good 357 checks. Not as good as the lith. plate but OK........Terry

[DukeInFlorida]

JUst a brief note that I hope might be helpful. You can use thicker material. The spacing between the tool parts controls the outside diameter of the final check, and the wall thickness of the sides of the check. I was able to "beagle" one of Charlies sets (at his suggestion. He even told me how he would do it if I wanted to send it back for the purpose).

I was able to produce .30 cal checks with longer sides (fit the shank on the bullet better), and also make a 500 magnum check adjustment that now gives me .503" outside diameter (covers more gun options)

Please confer with Charlie for how to do these things. He was been very helpful in getting me to understand the process better.

[milprileb]

30 cal checks with longer sides (fit the shank on the bullet better)

Will the checks as made by Charlies tool suffice for rifle or does one need
longer sided checks for optimum use on rifle bullets ? The checks made so
far appear to be same size as Hornady made checks.

[VHoward]

VHoward..If you will go to Lowes and get some Union brand flashing that is .009 by 10 inchwide 10 foot long roll it will make good 357 checks. Not as good as the lith. plate but OK........Terry

What color label is that? I was looking on Lowes web site and they have a blue and either a dark blue or green label product.

Vance

[milprileb]

Highly recommend going to Ace or Lowes etc and with your calipers get the right size. I have found .008 and .011 at Lowes and Ace, had to have Ace order the .014 size that I sought.

Your stores may/may not stock size you need but looking at roles of flashing by different companies is fruitless... they don't always say anything more than 4 inch x50 foot. Not thickness. Take your calipers guys and save yourself drama.

[TCFAN]

Yes take a micrometer with you. Here is what I have used for 357 checks with my FCIII from Lowes..

http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/xx200/TCintheOzarks/lowes-flashing-009.jpg


..............Terry

[Sagebrush7]

Go on Amerimax web site and print out there spec sheet with all the types. Then shop on Amazon and shop for metal with those amerimax numbers. Sales on Antonline, Buy.com, Ace,Sims, and many others. They are all having discounts. Save money and send the savings to me to dispose off properly. I will bury the dirty money.

[VHoward]

Unfortunately, none of the local hardware stores carry anything appropriate. What they have is too hard and springy and the wrong thickness. I had to order the Amerimax .014 thick aluminum from Amazon to get anything that would work with pat marlins check maker.

The closest Lowes to me is 90 miles away, so I will have to wait for when I make the trip for several different thing at once.

[DukeInFlorida]

Answered your question in more detail via PM. Suffice it to say that you should try making some with .010 and .014 material, and see what works.


30 cal checks with longer sides (fit the shank on the bullet better)

Will the checks as made by Charlies tool suffice for rifle or does one need
longer sided checks for optimum use on rifle bullets ? The checks made so
far appear to be same size as Hornady made checks.

[yonky]

can i just say, it does say in the small print at the bottom of the amerimax spec sheet that ALL tolerences are + or - .002" on thickness, which to me seems odd, i could seee maybe the thicker gauges varying by that much but not the .008" and .009" anybody had a problem with gauge on the thinner material?

[Whistler]

Another happy customer here. I use the .014 for .30 and .44, for the .357 I use .008 or .009, all aluminum roof flashing.

I've also tested some brass shim stock, it is an absolute improvement!

The roof flashing has some kind of dust or smearing effect going on in the tools, so I spray some WD-40 in it and it works like a charm (otherwise it binds).

[DukeInFlorida]

I use synthetic gun oil for coasting the moving parts on my FreeChex III tools. It never dries out like WD40 does.

[VHoward]

WD40 was not meant to be a lubricant. It was designed to displace water, hence the name water displacement formula 40 (WD40). There were 39 other formulas before they found the right one. It will provide a temporary lube effect, but does not last long.

[milprileb]

Gents,

I use Turtle wax. Rub it on the aluminum flashing material, let it dry to a haze, cut it to strips
and feed to FreeCheckIII. Wax makes things lubricated, no build up, no fuss / no muss and no powder contamination . I was using Lee sizing lube until I tried the Turtle wax.

[Jailer]

Gents,

I use Turtle wax. Rub it on the aluminum flashing material, let it dry to a haze, cut it to strips
and feed to FreeCheckIII. Wax makes things lubricated, no build up, no fuss / no muss and no powder contamination . I was using Lee sizing lube until I tried the Turtle wax.

What a great idea, I never would have thought of that.

[LAURIE R]

Hi guys , could someone post the details on buying one of these tools please ,

[yonky]

Hi guys , could someone post the details on buying one of these tools please ,

hi you can contact charlie here codarnall@yahoo.com

he is on holiday untill the 15th. ian

[HighRoad]

will this work on 38 cal plain base bullets?

[JKH]

I still supply .008" lith plate here in the states if anyone of you is in need, Charlies tools perform very well with it, coil stock and flashing are quite hard and brittle, and require more than twice the pressure to cut and form checks, Charlie has designed some of his tools around this material.

For lubrication I have found from the beggining of the original FC II tools that Hornady Unique case lube works best, basically mink oil paste, it is lanolin based and will not contaminate powder or primers and has a very high film strength. I also use it to resize jacketed bullets in a push through die, a little 4oz tub has lasted me almost 30 years and thousands of reloaded cases and sized bullets, half is still left :D

[OLPDon]

Charlie,

Just a quick note got your Freechex III in .22, .32 Winspl, & .44 yesterday safe & sound. Thank you ever so much for your quick emails and most of all for personal and fast turn around.

A quick note to all, I had sent a email on 8/1/12 for information on stock of .22, .32 Winspl. .44 in stock, Within a few hours Charlie got back to me and said he had just finished the .22 cal and sent them out to get hardened. He inquired the shank size on the .32 winny I measured and sent info. and Charlie polished the pin to fit the shank, the fit was right on the money. Gas caps fit perfectly. Tool & die work is very impressive.

Turn around time from inquiring to at my door 4 days. You don't get that kind of service from the big catalogs.
Charlie I can't thank you enough....

Don

[nemohunter]

Email sent to Charlie.