Gas Checks with Pat Marlin's check maker and Amerimax aluminum

[44Blam]

NOTE: Prior to trying this, read Pat Marlin's Learning Pages... It's got the right part # for the aluminum you need (not hardened) and a lot of good information.

Well, I ran out of boolits for my 357 sig barrel so I did a big cast session where I cast about 600 125 grain GC boolits.
The next day, I head down to my garage and start putting gas checks on and powder coating them when I realized: I do not have enough gas checks... BUT I do have this 35 caliber gas check maker and a whole spool of aluminum.

Here is the spool:
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So the way to make this is to take your aluminum and cut it into strips that you can pass through the disc maker. This was fairly tricky as I was unsure of how wide a strip I needed to make. So, by trial and error I came up with 13.5 mm for my 35 cal die. I had a hard time measuring and getting it to be 13.5mm and perfectly straight. A couple would be 13mm on one end (ok) and 14mm on the other (NOT ok). To solve this problem, I made a little jig:
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What I do is take a sharpie and mark both ends and in the middle and use that as a guide for the paper cutter. Works GREAT! :)

After I figured out how to make aluminum strips it was time to start making discs. I start making discs and I find that occasionally I get little burs and stuff so I just kept a pair of tin-snips around and I just nipped them off. The thing I found for getting good checks with no burrs was to try to align the strip right in the middle and when cutting the disc - do it quickly. The other thing I found was that it just EJECTS them and they go flying. What I did to control this was I put my hand over the top and then I could just pick up the disc after cutting it. This was A LOT of work. There's probably a way to make it less work...will have to play with it.

Making a pile of discs:
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And my actual pile of discs after I got kind of tired of making them:
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After I stopped making discs, it was time to reconfigure the die set to turn those discs into gas checks. This turned out to be a lot easier and the only problem I had was I had a couple of discs that didn't seat in properly and made a lop-sided gas check. Those went in the trash...

Here is the birth of a gas check:
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And then my final pile of gas checks with one of my 125 grain boolits with a Hornady gas check and one with my hand made gas check:
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I am now going to have to do some testing to see if they shoot well, but I don't doubt that it will work just fine.

All and all, it was a pretty cool experience. It seems like I'll probably just make this a task that I do for a couple days on a weekend when I need checks and just make a few thousand.

[Green Frog]

I’m not a big proponent of gas checked bullets, and generally order or look for moulds without GC grooves. OTOH, my friend beagle turned me on to these aluminum ones from the Pat Marlin system, so if for whatever reason I see a need for gas checked bullets, these have the desirable characteristic of being usable on my PB bullets with no further fuss, muss or bother. Fortunately, the small number I’m likely to need is within the generous limits of beagle’s largesse, so I probably won’t be setting up to make them myself. They sure work well on a Lyman 314631 that has been altered to remove the GC groove and my MP 314640 that was ordered without the groove. All this free time at the house is giving me time to pursue such arcane matters. :coffee:

Froggie

[jdfoxinc]

A little case lube or lanolin rubbed on the side of the Al to be struck by the cutter really helps. Very thin coat.

[AnthonyB]

Froggie; I bought the makers in 44 and 35 after John gave me a bunch of 44s. Have not played with them yet and am still loading what I was gifted.
Tony

[onelight]

Thanks for posting the pics.
Interesting

[Green Frog]

I've still got a 358156 mould that takes gas checks and most of 1000 factory made (Lyman) checks, so since I don't use GC bullets that much anyway, I'm probably sitting on a life time supply. I have yet to ever load a 44 or 45 GC bullet, and my cast rifle bullets are mainly for ASSRA, an organization that specifically prohibits gas checks, so the only really, the 32s are likely to be my primary end product for GCs. I should be getting back into loading my 327s soon, so they would be the most likely to need to be checked.

Froggie

[44Blam]

Those little boolits are getting fired out of a 357 sig barrel in my Glock 35 under a stout AA9 load. I'm gettting about 1400 fps.
I decided to go with the GC mold because I knew I was going to push them pretty hard and 3 cents isn't really much to add to a cartridge.

But now, it's less than 3 cents! I believe that roll of Amerimax cost like $25 and should yeild something like 8-10,000 checks. So, since I am SAVING money, I can buy more lead/primers/powder and shoot more! :D

[jdfoxinc]

I'm still looking for the reloading savings 40 years later.

[44Blam]

I'm still looking for the reloading savings 40 years later.

I just bought 40 lbs of linotype letters for $40 (plus $15 shipping) with my savings! :D More sweetener for my range scrap! See?

[Teddy (punchie)]

So are Pat kits (dies) about the best way to go?

Thanks, Teddy

[Green Frog]

I just bought 40 lbs of linotype letters for $40 (plus $15 shipping) with my savings! :D More sweetener for my range scrap! See?

Sounds like a great deal to me! If you got individual letters rather than strips, it's probably Monotype which is even harder. For me at least, that 40 pounds would go a very long way, since I would probably be satisfied to just toss one or two large letters into each 10 pound melt to harden a little and aid in fill out.

Froggie

[Green Frog]

So are Pat kits (dies) about the best way to go?

Thanks, Teddy

As I said previously, I don't tend to use GC bullets nor do I seek out moulds that use them. That said, having access to "magic" gas checks that can be used on demand with plain base bullets sounds like an idea I could get behind. :mrgreen:

Froggie

[44Blam]

So are Pat kits (dies) about the best way to go?

Thanks, Teddy

As far as I know...

But I did do a little searching and it looks like someone on the Reloader's Network is making them with a design that was originally posted here that makes checks in one step.
https://thereloadersnetwork.com/2018/05/17/gas-check-maker-one-stage-operation-want-one-read-this/

Might be worth looking around the web for other designs as well. But Pat's design works well and is pretty easy to use.

[fcvan]

I bought CheckMaker dies from Pat Marlins many years ago. Along the way, I picked up a paper cutter from Harbor freight. After making the right size strip as a guide, I would then cut off a roll and make the strips uniform. I initially bought dies for 30, 35, and 45 caliber. The local hardware store did not carry the Amerimax flashing I needed but they did order it for me.

I found that placing the strip in the slot of the die and then canting it diagonally perfectly centered the strip in the die. That made cutting the disks very uniform. I felt like the aluminum needed to be annealed in order to be easier to form the cup, and seat to the boolit. I accomplish this by taking 10 strips clamping them in a vice grip and dipping the aluminum strips into the molten lead when casting. It only took about 15 seconds for all of the aluminum strips to become annealed. Sure, lead stuck to the two outer strips only little bits. They wiped right off with my leather gloved hand.

I only have one mold for 35 caliber, a Lee C358-158 HPSWC, purchased back when Lee still made hollow point molds. I probably have a lifetime supply already made up.

I also have a Lee 450-200 RN designed for my 1858 Remington percussion revolver which are tapered to ease in loading into the cylinder. Oddly, I found a hollow point version in a black powder supply store. It had sat on the shelf since the mid 70s, and had the price marked accordingly, 12.98, so that was a no brainer. They both cast fat as opposed to the 450 designation they still load in the 1858 as designed but size to 452 and shoot fine in 45 ACP.

Then I bought 35 and 45 plain base gas check dies that use soda can aluminum. Those were neat to make and shoot. They work great on plain base boolits, particularly the tapered boolits. Then I bought a 22 Check maker die, total PITA because those tiny checks are hard to handle, but I still made them.

I didn’t start loading for 357 SIG until I had picked so much brass I figured why not? I already had a 35 caliber 125 grain mold, but wanted the Lee 358-125 RF so I bought the mold. A friend found out I was going to start shooting the 357 Sig so he gave me a bunch of brass, and 650 rounds of factory FMJ as he stopped shooting that. Nice guy, friends for three decades.

The factory FMJ bullet profile is the same as the Lee 125 RF. The plain based checks work well with that boolit and every plain base boolit I shoot. Then I started powder coating using both ESPC and ASBBPC. I haven’t made or used gas checks since. I bought an NOE 225-60 RN mold designed by a member here, with no gas check or lube groove, just for PC. My 223/5.56 loads run 2250 FPS from a 16” barrel, and 2450 from a single shot 24” barrel.

The 125 RF ASBBPCd run very well through the 357 Sig without gas checks, or lubed with Javelina and a plain base check. It is faster to ‘shake and bake’ PC the boolits, and water drop right out of the oven than make checks, lube/size, and then handle sticky boolits when loading. Not to mention, having loaded rounds oxidize if they are not stored in an air tight container. I forgot about that until I went to the range last week with my brother. My S&W M10 had non PCd boolits in the cylinder since last summer and they were oxidized, the ones in ziplock baggies in a plastic coffee can. I need to cast those 158 gr HP boolits and powder coat them. Yard needs mowing first :)