Gas check?

[Mayhem]

I am new to gas checked bullets, I have used Hornady 22 cal checks and have recently ordered some more 22 cal. The new checks have a notch halfway down the wall of the check while the Hornady checks do not. I tried to get a picture to no avail. My question is this normal and are these checks serviceable?

[Jeff Michel]

aluminum checks?

[Mayhem]

Sorry, they are copper.

[Sagebrush7]

Sorry, they are copper.

Home made or Factory?

[Mayhem]

Homemade, not by me, my question and thought is these would have a hard time hanging on?

[Cosmiceyes]

Staying on is a false belief.In the barrel yes,but upon exit they if Lyman usually fall away.This is in their manual. Hornady Have a crimp grove to bond better.It would take a expensive camera rig to show the action as it exited the barrel.

A great person to buy them from is Blammer.They are gator checks

[Mayhem]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/kenbow/image.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/kenbow/media/image.jpg.html)

[Mayhem]

Staying on is a false belief.In the barrel yes,but upon exit they if Lyman usually fall away.This is in their manual. Hornady Have a crimp grove to bond better.It would take a expensive camera rig to show the action as it exited the barrel.

A great person to buy them from is Blammer.They are gator checks
What I am hoping for is that these will in fact stay on the bullet through the barrel. I am new to checks and would like others opinion on the checks usefulness.

[Jim]

If the material the check is made of is the proper thickness and it's properly sized onto the boolit, it shouldn't come off AT ALL.

There are three dimensions that have to be considered: The shank diameter on the boolit, the check thickness and the diameter of the sizing die. Also, if the material is too hard, it will spring back, allowing the check to come off.

I make .22 and .30 caliber checks with custom made check makers. I spent an entire day with a high end machine shop machinist working on these dimensions. The result is, I've dug some of my boolits out of my berm and the checks were still there.

I noticed a notch in the wall of the check in the photo. That's not supposed to be there. Either the feed slot in the check maker is not deep enough or the material was not held all the way to the back of the slot resulting in a less than complete cut.

[ubetcha]

From what I see from the picture, the material was not completely in the cutting slot. The punch clipped the edge of the metal. According to the instruction sheet I received from Charlie and the Freechex III they would cause the checks to hang up in the checkmaker.I don't know if it is acceptable to use and have it shoot properly without a leading issue. This happens to me if I dont have the flat stock pushed to the back of the cutter. Sorry Jim.After posting this I see you already mentioned about the metal not in correctly.
Hey Jim !! Are those a pair of purple longjohns from Jeff in NZ?

[Mayhem]

The Bush has been beat around enough, would you guys accept these from a seller on here? I ordered 4k and they all look like this, hardly the quality i was expecting since he had good reviews.

[Jeff Michel]

It's kind of up to you, I make my own checks and some of them look just like your example. I've never had any problem with them staying on the bullet shank.

[Jim]

I had a machinist make a 22 and a 30 caliber check maker for me. If I hold the material all the way to the back of the cutting slot, they don't come out notched.

I've never tested faulty (notched) checks for grip, but I can't help but think that would be detrimental to the grip on the boolit shank. I certainly wouldn't be happy with receiving checks that weren't correctly made. I've never seen one like that from Hornady.

[ph4570]

I have two Freechex tools. One is 22 cal and one is 30 cal. Both leave a small notch. Boolits shoot very well. The notch in my 22 cal is about the same size as the one in the 30 cal but looks bigger due to smaller check. If you go to fleebay you will see many checks for sale that appear to be made by freechex as they have the characteristic notch. Before I bought my freechex tools I got some checks from ebay. They had the notch and shot well. I believe that ebay vendor posts here from time to time. Maybe he will comment on the notch. I do not recall his handle, maybe sagebrush or ?

Anyhow have you shot any boolits fitted with the checks? Have you installed any of the checks and are they loose or tight. The biggest factors in staying on is proper check thickness relative to shank size and final size diameter as well as check material spring back characteristics.

Edit:
I did a search and found info saying that the notch is a result of a freechex design feature to prevent checks from jamming in the tool.

[Dale in Louisiana]

I have a Freechex III (and love it!) and I find that if I'm not careful to insure that the metal is completely inserted all the way in teh device, I will get a check with that notch. Since I'm making these myself, I just toss any like that.

One of these days I'm going to 3-D print a guide for the Freechex and Yonky's strips that will take care of this issue. I just haven't gotten around to it.

dale in Louisiana

[69papatango]

The Bush has been beat around enough, would you guys accept these from a seller on here? I ordered 4k and they all look like this, hardly the quality i was expecting since he had good reviews.

I have 2k of these also ....and have PM'd the maker, that was about a week ago.... still no response....I was wondering about accuracy myself.

[Sensai]

I have a couple of Charlie's FreeChex tools, a II and a III. They are both very good and well thought out tools, and I love working with them. Charlie sends checks made by the tool and a bit of check making material with each tool, and I have never seen one that he made with a notch. Until I learned to use the tools properly I would have a notched check every now and then. I learned that to get the sheet metal all the way back in the slot, you have to make sure of the orientation of the slot. If the tool is turned, it will feel like the metal is all the way back when it isn't. By the way, Charlie cautions that this notch can cause the check to stick!

[ubetcha]

I have a Freechex III (and love it!) and I find that if I'm not careful to insure that the metal is completely inserted all the way in teh device, I will get a check with that notch. Since I'm making these myself, I just toss any like that.

One of these days I'm going to 3-D print a guide for the Freechex and Yonky's strips that will take care of this issue. I just haven't gotten around to it.

dale in Louisiana

I too want to come up with some sort of guide to keep the strip fully inserted. Keep us inform of what you come up with and I'll do the same

[dragon813gt]

I have produced many like that. They shoot just fine. But I would never think of selling them like that. As has been mentioned its because the strip is not inserted fully into the tool. If I paid for them I would want some sort of refund since they aren't made properly. If he had pics posted and that's what they looked like then you're out of luck.

As far as keeping the strip fully inserted. I just wear gloves. While a guide would be a plus. You quickly get a feel for when the strip is in all the way.

[dkf]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/kenbow/image.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/kenbow/media/image.jpg.html)

Got them from the same seller as you and all mine are notched and rough looking. Both copper and aluminum. Did not try any yet but I will not be ordering any more.

[smokey496]

Probably cut his strips on the thin side trying to save material. That would cause a nock every time.

[exdxgxe4life]

It's just the nature of the beast with the freechex iii. You obviously want a check that is perfect, but that minor notch does not affect anything. When seated on, that notch smooths out. I've also noticed on mine that the checks made with the freechex iii are taller then my Hornady copper checks and actually fill the entire shank. So while the notch might be there, just think for the depth of the notch, you are getting 99% more material all around the boolit that would not be there on a Hornady check.

[Tarkid]

Making your own gas checks is interesting. I've been casting for many years but have always bought gas checks. Lots to learn here!

[Idz]

I make my own 0.01" aluminum checks for PB and will get the shown defect if I don't advance the strip enough. When I crimp one of the notched checks it will wrinkle at the notch and it may come loose in handling. Since I make my own I just throw out my notched checks.

[captain-03]

The 1K I got (.22cal) look like the ones above ..... Not exactly what I was expecting .... will try some the first of next week ...

[sirgknight]

I have both the Pat Marlin and the Freechex tools and both work extremely well. With the Freechex it is imperative to get the strip of material flushly aligned against the back of the cutting slot. If not, then the check will not be formed completely as shown in your picture. Although the check doesn't look cosmetically correct it will still perform superbly, or at least it has for me. One must develop a certain "feel" when aligning the material into the slot to insure that correct cut. I don't think any amount of instructions can give you the feel that it takes to find that "flush" spot before cutting the check. IMHO

[Blammer]

I would reject them and ask for the maker to make good on them.