shedding gas checks ?

[roysha]

No doubt this has been cover before so if someone can guide me to the post I won't waste anyone's time.

My question is; has anyone here directly experienced, or had any first hand knowledge of a bullet shedding the gas check and leaving it in the barrel, which on subsequent firing, caused damage to the barrel? If so what were the conditions, such as type of gas check, light or heavy load, hard or soft bullet, rifle or handgun, etc?

I hear about this occasionally but it is always from someone that has a friend that knew someone's cousin that experienced this situation and told them about it.

[Freightman]

I have heard that from a friend of a friend's bro in law's third cousin, now you can take it for what it is worth. I do not see how a GC could come off in the barrel , and if it did how it could stay with the kind of pressure that is following the boolit. This is my thought and you have to make up your own mind about that.

[44man]

Can it happen? I am not going to say yes or no but what would happen if a check turned sideways from being peeled from one side and let the pressure past?
I do not want a check to leave my boolits even after going through a log.

[kawalekm]

One condition that can dislodge a gascheck is seating your bullets so that the base of the bullet is below the bottom of the case neck and the check is hanging there in the internal case volume. The firing of the case is sufficently violent to sometimes dislodge the check off the base of the bullet.

The typical recommendation is you always seat the bullet so that the check is still in firm contact with the case neck so the check has no-where to go except straight down the barrel.

[45-70 Chevroner]

kawalekm: 44man: You are both right. Allthough Gas checks should not be used on very low velocity bullets because they (can) come off and turn sideways. I have some old ideal brass gas checks that do not crimp on and they always come off after leaving the barrel, these were pistol ie. streight wall cases. I still have some 22 cal. ideal GC's that don't crimp on and I am very carefull to not seat the check below the shoulder junction. GC's that come off after leaving the barrel do not effect accuracy at least in my experience. Crimp on GC's are hard to pull off but as you both say it can happen.

[44man]

I have nothing to measure gas checks with to see if the edge is thicker then at the bottom. I often wonder how they crimp on so I just cut a Hornady, carefully removed any burr and measured it. It is .015" thick at the rim from top to bottom, no thick top edge.
So what I surmise is that it is the thickness and diameter that allows it to hold tight.
Thinner edges on old Lyman checks might not have fit the boolit base snug enough.
I have made molds where the check was too loose so I lapped that part for a good press fit. I like a good tight fit even if I have to press them on or rap the base against the bench top.
Then you need to look at brass hardness, harder brass will spring back open and be loose on the boolit.
I do not want to lose a check anywhere until the boolit is destroyed on hard targets.
It is the check portion of the boolit that makes a check fit, if too small you will lose even a crimp on check, whatever that is!!!!
I actually did crimp on checks with a Lee FCD that were too loose. Works like a charm.

[armoredman]

Aha, another use for the FCD! I might have to try that one, thanks.

[sagacious]

SPEER warns in some of their manuals that the 44cal jacketed semi-wadcutters "should not be used with loads lighter than shown." This is ostenisbly because with very light loads the jacket could stick in the bore, but the lead core may exit the barrel and continue to the target, making the shooter think the round fired without problem.

Whether the exact same phenomenon could happen with a gc is open to debate, but it's probably best to keep it in mind anyway.