"gas checks..."

[exile]

Recently I asked advice regarding which .38 caliber mold to buy. It seemed like the most frequent response was the Lee copy of the Lyman 358156. So, that is the way I have decided to go, mainly because there are two crimp grooves in that boolit and I may shoot it out of .38 Special cases using the lower groove.

My question is, "Are .38 caliber gas checks obtainable and if so, at what price?" I googled that topic and came up with nothing.

(Brian Pearce had a good article entitled "Handloading the 38-44 Smith and Wesson" in the October-November 2006 issue, Handloader # 243.)[smilie=s:

exile

[kyle623]

you need 35 cal gas checks

[anachronism]

you need 35 cal gas checks

Which are all over the place...

[jbc]

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=134373

they are called .35 caliber but all the same .358 diameter. The price is $25.50 but you could probably shop around and do better

[exile]

Wow. I guess I really did need advice. Thanks for the heads up, things should be much easier now.

[exile]

I just checked Midsouth Shooters Supply. Hornady .35 caiiber gas checks were $ 23.00 and out of stock, Lyman gas checks were in but were $ 36.00. Now I see why some of you have bought the Freecheck system. Can those be made out of aluminum, or will that damage the barrel?

I wish we would stop sellling copper to the Chinese. Were it up to me I would not sell or buy anything from them. How are we supposed to compete with communist slave labor? People like to give Nixon a hard time for Watergate. In my opinion, he was just doing what comes natural to politicians at that point. Dogs bark, poiticians fix elections. It seems to me that his real mistake was opening diplomatic relations with Red China. I remember when it happened, my father was furious and I did not understand why. I do now. Political rant, feel free to move or delete.

[exile]

Next question. I will be using a Lee sizer with this boolit and gas checks. Am I right in assuming that to install (?) the gas check I would place the boolit on its nose, put the gas check on the base and push through the sizer? Sorry to be so ignorant on the subject, but I have never done this before.

exile

[BABore]

Nope! Put the GC on the boolit's shank and run it through nose first.

[Gohon]

Next question. I will be using a Lee sizer with this boolit and gas checks. Am I right in assuming that to install (?) the gas check I would place the boolit on its nose, put the gas check on the base and push through the sizer? Sorry to be so ignorant on the subject, but I have never done this before.

No.....just the opposite. Sit the base of the bullet into the gas check. It should sit right in or snap into place. Some bullets have a slightly oversize gas check shank in which case a very light tap with a mallet will seat it. Then just run the bullet nose first through the Lee sizer and it will size and crimp the check in place.

There is a time when one might want to run the bullet through backwards and that is when you don't want to size the bullet but want to install a gas check. In that situation you run the bullet into the sizer until you feel resistance and then about a 1/8th of an inch past that. Stop there, take a wood dowel and knock the bullet back out the bottom. I've done this when I wanted to shoot as dropped from the mould with a gas check installed. You might want to make and load a dozen rounds like this and see which shoots better from your gun, sized or unsized. Once I discovered my gun shot better unsized I honed out the sizer so it would seat the checks but not size the bullet.

[exile]

Great information, thanks again.

exile