Hi, I have a large amount of cast .310 bullets and they are designed for gaschecks ,they are store bought.Would a person use the same reloading data as the gascheck cast data or would you cut back on the powder or change powders? I will be loading 303 brit
reloading cast without gaschecks
- Thread starter marba
- Start date
I'd be cutting it back as much as possible. A few years back, I loaded up about 100 rounds for my 30-30 winchester lever. I didn't put gas checks on them. The first sign of a problem was the old guy beside me saying "This might sound crazy, but I can see a gray trail where your bullets are going. That would be the vapour trail from the base of the bullet melting. The real problem was found after about 80 rounds. I was now almost shooting a smooth bore. It took me hours to get the lead of that barrel.
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Gas check designed bullets are exactly that, they are designed to be used with a gas check.
The little small heel shank is purposely undersized to accept a gas check shank at the base.
Leaving this gap at the heel of the bullet between the barrel and the baring surface is sometimes asking for trouble.
Gasses that propel the bullet forward push round that gap and may cause leading and loss of accuracy.
This being said it is still possible to shoot gas check design bullets without gas checks but velocity will have to be kept at check and also keep an eye out for leading.
There are always exceptions and I have heard some people say that their groups are better without gas checks used on a GC bullet but i haven’t witnessed it myself.
You may be better off with a plan base bullet rather than a gas check design bullet without a gas check.
If the reason you don’t use gas checks is because you can’t find 30 cal gas checks than send me a pm i may be able to help you with that.
The little small heel shank is purposely undersized to accept a gas check shank at the base.
Leaving this gap at the heel of the bullet between the barrel and the baring surface is sometimes asking for trouble.
Gasses that propel the bullet forward push round that gap and may cause leading and loss of accuracy.
This being said it is still possible to shoot gas check design bullets without gas checks but velocity will have to be kept at check and also keep an eye out for leading.
There are always exceptions and I have heard some people say that their groups are better without gas checks used on a GC bullet but i haven’t witnessed it myself.
You may be better off with a plan base bullet rather than a gas check design bullet without a gas check.
If the reason you don’t use gas checks is because you can’t find 30 cal gas checks than send me a pm i may be able to help you with that.
saskgunowner101
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- middle of Sask
You're probably fine to shoot them without gas checks until you get some gas checks.
I've done a bit of trial and error of shooting gas checked boolits without them on. Speaking for myself, I found them to shoot okay (not great), but you really need to throttle them back.
I was using some stubby 113 grain round nose in my 30/30 and any more than 6.5 grains Unique and the groups would open up.Take the same boolit with a gas check on it and IIRC about 12-13 grains Unique shot way better. I had more leading problems with the boolits that were not water quenched. Just one guys experience though, your mileage may vary.
I've done a bit of trial and error of shooting gas checked boolits without them on. Speaking for myself, I found them to shoot okay (not great), but you really need to throttle them back.I was using some stubby 113 grain round nose in my 30/30 and any more than 6.5 grains Unique and the groups would open up.Take the same boolit with a gas check on it and IIRC about 12-13 grains Unique shot way better. I had more leading problems with the boolits that were not water quenched. Just one guys experience though, your mileage may vary.
There has been an immense amount of discussion on this topic over at "castboolits", with agreement that there's no "rule" to follow. Generally it has been found that if the pressure is kept low (usually meaning low MV's - i.e. 1300 fps or slower), that leading will be absent or minimal.
I prefer to use gas checks on bullets so designed. I also have a good selction of plain-based bullets which I much prefer, since I'm shooting mostly low-pressure loads anyways, and the expense and trouble of gas checks is not needed for those loads.
I prefer to use gas checks on bullets so designed. I also have a good selction of plain-based bullets which I much prefer, since I'm shooting mostly low-pressure loads anyways, and the expense and trouble of gas checks is not needed for those loads.
I would be more worried about shooting a .310 cast bullet in a .314-.316 barrel. The smallest .303 brit barrel that I have is .3135 but if you have slugged your barrel and come up with a .308 or .309 then you will be ok (never seen it). Otherwise you and mister hoppes and a scrub bush are going to become real intimate.
Yeah. Good place to read and learn. The other consideration, as far as leading goes, is the powder used. There are guys there that put the lie to the idea that leading has as much to do with velocity as folks keep saying. One fellow I was reading the other day was getting identical velocities from two different powders, one leaded consistently, the other did not, proving to him at least, that the powder used has as much to do with it as anything.
Cheers
Trev
As others have said, safe to shoot without problem...at low velocities. I shoot reduced-load plinkers with my LE as well as my 30-30. Lots of fun or cheap and the little girl can use daddy's hunting rifle without fear or big recoil. No leading.
I will use gas-checks though, to make full velocity hunting boolits.
I will use gas-checks though, to make full velocity hunting boolits.
True, and paper-patching has other advantages (e.g. you can size up to fit a bore), but there is a downside many people don't understand. Lead bullets cause considerably less barrel wear than do paper-patched and jacketed bullets. We're talking seveal thousand rounds before the differences are evident, but for high-volume shooters, it's a factor.
Yes - paper-patched bullets cause barrel wear. Look at a barrel that has had lots of paper-patched bullets through it and you can see what I mean. Better yet, take a sharp knife and run it over paper a few times. It will dull rather quickly. Use a similarly sharp knife to do the same or to shave lead, and it will stay sharp much longer. Not scientific, but not a bad illustration.
