.44 gas checks difficult to install

[rosewood]

I just began casting late last year. So far I have cast for .45 pistol, .45 rifle, .357mag and just started with .44 mag. So far I haven't had any noticeable issues with installing gas checks on the other boolits, but on the .44, it seems the gas checks may be a bit large and seem to catch and take extra effort to push through the Lee .430 push through die. I can't visibly see any issues after installing them GCs.

Anyone else had this issue? Could the sizing die not be chamfered properly at the entrance? Or could the gas checks be slightly too large?

Thanks,

Rosewood

[Calamity Jake]

If your 44 boolit is a SWC then push thru base first and add some lube to the boolit/check combo.
If not a SWC then maybe a little lube may help, you can also anneal the GC's.

[rosewood]

It isn't really difficult to push for me, just it seems to be catching, like the GC is too big, but it measures what I think is correct. I just want to make sure this is normal. It is a Lee 310 RNGC boolit. Of course, I didn't think about it, but I could polish/throat the entrance of the sizing die fairly easy. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this same problem.

[leadman]

The recent Lee sizing dies are rough on the taper so polishing them really helps. Problem popped up about a year ago or so. Very noticeable when sizing Hi-Tek or powder coated boolits.

A dowel with a hacksaw cut about an inch in the end and some emery paper (300) along with some WD40 or similar in a drill make short work of polishing. Make sure you do not go to far into the die to increase the sized diameter.
The Lee 310gr RFN can be sized base first with no problems.

[44man]

All my GC boolits are pushed through base first in Lee dies. I found some were pulled back when nose first. The copper has more drag even with lube and I did not like to see a bigger gap above the check.

[rosewood]

All my GC boolits are pushed through base first in Lee dies. I found some were pulled back when nose first. The copper has more drag even with lube and I did not like to see a bigger gap above the check.

I hadn't thought about doing it that way. May have to give that a try. A tight one could damage the nose though couldn't it?

[44man]

I hadn't thought about doing it that way. May have to give that a try. A tight one could damage the nose though couldn't it?
My boolits are hard enough. Even my 30-30 boolit, I got the GC portion a little large so I need to set the nose on a rag and tap the things on with a little hammer. Too lazy to anneal them.

[GhostHawk]

I'm doing all my gas checks now with an upside down press, and for the .44 or .444 base first seems to be the best.
For the 30 cal's I still prefer nose first.

I think a lot depends on the actual size of the gas check shank.