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I have a bunch of cast and powder coated bullets on hand that measure 0.3095. I'm just getting into loading cast for commie 30 cals and I'd like to use what I have. I had the idea of seating a PB gas check with my 0.311 sizing die to have a nice fit at the base of the bullet.
Has anyone tried this? Success or failure?
I think if you use .3095 bullets in a .311 bore, even with a gas check attached with a .311 die you will get some pretty serious leading due to powder gas blow by. If you are shooting a .311 bore you might add another layer or two of powder coat for a bullet diameter of at least .311/.312.
Have Fun,
JCherry
If your bore is .311 you need a .312" boolit for the most part, so scrap the pb gas check seating idea, buy a proper 312 or 313" mold cut for the gc and find some proper gas checks to fit it and get a bullet sizer or Lee setup for sizing and installing the gc. If you get the Lee, make sure the die is the right size that they say it is.
I know that I use the same gas check on my .311 bullet for the 7.62X39 as my .309 for my .308s.
No issues
30 cal gas checks are 30 cal gas checks. All the same.
I shoot a Mosin Nagant and shoot boolits sized to .314 with 30 cal checks. They shhot fine.
Under size boolits no matter the check size won't.
Besides I don't think a check would hold on that small a boolit when sized larger.
Leo
Got it. I've got a few s309 bullets with PB checks seated and sized to 0.311. I'm going to give them a shot at some point.
It still protects the base from heat and gas over flow
I beg to differ. Not all gas checks are the same. Copper ones have spring In them and if the gas check base of the bullet your using is a little undersized the ck expands a bit and looses its grip. You can anneal them which remove the springiness but I switched to aluminum which don’t spring.
I agree with 44magleo.
Bullet fit is king, get that right FIRST, then add the gas check, lube, load variables.
What your talking about is likely to produce a 3 day deleading/cleaning the bore situation.
Now I don't know about you, I've been there and done that, would rather not do it again.
I load .312 cast bullets for my Mosin Nagants and my 7.62X39, using gas checks for western .30 cal cast bullets and they crimp on and fire just fine. As said above I would not use GC's for the western .30 cal in a eastern European 3 line rifle, you're asking for a lot of leading.
For 314 bullets I use Hornady 32 GC they fit better and crimp perfect, .30 cal GC tend to get not squared on the heel of the bullet.
I opted to solve the "problem" of having 1k cast/PC bullets that don't play well with a carbine length gas AR (too light to cycle before accuracy issues develop with the ligher cast/PC bullets) by getting a Ruger American Ranch in 300blk to be able to shoot them up over 4-ish grains of pistol powder (red dot, mostly).
I can't let a bunch of components just sit unused! :drinks:
I believe the OP was referring to plain based gas checks, which would make the base the correct size. PB GCs are usually taller than regular checks, but still, the bearing surface should all be the same dimension. I make regular and plain base checks. Personally, I would just powder coat the boolit thicker than size.
I have been able to coat 3 thou over with just one session of tumble coating without much trouble. I shoot an NOE 225-62 RN that is plain based/smooth sided for powder coating. I get 2250 fps from a 16" AR 15 and Mini 14, and 2450 from a 22" single shot rifle holding 1" groups at 100 yards.
I have been shooting plain based powder coated boolits exclusively for 6 or 7 years and have never had an issue with blow by or leading. I read a person who opined that the powder coating would burn off due to heat and pressure. I responded that paper patched boolits don't propel a burning paper patch, they come out carbon stained but never incinerated. PC should be fine so long as the entire boolit is coated, including the base.
Give it a try especially if you're using the aluminum PB checks. Mine from Pat Marlin clamp on to about any size from .308 to over .311. The edges dig in and when that powder pressure hits that aluminum check they'll seal. Used a bunch in the .30 Carbine and they work fine and I did a lot of tinkering around with diameters. Try before you buy./beagle