Free Chex II

[Goatwhiskers]

Had PM'ed Wally who I bought it from but he must be out of pocket. Need advice. It's a .30 cal, I have some .011 and some .008" aluminum. Makes some purty GC, only problem is they fall off, that is, they don't crimp on at all. My shank is .282". Even tried the thinner material doubled, no joy. Now I'm wondering do I need thicker mat'l, open my mold a little, alter the check maker, or ???. Oh, my Lee sizer is .310, technically .3094". Any suggestions? GW

[TCFAN]

Never have used the FCII. The one I have is the FCIII and I use .0145 and .016 aluminum for 30 cal. On all of the molds that I have I use a gas check seater to get them on. They fit very tight. Some molds take the .0145 better than the .016 and some take the .016 for a tight fit.

I just measured the sample boolits that I have handy and they measure .282 .285 .287.One is a Lyman 311041 and one a RD by Lee and the other is a Lee .312185 that had the smallest GC shank.......Terry

[fcvan]

While I don't have a Freechex maker, I do have a Checkmaker from PatMarlins. I have been punching checks out of .014 Amaerimax aluminum flashing. I bought a 6" by 50' roll for less than $20 after taxes. I have 2 30 cal molds that use gas checks. One is a Lee C309-120 R and the other is a Lee C309-150 F. Both worked well with factory checks.

The 150 mold casts with a shank measured at .284 and my aluminum checks hold firm. The 120 mold casts with a .280 shank and the checks do not stay put. I'm going to open up the shank on the 120 so that checks stay put. I could buy some thicker material, or even double the check with the .014 and some soda can but I'd rather just make the mold right. Oh, both of the 30 cal olds drop at .311. The 150 as cast weighs 155 and the 120 cast with the same alloy weighs 115, but has a skinny shank. I can fix that. Frank