Freechex II gas check maker.

[JeffinNZ]

Team.

Charlie has sent me an evaluation task. This is his new innovation.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/JeffinNZ/Shooting%20stuff/DSCN0075.jpg

Run a strip of check material into the slot, drop the hollow punch into the anvil, tap the hollow punch once or twice to cut the material, drop the forming mandrel down the hollow punch, tap once of twice to form the check. Works BRILLIANTLY.

Here are some of the results.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/JeffinNZ/Shooting%20stuff/DSCN0076.jpg

Left to right:

15 thou brass
19 thou alum
2 ply 10 thou Cu/4.2 thou soda can
2 ply 11 thou litho plate/4.2 thou soda can
11 thou litho plate
3 ply 4.2 thou soda can
recovered 11 thou litho plate

[Jim]

Very nice! How/where can I get one in .45 caliber?

[shawn45]

How do I get one of those free chex dies?

[dromia]

Jeff, is ebay still the only way of dealing with him?

[beagle]

Jeff, is that soda material "as is" or has it been anealed? Have you tried anealing?/beagle

[Boerrancher]

Jeff,

That is a slick looking system. Please keep us updated on how well it holds up. I am not worried about "will homemade gas checks work" any more. I think you and I along with a few others have proven that they are just as good as factory made. I am more concerned with ease of operation and durability. I don't know how many checks my punches and makers have punched out, but it is a bunch. I am guessing close to a thousand, because I had to go buy another 2K of primers the other day, and mine are still as good as new.

I wish you all the best with the new gadget Jeff, I am looking forward to future reports. If it looks like it is going to hold up I will start pestering Charlie for one.

Best Wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[EMC45]

Where to get one? I want one!

[Larry Gibson]

I'd take several if he was easier to do business with. Seems Ebay never lists what I want. He'd do a lot better dealing direct.

I'd take the following Freechex II tools right now;

.30
.32 (8mm)
.35
.375
.45

Larry Gibson

[JeffinNZ]

Team.

It so dang simple. No super fast to use but I guess you can't have cheap and fast and Charlie does knock out a very competitively priced product in my opinion. It really is a very good innovation and sure beats punching out plate with a wad punch then dropping the discs into the Freechex anvil.

Yes, Charlie is exclusive on Ebay. That's how he wants to operate so we have to respect that. Search him using "Freechex" or his user ID "CODARNALL". My experience with him on Ebay was very favourable. He understood the issue I had with the time difference and that I was at the bottom of the world and was very helpful. A lot of US based suppliers don't want to know about us folk in the rest of the world.

Haven't tried annealing the soda can material as it is very easy to work with. As is the Cu and litho plate. Brass is HARD work. If I was going to persist with brass, which I will not be, I would anneal that material.

At this time I think Charlie said he would do these in .30cal and .44 or .45 (can't remember) only. Still, supply and demand change with time. He is now doing .22 kits after being badgered by shooters. :smile:

[Jim]

May I ask what he's getting for these kits?

[beagle]

Jeff, thanks for the comment on anealing. I was figuring maybe you'd get a smoother cut as pop cans are tempered.

Got to get me one of them things..../beagle

[anachronism]

Just go to fleabag & check it out:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gas-Check-Making-Tool-30-Aluminum-Standalone-FREECHEX_W0QQitemZ230285349768QQihZ013QQcategoryZ3 1825QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Jim]

I gotta BID on th'damn thing?!! How come he ain't got a buy it now price on it? Jeesh, jus' when I thought I found something worth looking into.

[Larry Gibson]

So does he just sell one at a time and we all bid on one at a time? Or if you bid does that mean you are buying one and if so at what price?

Larry Gibson

[Bass Ackward]

Of coarse, what I find interesting is the recovered one, and I am still thinking.

Jeff: Was that dug up and removed after impact? Or was that the way you found it on the way to the target?

[JeffinNZ]

Of coarse, what I find interesting is the recovered one, and I am still thinking.

Jeff: Was that dug up and removed after impact? Or was that the way you found it on the way to the target?

Oddly enough it was just in front of the firing point. Maybe 10 feet (which is why my Chrony wears Lexan these days). It from from my VERY early trials with single ply and loose fit. Disasterous period in my shooting life. [smilie=b: I would wager all my current checks are in the back stop on the back end of the bullet still.

Pleased to report Charlie is over his initial fears of supplying the Freechex II to the US market. You see, if the punching of the metal overlaps you create VERY sharp little triangles that slice skin like a razor. I speak from experience - you didn't think the red checks were Coke can materail did you. That's blood......... He was concerned your insane liability laws might be a problem but has gotten past this.

[Jim]

So when's he gonna sell 'em "buy it now"? If he don't get on the stick and get goin', one o' these industrious fellas around here is gonna run his own numbers and start makin' 'em himself. Any experienced caster with a lathe could figure out the dimensions.

[miestro_jerry]

I see the 30 cal, .303 and the .22, is there a .357, .429, .452 and .458 available?

Thanks,

Jerry

[Yukoner]

I just sent him a message asking if he could make the tools for 9.3 and .375 cast bullets.

Ted

[grumman581]

I gotta BID on th'damn thing?!! How come he ain't got a buy it now price on it? Jeesh, jus' when I thought I found something worth looking into.

Apparently, he does not want to sell that many of them and wants to maximize the profit that he makes on each one that he does sell.

[JKH]

grumman,

Just keep trying, I just bought a .22 tool a couple weeks ago, my strategy is to figure the maximum I am willing to pay for the tool plus shipping, then add $5.00 and make that the first bid, it seems to scare inexperienced bidders and novices away when they see your bid jump fast and high. If it goes for higher than what you want to pay just bid on the next.

I checked the average amount the .22 tools were going for and decided on my final gotta have price, ended up paying $42.00 plus shipping, he only makes the odd calibers on occassion so if you want one you have to jump fast and be aggressive or you lose.

I have been in contact with Charlie since he started marketing these and helped him work out some kinks (hence my name in the list on his post, JKHampshire), he is a great guy to deal with and these tools are well worth the cost, once you own it you wont ever need to replace it, you can also easily make additional forming mandrels for certain applications if you wish and open up the forming die if need be.

Charlie uses e-bay because he has a worldwide market at his fingertips, they handle all the hassle except for packaging and shipping (and of couorse making them!), he said its like having a private secretary to keep track of all his sales and easy to print things out for tax purposes, etc. I believe he has made a wise choice.

So, be patient and try like heck to get one of these tools, you wont be sorry!

Jeff

[Rick459]

it seems that he now makes a unit that cuts and forms the gas check in one stroke.
Rick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0sFoaDLzw8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiLowP8uiHA&NR=1

[JKH]

Charlie was telling me about his new tool, what Ilike about it is, you can either use it with a press of some sort or with a hammer, it is a totally self contained unit so you can take it anywhere and make checks.

I have a number of his tools and am well pleased, I am seriousy thinking of buying the Freechex III in .30 caliber as that is what I shoot the most, at this point I could most likely sell mt .30 cal FreechexII on e-bay for early what the new tool would cost!
Freechex II in odd calibers is perfectly fine.

Jeff

[jimb16]

I bought mine directly from him without "bidding". He prefers going through fleabay, but will deal direct.

[JeffinNZ]

I understand that www.freechex.net is not far away for direct purchases.

[hammerhead357]

I clicked on the addy in post num. 25 and it pulled up the web page but it was in a something that I couldn't understand..LOL can someone post a link that will give it to me in english??? Wes

[kbstenberg]

A week or so ago i was on E Bay someone had bid over 110$ for a 30cal Freechex.
Kevin

[grumman581]

I clicked on the addy in post num. 25 and it pulled up the web page but it was in a something that I couldn't understand..LOL can someone post a link that will give it to me in english??? Wes

Apparently he has not put up a real web site yet. It would appear that he's just using some sort of automatically generated web site and as such, it's not a case of it being in English, but rather a case of there just being filler / random characters in it to make it look like there is some substance there (when there is not).

[HNSB]

It would appear that he's just using some sort of automatically generated web site and as such, it's not a case of it being in English, but rather a case of there just being filler / random characters in it to make it look like there is some substance there (when there is not).

Yup. It's Lorem Ipsum... http://www.lipsum.com/

[grumman581]

Yup. It's Lorem Ipsum... http://www.lipsum.com/

Interesting... So, it is filler, but just not totally random characters... Seems that it is from some Latin text...

[JeffinNZ]

Charlie's site is a work in progress. He has a few bigger fish to fry right now however.

[eb in oregon]

Humm, I was in Christchurch last november. Lovely place that.

I like the idea of being self-sufficient, but a guy can buy a bunch of gas checks for the price of one of those tools.

[grumman581]

Humm, I was in Christchurch last november. Lovely place that.

Meet any cute sheep? ;)


I like the idea of being self-sufficient, but a guy can buy a bunch of gas checks for the price of one of those tools.

And then you still end up being dependent upon the manufacturers for powder and primers... Powder would be a bit easier for someone to produce themselves, but refilling primers would be rather tedious... I have heard of it being done though...

[Freightman]

Meet any cute sheep? ;)



And then you still end up being dependent upon the manufacturers for powder and primers... Powder would be a bit easier for someone to produce themselves, but refilling primers would be rather tedious... I have heard of it being done though...
I made me some primers from old ones, it works but you are going to spend all day doing 100 and I mean a good 8 hour day. The ones I made (5) went bang but the wet strike anywhere match heads are touchy and it takes a couple of days to dry after you get them re-assembled. Tried caps and they were dangerous as just the pressure of installing the anvil set them off.