.014 Gas check issue

[milprileb]

I am using .014 aluminum flashing for my gas checks. My checks on 308 caliber Lee bullets are snug when crimped on but I can pop them off with a thumb nail. Not so when I use Hornady 30 cal gas checks.

Do I need .015 or .016 size flashing to fix this? Or is a snug check just fine. They won't turn or move when on the Lee bullets but as said, they are a friction fit vs a crimp like the Hornady checks .

I worry they will separate from base upon cartridge firing and I don't gain the gas check advantage for lead bullets in rifle calibers that I seek.

I have given thought to making the shank on Lee bullets larger by using emery paper on a dowel and opening up the Lee mold in the shank area
but I fear I won't open it up true and gain a lob sided shank on cast bullets and resulting accuracy issues.

[TCFAN]

On the 30 cal checks that I have been making with the FCIII and Amerimax #68104 flashing I have very tight checks that I have to use the Lyman gas check seater to get them on the boolit.
I was worried at first about the checks coming off also because they did not crimp on like the Hornady's.But now that I have been shooting my home made checks for a little while I am finding them in the 100 yard berm and under steel plates so at least some of them are making the trip.

The above is also true for the 357 and 44 cal. checks except I don't have to use the gas check seater to get them on. Now finding them in the berms. I know that what I am finding are my boolits because the range that I use is my own.

Before you open up your Lee mold gas check shank shoot a few in to something that will let you recover the boolit and see if the gas check is still on the boolit.........Terry

[milprileb]

TCFAN,

I am lubing and crimping checks with a SAECO lubrisizer. I do have a Lyman 450 as well. Do you think I ought to get sizing dies in 308 for the Lyman 450 and that crimp accessory you are using ? You think that might solve the problem ?

[TCFAN]

I find the Lyman gas check seater useful when it is needed. As for the size die only your rifle will tell you what you need. I lube and seat the gas check in a 450 with a .314 lube die and then size in a Lee size die at ..309 .310 or .311...........Terry

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

better?

[milprileb]

Shaun, they stick hard on Lyman bullet shanks and the only shank that I can pry it off with thumb nail is the Lee 170 gr 309 bullet.

[DukeInFlorida]

I would suggest the a LEE mold is a poor test of how good the gas checks are. The checks are better than the boolits.

As I suggested in the PM, check with Charlie, and he'll walk you through how to "beagle" the FreeChex III tool so that you get thicker walls on the sides of the cups when you are forming them. The ID will be the same. Just the OD will get bigger. When sizing, that additional OD will get squeezed into the shank of the bullet deeper. The sized OD of the bullet/gas check assembly will remain what it was.

[JeffinNZ]

How do they shoot? That's what matters.

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

Boo ...

[milprileb]

Out comes the dowel with emery paper and opening up the Lee mold. But first, shoot the
checks and see if they are okay on that Lee bullet.

[1Shirt]

So far, I am finding that well made alum checks shoot on par with Hor checks. That said, all alum checks are not made equal, and there is a definate difference accuracy wise in the disk of alum is not centered, and one side is even a smig higher than the other side. At least that is my experiance.
1Shirt!