PB check seating issue.

[Muddydogs]

I received some .40 cal PB checks from n.h.schmidt (thanks for the checks to try out) and proceed to try and seat a few on Lee 401 175 SWC tumble lube bullets that had been sized and lubed with the Lee 401 push through die. The problem I am having is that when I run the bullets through the die nose first the checks don't crimp at all to the bullet and will fall out of the die when the ram is lowered. When I try and seat the checks by running them through the die base first the die will cut 1/4 to 1/3 off one side of the check even with the base of the bullet, the rest of the check is crimped onto the bullet very well. It appears that maybe my bullets are a little hard, there just straight COWW lead? I might have to go on the hunt for a 401 die for the lube sizer.

[tjones]

Sort of like putting your foot is your grandkids shoes huh!

[Cane_man]

i can only seat PB checks in the Lyman 45, the Lee push thru did not work for me... i had to slightly chamfer the mouth of the lubrisizer die and polish it and then it seated the PB aluminum checks perfectly (without the chamfer and polish the checks would tear apart)

[Forrest r]

I have no problem seating my pb checks with the lee or lyman sizers.

66736

The check maker isn't much to look at but it works. Lyman on the left & lee on the right.

[Sagebrush7]

I received some .40 cal PB checks from n.h.schmidt (thanks for the checks to try out) and proceed to try and seat a few on Lee 401 175 SWC tumble lube bullets that had been sized and lubed with the Lee 401 push through die. The problem I am having is that when I run the bullets through the die nose first the checks don't crimp at all to the bullet and will fall out of the die when the ram is lowered. When I try and seat the checks by running them through the die base first the die will cut 1/4 to 1/3 off one side of the check even with the base of the bullet, the rest of the check is crimped onto the bullet very well. It appears that maybe my bullets are a little hard, there just straight COWW lead? I might have to go on the hunt for a 401 die for the lube sizer.
The Lee push thru die needs a small leade at the mouth of the die. I used the 60 degree cone shaped stone sold at Walmart in the air compressor section from Campbell Hausfield to ease the mouth of my large Lee sizing dies. Put it in a drill press and go slowly. Polish the mouth with some 400 hundred wet and dry sand papper. Small dies you can use the smaller Dremel stones.

[fcvan]

Lyman, RCBS, SAECO, and others seat base first which crimps or swages the PB check onto the boolit base. When using the Lee push through dies, you also need to push through base first. If using a flat pointed boolit, no problem. If using a RN or pointed boolit you need to modify the punch. The most common way is to push a boolit through the die, lube the die body and boolit, and then insert the boolit back into the die so that the nose is pointing down. Mix up some JB weld and put some into the die body. Make sire the punch surface is clean and oil free and then push it up to form around the boolit nose. Let it cure over night and now you have a custom nose punch for seating base first into the Lee push through die.

[Cane_man]

I have no problem seating my pb checks with the lee or lyman sizers.

66736

The check maker isn't much to look at but it works. Lyman on the left & lee on the right.

nice looking tool, did you make that using two bolts and some bar stock? do you have another pic showing all the pieces disassembled?

[Forrest r]

Ya, their actually pretty simple to make but they do get the job done.

Some .004" pop can material on the left, cut blanks & made checks. On the right are some blanks & checks made from .078" flashing. Both were made/cut using the same tool. If the thin material has a problem with bonding to a bullet for some reason the thicker material will work.

66815

The other thing I like to do with my pb gas checks it make them longer than what most of the other pb makers are doing. If you look at the pic (post #4) of the checks on the boolits you'll see that my pb checks cover most of the bottom driving band on the boolit. The longer pb check does a better job of clinging to the boolit & seems to do better with accuracy.

[Cane_man]

real nice design... i made a plain base gas check maker from a piece of bronze and a drill bit:

http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac331/johnelway/PB2_zpsf0c0a0ee.jpg


i chuck it up in my lathe, and hit the end with a rubber mallet and they shoot out into the plastic lid underneath:

http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac331/johnelway/PBGCPunchFormer_zps3e55fa36.jpg


like your tool, it will punch and form in one stroke... then i swage them in the Lyman 45... i just made this thing and have yet to test the PB GC boolits at the range... got the design from a guy on the 10mm-firearms.com forum


.

[Forrest r]

I like that style of gc maker!!!!

What is the hole size in the bronze body & drillbit size?

[HiVelocity]

I too have Ned's gaschecks. I used a Lee .356 push-thru sizer to put on my NOE 358-135-HP 9mm bullets and works well; I also install these same checks on .358 diameter cast bullets using a .359 Lee push thru dies. I've had no problems with either.

HV

[Cane_man]

the die body is about 2" long and drilled out to 1/2", the last 1/2" is drilled out to 5/8 so the checks will come out easily, the punch is made from a $10 1/2" drill bit... the real trick is to get the tip dimensions correct and the nose edge rounded or it tears the al can material, there is also a little spring between the die and lathe so that it rebounds back in to position... you can punch out about 10 to 15 every few minutes or so