Sheet Wax Gas Checks?

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Nova316

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Ctown, Alberta
Hello, so I bought a package lube o matic a while ago and thought the sheets that came with it were used to make bullet lube. It seems however one of the packages had instructions to used these sheets as Wax gas checks? Where you put them over the mouth of charged cases before seating the bullets?

Anyone have any luck with these, or anyone want these? I'll trade for lube/gas checks. Or are they better just to melt down into lube? From what I have read online its a huge hit or miss thing that was developed years ago.

http://www.caversham16.freeserve.co.uk/
 
I wonder what happens when the wax vaporizes as the powder burns - will it add or detract from the pressure?

Maybe the waxy soot from the burning wax would be lube enough for the next firing?

If wax was put inside a normal copper gas check, pressure and heat from the burn would do something - like squirt lube from behind the check just before being scraped back off the barrel by the front edge of gas check.
 
I'm familiar with grease cookies or lube disks in black powder cartridges; especially paper patched bullets where there are no lube grooves in the bullet but I've not heard of it being used in smokeless loads.

I can't see it as replacing the function of a gas check. Copper or aluminum is used as the lead is too soft to stop the gasses; how could wax do it if lead can't? Maybe there's some function or mechanic I'm not aware of but my initial reaction is one of skepticism.

Personally, I'd melt them down and cast lube sticks (unless they're formulated for black powder but I'm guessing they aren't).
 
X2... I cannot see a benefit of wax as a gas check. I would think that the gases would cut right through the wax anyway and as well any remaining wax may stick to the bottom of the bullet making it possibly off center. This along with any gas cutting would reduce accuracy further.

I may be wrong unless there is something in the wax formula that prevents this. I place a thin paper wad behind my cast bullets anytime I use any waxed or wax lubed wads to prevent them from sticking to the cast bullets.
 
Thanks for the info, I couldn't see it preventing the gases either. It seems quite hard and I have about 5# of it so maybe I'll just melt it down for some bullet lube than.
 
zuke said:
Try it and see what happen's, won't hurt anything will it?
Click to expand...

It wont hurt anything. Shoot your bullets into a berm where you can recover the bullets and imspect the bases to see if they have been cut or damaged by gases or there is wax attached to them..

Let us know what the outcome is.
 
True, it's very doubtful if it would hurt anything. A very similar idea showed up in the early '60s using a paper disc with grease between disc and bullet. Don't remember where it came from, there may have been some benefit to lubrication an/or bore condition, but my recollection is that it wasn't worth the trouble. Wax wads would at least be easier.
Grouch
 
I shot thousands of rounds of full pressure 41 mag loads, plain base bullets using the sheet wax gas check when I used to shoot metallic silhouette with no leading issues including hot summer days. The sheets are only good in straight wall cases and are intended to be used with plain base bullets. If you use bullets cut for a metal gas check without the metal gas check in full power loads they will usually cause leading even with the soft gas check.
YMMV, 44Bore.
 
The wax gas checks were the thing to use in the mid 80's, I bought some back then, can't say if they worked well but they didn't seem to hurt anything.
 
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