Aluminum versus Copper Gas Checks??

[35 shooter]

I started making my own checks from al. and get better accuracy with them than Hornady copper checks.
I did have to experiment to get the right thickness to make them from. I finally settled on .014 flashing from Ace Hardware for my 35 whelen. Further experimenting proved to me they needed heat treating to shoot their best in my rifle...that may differ from one rifle to the next. Actually i just heat them for one hour @ 400* so their not truly annealed, but it works for me. They size on tighter after annealing.
It took about a month of testing different thickness in material but was well worth it for me.
I have never seen any residue from al. in my bbl. They don't come off in flight that i can tell and definitly group tighter than commercial checks for me.
Al. checks work but may take a bit of trial and error to find the best thickness for a given rifle or hand gun.

Btw..i couldn't get mine to shoot well at over about 1900 fps. before annealing. After that they shoot well at any speed up to 2400 fps + so far with the right load and boolit. Probably depends on the hardness of the al. as to whether they need annealing or not.

[nagantguy]

Blammers checks have never done me wrong in 30 or 44 cal. In some ways I like them better than copper ones, price being one and that a fellow booliter makes them for another

[22_boomer]

I have experience with Sage's checks in 6.5mm, .30 and .44 cals. In my experience they crimp on tight as dick's hatband. If you have a problem and let him know (which I did), he'll bend over backwards to get you a check you can use for a given application. As far as bore damage from the aluminum - I'm just not seeing it. My experience with aluminum checks has been a positive one up to this point.

I didn't mean anything bad about Sage's aluminum checks but I was hoping for some feedback about them and that's just what you did. I don't cast but get my boolits from a really good fellow so I need to find out what the size the check seat is and contact Sage's and see what can be done. I only do 22 caliber right now so the small check seats may be a problem. As I said in my last post I'm totally new at this and it is probably my fault that some of the aluminum checks seem to fall off. Sure would like to get them to work since they are so inexpensive.

[robg]

when i was unable to get hornaday i use gator checks, but the point of aim was a little higher maybe the re harder and up pressure slightly

[22_boomer]

when i was unable to get hornaday i use gator checks, but the point of aim was a little higher maybe the re harder and up pressure slightly

Does Gator Checks advertise any place here or on the web?

[44man]

Thickness and softness counts so if the sized check that is smaller then boolit diameter is shot, gas will cut it easy.
I found a big problem when I sized boolits with a die over boolit diameter with a check. The check was not sized enough and when seating the check opened brass larger then the boolit did so I lost case tension. If your boolit is .430" use a .430 die and not a .432". Get the check the same size as the boolit. If the check is thin it will be smaller and promote gas leakage.
The posts about thicker metal are correct.
I use the Lee size dies to remove excess lube and not really size my boolits that are the right size as cast so it was changing GC size with an oversize die.
The check MUST be boolit diameter.

[dakotashooter2]

That's definitely something that's bugged me too. Back when copper was a dollar a pound, gas checks were about $12 a thousand. As copper prices went up, gas check prices went up way too much. There's less than 10 ounces of copper in a thousand 30 cal checks. Ok, so Hornady could have raised the price by a buck or two; but to go up $20? Greedy jerks as far as I'm concerned. It probably has alot to do with there being little competition from other major suppliers, but they are also shooting themselves in the foot with all the shooters starting to make their own checks. I wonder how much business they're going to lose over the long haul for being greedy. For me instead of making aluminum gas checks, I've been shooting alot more .223 bullets swaged from free .22 LR brass cases than ever now. Full length brass jackets are way better anyway. Take that, Hornady.

I believe this also applies to jacketed bullets. Many jacketed bullets went from $15-$18/100 to $30-35/100 seemingly overnight. Even if you account for an increase cost in copper AND lead you're only looking a few dollars increase in materials cost, at most. That jump is why I got into cast boolits for my rifles (was already there for handguns).

[44man]

I can't blame Hornady or bullet makers, I blame where they must buy from.
Like lead where the EPA caused the shut down of the US lead mine.
I voted straight Republican today as always. I hope all of you voted.

[Prospector Howard]

I believe this also applies to jacketed bullets. Many jacketed bullets went from $15-$18/100 to $30-35/100 seemingly overnight. Even if you account for an increase cost in copper AND lead you're only looking a few dollars increase in materials cost, at most. That jump is why I got into cast boolits for my rifles (was already there for handguns).

That's why I also swage brass jacketed bullets in .243, 8mm, and .44 also. I just do alot more in .223 because they are the easiest and least expensive (virtually free). Apologies for hijacking the thread.

[Reg]

Even the best gas checks will sometimes come off in flight. The killer of my Croney was a .44 cal. Hornaday gas check, properly fitted. Due note that the Chroney replacement has a 1/2" scatter shield now.

I too was dubious about using aluminum checks but got a .30 cal check maker and used .014 alum to make up a few hundred. Could tell no difference in accuracy. They seemed to fit fine and have noticed no so called aluminum smearing what ever.
Later made a .22 cal. and have used several thousand in several different rifles and there again cannot tell any difference whatever. A couple of my tests involved shooting both aluminum and Hornaday copper checks side by side in the same groups.
Properly fitted I do not think there is any real difference especially in the accuracy department. I still use both as I sometimes do not have the time to bang out a bunch of aluminum checks when I am in a hurry to get back to killing grass rats.

[leadhead]

Isn't aluminum known to be an abrasive? I know aluminum cleaning rods can be murder
on a rifle bore. I wouldn't shoot them in my guns.
Denny

[dancingbear41]

In the UK Hornady gas checks in .30 calibre equate to approximately $55/1000. I bought myself a Freechex III and have not looked back. It resurrected 10 .30 calibre moulds that I had stopped using because of the price of checks. I use 0.015" thick aluminium. They sit tightly on the gas check shank and I am more than happy with them.
Many people have their own opinions of how they will work for them, as evidenced by this thread. You have to have a think and weigh it up for yourself. I buy my aluminium from a member and he sells copper too. Although making my own copper checks would be much cheaper than buying them, aluminium is so much cheaper.
Whichever way, it is yet another thing we can make rather than buy.
Good luck.

Simon.

[Blackwater]

I'm kinda' on leadhead's side. The aluminum checks seem soft enough, but without good info on their long term use, I'm dubious about using them. In a pinch, they'd sure be helpful, of course. When things begin to be made of unobtainium, like the shotgun powders I've been looking for for months now, one reaches a point where he'll use most anything that'll work, and worry about the consequences later. 'Till then, I think I'm going to stay an observer in this. Call me timid or whatever, but I've spent most of a lifetime getting the gun I have, and don't want to use anything in them that I'm not sure of ..... yet. Always open to possibilities, though. Not to be wouldn't be very smart either. A pistol barrel will last hundreds of thousands of rounds with lubed cast bullets, much less with jacketed, and a bit less with copper gas checked cast. That tells me the aluminum checks need some good, long term testing before I can personally have faith in them, other than as a stop-gap. Just my view, but I'm watching you other guys to see.

[hanover67]

I bought some .30 cal. aluminum gas checks, primarily for use on my cast boolits in a .30-30 and a .303 Enfield. Initially I had problems withthem either sticking in my sizer die or falling off after sizing. Then I annealed some of them, heating them at 400 degrees for an hour in my kitchen oven and have had no problems since. Neither the use of or the inherent accuracy of either rifle has been really tested, but they seem to shoot where I expect them to. And, I have not noticed any aluminum deposits in either barrel.

[JeffinNZ]

Even the best gas checks will sometimes come off in flight. The killer of my Croney was a .44 cal. Hornaday gas check, properly fitted. Due note that the Chroney replacement has a 1/2" scatter shield now.

I too was dubious about using aluminum checks but got a .30 cal check maker and used .014 alum to make up a few hundred. Could tell no difference in accuracy. They seemed to fit fine and have noticed no so called aluminum smearing what ever.
Later made a .22 cal. and have used several thousand in several different rifles and there again cannot tell any difference whatever. A couple of my tests involved shooting both aluminum and Hornaday copper checks side by side in the same groups.
Properly fitted I do not think there is any real difference especially in the accuracy department. I still use both as I sometimes do not have the time to bang out a bunch of aluminum checks when I am in a hurry to get back to killing grass rats.

REG: my original Chrony took a .22 GC hit in almost exactly the same place. A friend repaired it and until is eventually died of old age it wore a mask as you made.

[leadman]

I sent a 22 cal GC thru the display screen of my first Chrony. They took it in on trade and sold me the one with the display on the bench.

I have used probably about 15,000 aluminum gas checks and they work as well as the copper. I did have to install the aluminum checks before heat treating my linotype 22 cal. boolits. The aluminum would extrude up the side of the 32 BHN boolit if I tried to install them after heat treating.
I have seen no issues in the bores of my guns either.

[Reg]

REG: my original Chrony took a .22 GC hit in almost exactly the same place. A friend repaired it and until is eventually died of old age it wore a mask as you made.

Jeff,
Guess I didn't realize the Croney could be fixed, that gas check really hit it hard, I had to pick it out with tweezers. Actually I am amazed with the amount of lube the scatter shield catches. I usually set it out about 20 feet and have to take Windex to it from time to time.
It might be nothing but I have often wondered if this extra or excess lube being blasted out might not also be a accuracy factor.
Also, how many anneal or bake their aluminum gas checks? Sounds like it might make them attach better. Have noticed that some aluminum in strip from seems quite "springy". Would annealing the metal before punching out the checks make the punching and forming operation better or would they simply turn to mush and jam in the maker ?
Also, has Jim done any work with these aluminum checks ? Would be interesting to see his take on this.

[44man]

The problem with aluminum cleaning rods is they pick up dirt and dust. If you keep your sheet clean, don't worry about the checks. The metal itself will not hurt the gun.
As far as lube coming off a boolit, you are better off if ALL leaves at the muzzle exit.

[IDSS]

My take on aluminum gas checks is that they are the ones consistently available to me.

I bought a Freechex, II? I think, and make my own from roof flashing I buy here locally. Problem is, the closest hardware store is in Canada and the thickest material they sell is somewhere around .011". It would not stay on well when sizing to .431 for my .44's.

To solve the issue, I had Accurate make a mold that drops boolits with a .408" gas check shank, tapered to .404 at the end, to ease getting the check on. The checks now crimp on even more tightly than when I was sizing to .430, on a .400-.401 shank, with a push-thru.
As far as staying on, I find them shed from the boolits at the berm or sometimes still on the shank when I go mining to recycle the lead.

On the accuracy front, I'm still figuring stuff out, but I'm getting happier and happier with the groups theses things are turning in.

[Sagebrush7]

22 boomer. The aluminum gas checks I make were designed for the 22 Bator bullets originally but fit the Lyman and RCBS molds also. Send me a private PM with shipping address and I will send you a free sample. I also sell and stock Gator checks at Sages Outdoors and offer discounts to forum members.

I didn't mean anything bad about Sage's aluminum checks but I was hoping for some feedback about them and that's just what you did. I don't cast but get my boolits from a really good fellow so I need to find out what the size the check seat is and contact Sage's and see what can be done. I only do 22 caliber right now so the small check seats may be a problem. As I said in my last post I'm totally new at this and it is probably my fault that some of the aluminum checks seem to fall off. Sure would like to get them to work since they are so inexpensive.