Hello everybody,
I am from the Netherlands and i recently ordered and received this gascheck maker in .30 cal. from 22reloader.
Obtaining .30 cal gaschecks in the Netherlands is virtually impossible at the moment, or very expensive (around 90 euro's a 1000).
Unfortunately i encountered a few problems.
I tryed different materials eg aluminium and copper in different thicknesses from .2 to .5 mm.
None of them worked properly, sheared rim, stuck material in the die, stuck checks on the forming stem, and if a gascheck came out, they didn't fit on the cast bullets.
Sending it back and get a new one with probably the same issues i found to much hassle, so i decided to tune it up myself.
Luckily i own a lathe and a mill, both are swiss schaublin's, and very accurate.
The forming stem is a glued an pressfit construction (7mm) so i drilled a partial depth hole from the underside with a 5mm drilling bit.
Then i used a 5mm punch to knock out the stem.
I made a new forming stem in the correct size (.284" or 7.2mm), rounded the top a little, and polished this to a mirror finish.
Glued this new stem back in the bottom piece with green locktite (for glueing gears on shafts).
Sounds difficult, but is actually no rocket science.
Now the check maker works fantastic without any flaws, in all thicknesses and both in copper and aluminium.
Problems with this check maker are apparently a to small forming stem diameter and a bad finish (lack of polishing) of the forming stem or button.
Hopefully i can help some people whom encounter the same issues and problems with this information.
Greetings from the Netherlands.