Need help with gas checks

[acder]

Hi. I'm casting the Lee 310 grain 44 GC. I have lyman 44 cal gas checks. I am trying to seat them using a Lee .430 sizer. I run the boolits through forwards or backwards, but the checks don't seat tight and fall off with predictable results. I guess the obvious answer would be to go down to a smaller sizer? I really don't want to buy an expensive sizer/seater if I can avoid it. Thanks for your help.

[outdoorfan]

The problem is probably not in the sizer, as long as it is sizing them down enough. .430 is plenty enough. Going to a smaller diameter sizer will do nothing for the rear shank of your .44 boolit. I'm guessing that either the shank is too small (good possibility, considering the mold is a Lee), or your gas checks are too large. Have you tried Hornadys or Gators? What is the diameter of the shank before you run it through the sizer. Perhaps someone on this board who uses that boolit regularly can comment on it.

[acder]

The shank is about .376-78 if that helps . Thanks ! And checking the box, they are in fact Hornady gas checks.

[snaggdit]

So, .052-.054 smaller than finished diameter? Seems like you would need a thick gas check. I don't cast for that caliber but hopefully someone who does will chip in.

[outdoorfan]

I actually have the mold, but I haven't done any casting with it. I measured that shank in the mold, and mine comes to about .408. My guess is that yours is way undersized. If that's the case, then that's WAY undersized. You can either try to lap it out or send it back to Lee.

[acder]

Thanks- I'm beginning to suspect that the shank is indeed way undersized and it's a bad mold.

[snaggdit]

Yeah, that jives with what I was thinking. Pat's gas check maker is set to use .010 copper or aluminum. You need to double that so .408 - .410 should be near perfect. .378 is way undersized.

[geargnasher]

Good news is, if the mould is throwing boolits with undersized check shanks, it is a snap to enlarge JUST the shank area and get your existing checks to fit. Lee moulds an be modified with very little effort, one fellow I know of removed the bevels from a 6-cav bb mould with a utility knife! Slick as a whistle.

I would use 400-grit emory paper and a 1/4" wood dowell rod, cut the paper into 1" wide strips, and wrap around dowell until just under the size of the shank. Twist in the mould base by hand, measure carefully after a few twists.

Just a thought.

Gear

[hiram]

Could you possibly lap the gc shank to a larger size? Get a thin wooden dowel and cut a slit lengthwise about 1/2" long. Slip a a ribbon of 400-600 emery paper in it and turn it 1 or 2 turns around the dowel. Place the dowel into the gc area of the mold, a little oil, and spin slowly for 45 sec to 1 min. Mic the diam of the mold at the gc and see if that helps. Repeat if you think it will help.

An alternate method is if you have letter drills and a drill press vise, pick a drill one size bigger than the gc hole, drill, and mic. Be real careful.

[HammerMTB]

I have 2 Lee .44 GC molds. Both mine are oversize, not undersize.
With both of mine, if I do not carefully get the GC over the shank of the boolit, it does not seat correctly.
Just sayin' ....[smilie=s:

[JRW]

Having used this mold, I would think seriously about contacting Lee and giving them the opportunity to replace or repair the mold. This would save you from having to purchase another if you go too far, or go out of round, etc. It won't take much to aggravate the issues more than needed. Having been in the machining business, it won't take much to mess up the mold. Just my opinion, Jim.

[XWrench3]

i find that i have to tap the g.c.'s onto the base of the boolit before i crimp them on to seat them all the way onto the base of the boolit. i use a very small hammer (4 ounce) to accomlish this.

[Von Gruff]

With the Lee push through dies, I had issues with the GC seating fully on to the shank before it was sized and ending up with an off square GC. I got a standard 7/8 in bolt and had it cut to be a blind die. I then pre-fit all the GC to the base and set them tight, after which I switched out the "blind" bolt die for the sizer and ended up with square bases and fully seated GC on all my bullets.

Von Gruff.

[outdoorfan]

With the Lee push through dies, I had issues with the GC seating fully on to the shank before it was sized and ending up with an off square GC.
Von Gruff.


That is exactly what all my Lee dies do to me.

[geargnasher]

That is exactly what all my Lee dies do to me.

This is why you go to the hardware store or Tractor Supply Co. and get a 7/8-14 bolt about three inches long. Drill a hole in the bottom center the size of a Lyman 450-style nose punch, install the punch, use the normal bottom punch from the Lee kit that fits the shell holder, and seat all the gas checks before sizing. Or, you could get one of those light-duty rack and pinion style benchtop presses at harbor freight.

Gear

[outdoorfan]

This is why you go to the hardware store or Tractor Supply Co. and get a 7/8-14 bolt about three inches long. Drill a hole in the bottom center the size of a Lyman 450-style nose punch, install the punch, use the normal bottom punch from the Lee kit that fits the shell holder, and seat all the gas checks before sizing. Or, you could get one of those light-duty rack and pinion style benchtop presses at harbor freight.

Gear


...Or just use the Lee sizers to seat the gas checks on with the boolit going base first through the sizer, or....just buy a Star, which is what I just did. :-)

[Cannoneer]

Hi. I'm casting the Lee 310 grain 44 GC. I have lyman 44 cal gas checks. I am trying to seat them using a Lee .430 sizer. I run the boolits through forwards or backwards, but the checks don't seat tight and fall off with predictable results. I guess the obvious answer would be to go down to a smaller sizer? I really don't want to buy an expensive sizer/seater if I can avoid it. Thanks for your help.

Had that problem a while back with some .44's from a old mold. I used super glue to initially seat the GC and then ran them through my Lyman Lubrasizer.

No problems after that. They even stayed on after the bullet left the barrel on the way to the target.

[mpmarty]

I've just adopted the habit of seating the check on the boolit and rapping it sharply on the benchtop before shoving it nose first through my LEE or STAR sizer. I only use checks on rifle boolits.