gas check problem

[bedwards]

Please give me ideas on the attached photo. 454 cal 315 gr these are reject practice boolits but the GC are not formed right. They are made with an original Free Chex. They have a ripple around the edge. I made these from .012 brass shim stock. I have heated the material to anneal it and it still makes the ridges. The only thing I can use that doesn't make the ridges is aluminum bottles. Any ideas are appreciated.

:(
be

[runfiverun]

you need a more square punch. the bases are rounded flairing out the top. and you are trying to squeeze 5" of material into 4.5"s

[bedwards]

So, seating them in the sizing die doesn't smooth them out enough to shoot? At least that's what I think. Haven't loaded any as they look rough.

[RayinNH]

bedwards, if I recall the bottle aluminum was about .015 thick. You may have too much clearance between the punch and forming die. How did you anneal the brass? If you heated to a dull red and then let air cool, try heating hotter and water quenching, Brass can be annealed either way. See if that makes a difference...Ray

[bedwards]

I just heated it till it was red. I didn't water quench it. I seems so soft now that the punch is tearing it instead of cutting it. I'll try water quenching. I wouldn't fool with this but, believe it or not, I've had a hard time finding the aluminum bottles here in Alabama.

be

[captaint]

Beds - While I don't do GC yet, yours don't look at all square on the bottom. Are the boolit bases filled out well - nice and square? Mike

[bedwards]

Yes, they are filled out well. The ones in the pic are reject practice. The aluminum does well. I guess because it is about .003 thicker. Or maybe it fits the Free Chex punch better. I have several with the aluminum that are as near perfect as I will ever get them. I was just trying to use up a roll of this brass stock because it has sat around for years.

[RayinNH]

Bedwards, try an experiment just for kicks. Try doubling up some aluminum foil and punch a disk. Now put it on top of your brass check blank and try forming a check. The foil will end up inside of the check. No need for perfection, I want to see if increasing the thickness will get rid of the puckering. No reason for this not to work. I your brass is soft and they still pucker, you may need to increase the diameter of the male forming part by a few thousanths. Of course increasing the forming diameter and now you've got to worry about them staying on the boolit without having to super glue them...Ray

[bedwards]

ok... folded foil twice, even folded 4 times still puckers. Brass and aluminum checks are both coming out of the check maker 454 outside and probably have the wrong calipers to measure but are 414 inside before seating or sizing. I rekin I'll have to find some more aluminum bottles to make them from. Am I correct in thinking the pucker will not shoot well? Or will it form to the barrel when shot? btw, the unchecked boolit base is 426 with a taper towards the top.

thanks guys

[RayinNH]

Scratching my head here. The pucker probably won't make any difference at all, certainly worth a try. They will form to the barrel, they're much softer. Do they grab tight to the boolit? Just make sure they exit the barrel...Ray

[runfiverun]

its a revolver i think i would go ahead and shoot them one at a time for a few. if they seem tight to the base.
look down the bbl for the first few just to check,for the heck of it i would mark a cylinder and shoot the same one each time, and do some group experiments. and maybe a cirmp experiment too.
if they aint loose and hanging out the sides try em.

[bedwards]

Yeah, they're tight. I need a screwdriver to get one off the boolit. Thanks for your opinions guys as I have shot pb for a long time but new to GC pb.

be

[Calamity Jake]

Try using a little oil(any type) on the flat stock before punching and forming. Just takes a little, about like lubing a case before sizing