Best gas check for #358156??

[singleshotbuff]

Gentlemen,

I finally got my technique perfected and got some good boolits from my Lyman mold #358156. What is the best gas check, if there is a difference, for this boolit? Hornady or Lyman? Does it make a difference?

Thanks

SSB

[Bodydoc447]

I have not tried Lyman 35s but I have had really good luck with the Hornady checks on that bullet. I am hoping that the group buy checks in 35 caliber will be as good. I have heard nothing but good stuff about the manufacturer so you might check out Gator checks as well. I just ordered a 4 cavity 358156 mold so I am hoping that they come in soon.

Doc

[woody1]

I have not tried Lyman 35s but I have had really good luck with the Hornady checks on that bullet. I am hoping that the group buy checks in 35 caliber will be as good. I have heard nothing but good stuff about the manufacturer so you might check out Gator checks as well.

Doc

What he said. The Lyman's I have tend to come off, thus I don't use 'em. Regards, Woody

[StarMetal]

That's the old Lyman checks. It's been told that Hornady makes Lyman's checks for them.

Joe

[nighthunter]

I have used both the Lyman checks and the Hornady checks. I prefer the Hornady because they are a crimp on design. However ..... It has been a long time since I used the Lyman checks and I have in the last few years heard that Hornady presently makes the checks for Lyman. If this is true one would think that they would use the same tooling for Lyman as for themselves. I would have to use a present day Lyman check before I could comment further.
I too am in on the Gator Check buy for I think 10,000 checks. This should keep me happy for a couple of years.
Also .... if the gas check is on the bullet when it is seated, I don't really think it matters if the check falls off after the bullet leaves the barrel. It surely isn't going to lag behind the bullet. The pressure will keep it there. The gas check serves no purpose once the bullet leaves the barrel. My accuracy with the Lyman checks was equal to the Hornady checks. I just didn't like popping them back on when they came out of the sizer.
Nighthunter

[nighthunter]

Starmetal ..... If I could type faster my post about Hornady making the checks for Lyman would have been posted before yours. LOL
Nighthunter

[JDL]

Gator. -JDL

[Larry Gibson]

What he said. The Lyman's I have tend to come off, thus I don't use 'em. Regards, Woody

That's the good thing about them! However, I prefer the Hornady GC for use on the base of the bullet. Confused? Let me explain;

What I use the Lymans for is to make WCs with just about any mould. I lay a few on the mould warming pad of the Lyman pot to keep them warm. With a pair of tweasers I place a GC in one of the driving bands with the bottom of the GC facing the base (sprue plate) of the bullet mould, close the blocks around the GC and cast the bullet. After cooling on the drop pad the GC pops off with a flick of the tweezers and goes back on the warming pad to be used again. These cast bullets then have a nice WC point on them. For instance a 311291 or 311041 with the GC placed in the driving band makes a real nice .30 cal WC in the 110 gr range. They are deadly for small game at around 1050 fps in most .30 cal rifles with about 3.5 or so gr of Bullseye. I'm casting some up using the Lee 311-185 for use in the .32 H&R next week. I use this technique with single or double cavity moulds. The Lyman GCs used this way gives you great versatility.

I use them in .22, .25, .30, .35, and .45. RN or FP moulds to make WCs. I'm trying to find a partial box in .41 and .44. Anyone got a half box or so of each I can buy?

Larry Gibson

[FISH4BUGS]

So what did I do this past Sunday afternoon? I just got through casting a TON of bullets (maybe 1500 or so) with my new Lyman 358156 mould. It is a 4 cavity and I must say it is a great mould. Once it comes up to temperature, and using the speed casting technique, you can pretty much produce a lot of perfect bullets in a fairly short period of time. I watched the temp in the pot, and kept the damp rag handy.
My confusion is the dual crimp groove. Do you just take your pick or is there some reason for it? I'll watch this discussion on the gas checks, but for now, these will be shot out of a 38 (S&W 36 3" and a 2" 640 357) at about 750-800 fps. But when I start working up the 357 load, I am sure this discussion will come in handy.
I have about 2000 35 gc's so this might take a while to work through them.

[nighthunter]

With the 358156 I always crimp in the top grove and fill the lower with lube when sizeing. Maybe the lower groove is for use in 38's. I don't know for sure. It has worked for me for 35 years and I try not to argue with success.
Nighthunter

[Larry Gibson]

[QUOTE=FISH4BUGS]....My confusion is the dual crimp groove. Do you just take your pick or is there some reason for it? QUOTE]

As nighthunter suggests the standard practice with 358156 is to crimp in the front groove with .357 cases and the rear groove with heavy loads in .38 cases. However, the allowable OAL cartridge length for some rome revolvers will allow the rear crimp groove to be used in .357 mag cases. With the bullet seated out you have more powder capacity and with certain slow powders you can take advantage of it. With such the original .357 magnum velocity of 1500 fps is easily and safely obtained. Where you crimp is going to depend on your revolvers cylinder length.

Larry Gibson

[454PB]

I've used a lot of both kinds. The Lyman type (non crimping) are fine if they would perform the same on every shot, but if 1 out of 4 stays on the boolit, it screws up the grouping and accuracy. I've never recovered a cast boolit utilizing the crimp on checks that had lost one. Maybe it happens, but I've not seen it.

The other potential problem is the possibility of the check coming loose inside the cartridge. They are also hard on chronograph screens.

I use the Hornady type whenever possible.

[BruceB]

Gentlemen;

454 has nailed my concerns with gaschecks which drop off the bullet en route to destination.

When we strive for consistency in load performance, I really dislike gaschecks which "may" or "may not" fall away from the bullet. The Hornady checks on some .45-70 bullets I recently made are falling off very frequently, and obviously many leave the bullet right at the muzzle. There are a LOT of visible impacts on the diffuser supports for my new CED chronograph and on the screens themselves, which have their midpoint ten feet from the face of Der Schuetzenwagen's benchrest. Some of the impacts have done notable damage to the plastic arms which hold those diffusers above the bullet path.

I'm considering using a drop of red (permanent) Loctite in each gascheck..... anybody tried that yet? As long as the boolit base has no lube contamination, it just might work. I've gotten the checks a little more secure by sizing just the base area in a .457" die, but I dislike doing this because it may be impairing the barrel-to-boolit fit. It's conceivable that the check might bump up to fill the bore (.4575") properly, but this is a very important part of the bullet 'fit' and I'd rather not compromise it in any way.

[sundog]

Not the 358156, but I had GC problems on the 257420. Groups were not good, so I put it over the chrono and wound up peppering it and actually clipping one of the wires. Got a reading of a gazillion fps and knew immediately that something was amiss. Those were some OLD Ly checks so I quit using them and went to newer Hdy checks and life got better. btw, chrono is [self help] repaired and working fine, but it has a few scars. sundog

[swheeler]

Starmetal is correct . Hornady sells gaschecks to Lyman and RCBS to be marketed under their name, have for several years now. I still shoot Ideal gas checks, but I try to avoid the chrono when using them, already wiped one out with them. I couldn't say that I ever noticed any difference in accuracy between the two, seems that if they all fall off at the muzzle they have completed their job, no need to travel to the target.

[jeff223]

in the

[454PB]

As BruceB said, the secret is consistency. I don't care how it works, as long as it does the same thing every time.

[Bucks Owin]

In a word.........Hornady.

IMO,

Dennis