Free Chex II- best material?

[kelbro]

Just got mine in the mail. Been experimenting with different metals. For those of you that have been making your own gas checks, what material and thickness have been giving you the best results? I'm checking a 240gr .430 Lee boolit.

[O.S.O.K.]

I have not done this yet myself but I did read an article in Handloader about "alternative" gas checks. In the article, those made from aluminimum beverage containers - beer cans, soda cans, etc. worked as well (shot as accurately) as the store-bougtht copper checks.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

There is a lot of info floating around on what can or should be used for making your own gas checks. Beverage cans are usually around .004-.005 in thickness. I use them and they work fine. If loose they can be tacked on with a drop of krazy glue. When the powder goes boom they obturate with the base, they fill the bore and go down the tube doing their job....just as well as the store bought ones. I have yet to see a difference between the two. Some folks like to have them fit tight and be squeezed on in the sizing step so they choose to double the checks. That raises the metal thickness to around .008- .010. For those who like to use that thickness go into Lowes or some other outlet and pick up roof(ing) flashing that comes stock at .010. Its probably the cheapest way to go. Another idea is to take your trusty micrometer with you down to the nearest recycling center and measure some of the sheet aluminum that has been tossed. The centers sell their scrap alu for anywhere up to a buck a pound and considering the thickness of 010 you can bring home a lot of potential gas checks for a buck. The "for sale" signs sold by Walmart are also that thickness. You can also use sheet brass. Another suggestion seen was for aluminum beer bottles made by Bud, but unless you're a beer fan that raises the cost. Do a search on this forum and there are a lot of posts on this subject with suggestions for alternate sources for the GC material. The weight and/or diameter of the bullet to be used has nothing to do with the function of the gas check; what counts is the protection of the bullet base and the sealing off of the gas. The use of a thickness greater than .010 is sometimes necessary in instances where bore/groove diameters are a bit larger or non-standardized for some reason, i.e. certain military production rifles. But material of larger thickness can be found or checks made by doubling/layering different stuff. Cost-wise buying commercial gas checks at the rip-off prices charged by Hornady or Lyman is silly when you can make your own that are just as good, especially considering what they charge for 44 Cal. If you make a thousand to 1500 of your own you will then be ahead forever. Just for the record, I have a free-chex for 30 caliber and have been feeding 4 Garands, 4 Springfields, 4 1917s, 2carbines and 2 94's and the GC's are all working fine. Accuracy is good and to date I haven't worn out any of the barrels with the aluminum oxide issue that is sometimes raised. It is not a speedy process to punch and form the GC's but is definitely a sound economic decision to go this route. LLS

[Tom W.]

I had to order another mandrel for mine, and found that .014 aluminum works best. I didn't like the loose fit that I was getting, as my checks stayed in my lubrisizer.

[JeffinNZ]

I have had a great deal of success with 0.3mm (0.0118 thou) alum. printing plate.

What I have found to be critical for peak rifle accuracy is matching the thickness of material to void between gas check shank and final bullet sizing diameter. If you search the forum you will find lots of reports.

[kelbro]

I have had a great deal of success with 0.3mm (0.0118 thou) alum. printing plate.

What I have found to be critical for peak rifle accuracy is matching the thickness of material to void between gas check shank and final bullet sizing diameter. If you search the forum you will find lots of reports.

That's what I was thinking too Jeff.

[jdgabbard]

I don't own a freechex. However, I've heard that doubling pop can material or using a single layer of flashing is the way to go. That being said, when I go to the lumber yard the only flashing I see is of the galvanized type. And I would be hesitant to use such material. Probably go with the pop can material if it were me.

[kelbro]

Just tried some .012 copper. Really nice checks! Plan to try some .008 Al tomorrow. I would highly recommend one of these. I have been waiting for 44 checks for over three months. Never again.

[kelbro]

Just tried some .012 copper. Really nice checks! Plan to try some .008 Al tomorrow. I would highly recommend one of these. I have been waiting for 44 checks for over three months. Never again.

[rbuck351]

I have made my own check tools in 22, 25, 30, 35 and 41. I use the aluminum roof flashing from Lowes. I have found it in two thickness'. .009+ and .015+. Some boolits use one some the other depending on shank size. I have also used single pop can on plain base boolits which works quite well.
Still have to make tools for 44 and 45 but so far I am happy with my results.

[Tom W.]

I went to lowes and only found 0.010 flashing. I'll look elsewhere, I guess. Maybe some shim stock from Harbor Freight?

[qajaq59]

I really haven't seen one of those tools. Do they cut out the circle and make it into a cup at the same time, or is it two separate operations?

[RU shooter]

You can use a mulitude of different materials and thickness's But as Jeff in NZ stated you need to fill that void between the GC shank and your boolits sized dia. so it gets squeezed on the shank good. I would need atleast 3 ply's of soda can to get that so I dont use it as the base metal, I normally use .012-.015 trim coil matl. the painted trim is normally thicker I also use brass sheet .009 and laminate it with one soda can blank.

Tim

[JIMinPHX]

Soda & beer cans are around .004" thick & are a little on the thin side for .30 cal checks. They might work better on .22s, which normally have thinner checks. Beer can checks fall off the .30 cal boolits that I have. Some guys double them up (use two checks at a time) & report acceptable results.

Aluminum beer BOTTLES like Bud Lite are thicker & work very well for me in .30 cal. Some people have told me stories about aluminum oxide forming on the outside of the check & being abrasive to the barrel, but i haven't seen evidence of that myself yet.

Pure copper sheet can be bought commercially. the 0.016" thick stuff is called 12 pound copper sheet. Copper is harder to cut than the aluminum is, but copper makes the most factory-like checks.

Aluminum flashing from Lowe's works pretty good in general. Bring calipers with you when you go to buy it. The thickness varies. I had good luck buying little sheets that were something like 4 x 6" & came in a pack of 10. I don't remember what their official specified name or purpose was, but they were in with the roof flashing.

I've thought about making up a custom mold that is sized with a custom GC shank to use beer can checks, but i haven't done that yet. I've also thought of making up plain based boolits out of dead soft & just mashing beer can checks onto them, but I haven't actually tried that either.

I'm using a home made tool that punches the circle & forms the cup in one step. It fits in a single step reloading press, just like a set of dies.

[squid1230]

JIMinPHX - pictures are worth a thousand words:wink:

[JIMinPHX]

JIMinPHX - pictures are worth a thousand words:wink:

Gas check maker – start with post #94 & keep going for about 3 pages - lots of pics
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=45542&page=5

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Rbuck351 had a real gem of an idea ,using thin GCs on plain base boolits. !

BvT

[rbuck351]

Well, it's not my idea as I read it some where else on this forum, but it does work very well. It works plenty good on wcww using a lyman 450 sizer. They squish on very nicely without any noticable extra force.