Pat Marlin's gas check makers

[Walter Laich]

he's in the vendor section
here is a link directly to his website: http://www.patmarlins.com/
I contacted him from his site

[oldbear1950]

do these gas checks also work for 45-70 rifle bullets?

[1lnbrdg]

I purchased a nose punch adapter from NOE so I can push all my bullets through the Lee sizers base 1st.
Whether gas checked or not I've always thought they sized truer base 1st.

[trapper9260]

Years ago I had got his first GC maker for 22cal. You use a press or hammer to make the check.

[Kraschenbirn]

Somewhere (?) around here I've got one of those for 8mm. Haven't seen it for years but clearly recall spending a quite a few evenings turning aluminum beer cans into GCs.

Bill

[ACC]

I'm just waiting for my birthday to buy one of those. Thanks for the info.

ACC

[Gunslinger1911]

Oldbear1950, As I remember, I used the ".452" CheckMaker for .458 ish cast for my 45/70's.

Till I got into powder coat, checkmakers were the bomb !!

I was OC, I only used Coke cans (maybe more consistency in thickness ??)
Everybody where I worked brought me cans.
$10 paper cutter fron Harbor Freight.
I have 9mm (.38), .40, .41, .44, .45, and .50 makers.
Made thousands.
Well worth the wait even if he's backlogged.

[Blastercaster]

Very high quality check makers that work wonderfully! I just made some 44 checks yesterday and just love how well they work.

[Muddydogs]

I have been making PB .35 cal checks with Pat's check maker for 15 years or so, never had an issue. I recently purchased the PB .40 cal maker.

I have been using diet Coke cans but in April I think Pat sent out an email ad with some tips and tricks, my memory is a little foggy on the exact details. In the article he talked about and linked this roll of aluminum flashing off Amazon. https://a.co/d/6QviUo8

I have yet to try the flashing but I have a 50' roll. Pat's email also put a fire under me to start ordering a few more check makers before there no longer available. I'm not saying Pat's going anywhere as I don't know the man but as I have looked into purchasing or upgrading different parts and pieces I once purchased from small start up vendors over the years I've found that not one of them is still in business. I really wish I would have purchase more from NOE when I had the chance.

[405grain]

You can also get that .014" thk aluminum flashing at most Ace Hardware stores. I use it to make 30 cal checks with a Pat Marlins check maker. For this caliber I have to cut the aluminum flashing into 7/16" strips. Because the Pat Marlin's is a two step check maker, you first have to punch out the disc of aluminum, and then - once you have a pile of disc's - change the setup on the die and run these through the check maker to form them into gas checks. The gas checks work great, but using a two step check maker is time consuming, so I usually make up a bag of checks on a rainy day when there's nothing else to do.

[depoloni]

I see that .014" aluminum is mentioned - (EDIT) and found on Pat's website that the copper he uses/sells is .010" but even as thick as .018" can work in the right circumstances. I'm sure that will vary with experimentation (smaller likely needs thinner copper).

I've thought about picking several of these up since years ago, but had a healthy stockpile of Lyman and Hornady checks. What I did do was stash copper. In my line of work we use a lot of 16oz. copper sheet and there are lots of cutoffs from our shear that are 10' long by varying widths, otherwise un-useable for anything but scrap. I've been grabbing a couple strips several times a year when there's a large pile of them. Yes... I have permission, so it's not 'workplace theft' lol

Having what must be about 100-120 of those strips now... I know the 16oz is far too thick for gas checks as-is. Looking at picking up a jeweler's rolling mill to thin those down. I'll soon enough have much more time available (nearing retirement) so efficiency isn't paramount, and I like stuff like this. Any thoughts to the legitimacy, or folly (?) of the jeweler's mill idea?

[MGySgt]

I have been using diet Coke cans but in April I think Pat sent out an email ad with some tips and tricks, my memory is a little foggy on the exact details. In the article he talked about and linked this roll of aluminum flashing off Amazon. https://a.co/d/6QviUo8

I this flashing for PB Checks?????

[Beerd]

... I know the 16oz is far too thick for gas checks as-is. Looking at picking up a jeweler's rolling mill to thin those down. I'll soon enough have much more time available (nearing retirement) so efficiency isn't paramount, and I like stuff like this. Any thoughts to the legitimacy, or folly (?) of the jeweler's mill idea?

A fellow posted on another site that he uses one of those hand crank roller mills to squish copper pennies down to the correct thickness for making gas checks.
..

[muskeg13]

A fellow posted on another site that he uses one of those hand crank roller mills to squish copper pennies down to the correct thickness for making gas checks.
..

I guess it's possible, but they stopped minting copper pennies in 1982, and recently, they aren't even minting copper washed zinc pennies for general circulation anymore. Lately, I've been making Pat Marlin checks from left over Z-Stop anti-moss zinc roof flashing from Lowes. I still have a few copper sheets I believe I got from Pat Marlin many years ago, and I occasionally make checks from scraps of left over aluminum flashing or thicker cans, but I find beer and soda cans to be too thin to make good checks. The zinc checks might be slightly thicker than needed, but the material is soft and malleable and is easy to work with. I've had better luck having the zinc checks swage down and crimp firmly on boolits than with aluminum.