when do gas checks come off?

[mto7464]

I have found them in front of the targets before, never on the boolit in the back stop, and yesterday found one in front and to the right of the shooting table. Anyone else notice this? I wonder if this could be causing my groups to open up. I usually have three boolits almost touching and then 2 that open the group up to2.0-2.3".

[jonk]

Depends. Hornady crimp on checks generally stay on for me. Lyman slip ons fall off shortly after firing. In theory this should make a difference but in practice I've not noticed one.

[dakotashooter2]

Somebody either on this site or another just did some testing on this issue. I believe his results indicated that accuracy appeared to be better if the GC's fell off right after leaving the barrel.

[35remington]

It's quite possible for crimp ons to separate in flight, and slip on gas checks to stay with the bullet all the way to the target. The fit of the shank to the bullet is critical. If it is close, both types may stay on well during flight. If it's loose, they may fall off. Despite the crimp.

Loose checks may indeed cause fliers.

Always armor your chronograph to shield it against stray checks. They may stay on for you the vast majority of the time, but it only takes one wayward check to crack your skyscreens.

[44man]

My checks stay on and I find them in my steel trap after the boolits break up. I can't see how you can have accuracy if some come off and others don't. Using a bottle neck case and having a loose check fall into the powder doesn't sound good either.
It would be OK if all checks came off exactly at the same point out of the muzzle but how do you control that?

[Old Ironsights]

I understand why checks help with velocities over 1400fps or so, but as to general accuracy...

consider that hyper-accurate .22s are heeled... which is essentially a checkless checked profile...

[35remington]

OI, as soon as gas pressure hits the base of a .22 long rifle bullet, it isn't heeled any more. Both case walls and bullet base expand, making the entire bullet full caliber.

Look at recovered bullets. Pressure turns it into a slightly cupped plainbase. No heel left.

[JIMinPHX]

When I shoot into a crumb rubber trap. I normally find the gas checks very close to where the rest of the boolit stops moving.

[JeffinNZ]

I have had them hit my Chrony ex .224 cast bullets. That's why the Chrony now wears a Lexan face plate.

[uncle joe]

My gator checks seemed to stay on my 44 on top of 18 grs of 2400
shot some into a dirt bank and found one laying on top of the ground gc still on tight
JE

[Morgan Astorbilt]

I've had them fall off in the cartidge case. My 250gr. Lyman 350482 bullet with Lyman gas checks did this so often I stopped using them. These bullets had to be seated so that the bottom was below the case neck. You could hear them rattle around in the case.
Morgan

[GLynn41]

I use a little Glue and my gc normally stay on until impact

[Larry Gibson]

I did a considerable test some years back with 3 different cartridges (.22 Hornet, 30-06 and the .357) comparing old style Lyman GCs against Hornady crimp on GCs. None of the GCs were seated below the case necks so none were lost in the case. I marked the nose of those bullets with Lyman GC to tell them from the Hornady GC'd bullets when I dug them out of the dirt bank and out of a crumb rubber trap. I found no discernable accuracy difference between the two. Perhaps the reason for that was the moulds used were older Lyman ones with shanks designed for the Lyman GCs. The Lyman GCs were a tight fit on those bullets and the Hornady's required a GC seating operation prior to sizing and lubing.

On bullets dug out of the dirt berm I also found a pretty equal amount of each that had lost the GC. I also found lots of Lyman GC in the dirt indicating they did not come of during flight. In the crumb rubber bullet trap more of the Lyman GCs came off the bullets. They were however relativly close to the bullets. Only 3 or 4 out of 30 shots (10 shots with each cartridge) with the Hornady GC came off.

I was of the opinion based on that test that there was little difference between the 2 types of GCs as far as accuracy was concerned. I also knew the Lyman GC should not be seated below the case neck as mentioned by others for the same reason mentioned. I subsequently used thousands of Lyman GCs with perfect satisfaction. However as the design of moulds changed I became aware of some inaccuracy that probably was caused by the loose Lyman GC on the smaller shanks meant for Hornady and RCBS crimp on GCs. I was going to test this but Lyman discontinued the old style and went to crimp on GCs (believed to be Hornady made by some) also. The test was a moot point so I didn't conduct it. However with the Checkeez (SP) tool to make GC it may be a problem again as evidenced on another thread a couple weeks ago.

I do seat some bullets in some cartridges with the GCs below the case necks when required but only when using a dacron filler. This prevents powder contamination by the lube. These are the crimp Hornadys or the Gator GBs. I've not found any to have come off in the case or even any indication they come off during flight.

Larry Gibson

[runfiverun]

if it is your first three that are touching, then things start to wander.
you have other problems.
but gas checks should stay on the whole time till they hit something.

[NuJudge]

Hopefully mine stay on until I remelt the bullet.

CDD