How I Put Freechecks On My Boolets

[Little Doc]

i see a lot of discussion about gas checks made from beverage cans. after reading all of these. i got an idea and put it in motion. this is what i did. everyone will not be able to do this but should be able to get it done by a friend or a machine shop.
first off i have a wad cutter that is press mounted to make 45 cal wads for my bpcr loads. this cuts or punches a wad that is .4595. it punches beverage cans also. i took a lube size die for my lube sizer for .359 i cut a recess that was .470 so the disc would fit in without problems tapered and beveled the entry to the die.
what i do
with the size lube die in the sizer mine is a rcbs and a nose punch to match my boolet i place a disc in the cut recess and set a boolet (plain base) on the disc and the nose punch lines it up then size the boolet and the check is formed to the base of the boolet and when ejected i have a plain base boolet with a free check installed. i did this to boolets that had previously been sized and lubed .358. these load and shoot fine but if you run them thru a .358 die the check is flush and can not be picked up with the fingernail.
i took a few pics and will try to upload them. (never tried that)
hope this may be helpful to those who desire free checks.

[Little Doc]

:confused:can't get the pics to upload. help!

[JeffinNZ]

I think this is the original idea from the 60's-70's for alum checks on PB bullets. Let's see how they shoot.

[Boerrancher]

A good friend and member here came up with something similar for his 357 plain base boolits. What we have found through shooting them is that 0.005 thick material seems to work best. They don't seem to be anymore or any less accurate than the regular plain based boolit, where they come in to it is when you go to shooting them out of a rifle where you can crank up the velocity way beyond what you can a normal PB boolit. For myself this process is not practical for handguns, as you don't have enough barrel length to take full advantage of the boolit by using slower burning powders.

A note of Caution: When shooting these boolits it is no problem in exceeding the maximum load data of some of the slower burning powders by using small rifle rimers, but if you do this you need to have a strong custom made rifle that will handle the higher pressures, and you must also know what to look for when it comes to the signs of excessive pressure.

Best wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[Little Doc]

thanks for the info and heads up Joe.
i may use these in my 94 marlin in 357 mag. and give them a stout shove.
i think this same method could be used to make 22 cal checks by using 30 cal disc. and use the 380 disc for 30 cal checks. may make those modifications when the need crops up. have not tried to figure out how to make this work on a boolet made to take a chek. have some and may try it with two or three disc.
guess what i did has been done many times before. when i did it i did not know i was reinventing the wheel. guess i should have thought of it. thanks again for the info.
mike