Casting for the .500 with 2 different molds. One is a Lee 440 grain and the other a 700 grain made by a well known machinist/BP shooter. I tried to find hornady gas checks,but looks like they aren't made any more. So I ended up with gator checks instead. On both molds some fit and crimp tight,some are loose even after trying them a couple of times. I tried to anneal them with no good result. It seems like if I place the GC by itself in the sizer,run it down,snap it on a slug,then it grabs.But even this isn't a 100% solution. The bases are filled out good,sizer die is .500....any thought as to what a person can do? I was also thinking of trying a round coarse file,twist it around the inside of the GC just on the wall to rough it up then seat it...I never had this happen with any rifle cast slugs. The velocity is also under 1500 FPS for them,,so maybe just go with out them?
Gas checks are loose..now what??
- Thread starter icehunter121
- Start date
I read this morning some guys tried just using like a fast set glue then size and lube them. But it was hazy as to what glue. Also ,wouldn't there be a problem with them coming off upon firing or hitting the rifling?
If they do not crimp on, then the gas check material is too thin or the bullet mold was not made properly (base too small). Another concern is likely the gc may not be effective if the material is too thin. I would contact your gc maker.
Thought about both those already. It is the same with both molds which leads me to believe the gas checks are actually to thick to crimp.The wall thickness on the gator checks are way thicker then the hornady 45 cal checks I measured last night in my fruitful pull my hair out mode while dealing with above blunders. I was able to find a box online this morning of hornady checks and as long as the site is up to date,should have them next week. If it is that,it still leaves me with 1000 gator checks at a grand total of just over $100.00 to still get working. Today in all my infinite wisdom and more reading..I am going to take 10 checks,run them thru the die by themselves,then a drop of ca glue on the base,drop a slug into them and recrimp again. Its a lot of extra work/wasted time....only good thing is that I wont be shooting it a lot( maybe 100 per year or so) So it gives me a little time to play with them.
I have some old boxes of hornady 458 gas checks that I use on my 45/70 cast and those routinely don't go on as nice as other gas checks like gator I use. I can spin the gas checks on the bullet after they have been seated or take them off with my fingers if I choose to. That gun shoots lights out with the loose gas checks and I believe as soon as the hammer drops the pressure seats the gas check firmly. No leading issues either so I don't worry about it. 405gr @ 1700 from my 1895.
There are 2 sizes of 45 caliber gas checks, one is made for pistol and one is made for rifle, the shank size is different. Generally speaking, as long as you can get a gator check to fit onto the shank, they will crimp fine. Never had any issues with them as long as the bullet shank is proper size.
Basically if the check is loose there are 2 possibilities: the shank is too small or the checks are too soft. I've never had an issue with a gator gas check although several other manufacturer's products have caused me grief in the past.
Basically if the check is loose there are 2 possibilities: the shank is too small or the checks are too soft. I've never had an issue with a gator gas check although several other manufacturer's products have caused me grief in the past.
