Stick-on Gas Checks?

[Al Bear]

Who knew?!

This is even fiddler than installing “inverted gas checks”. ( Think of tying flies without a clamp or spool holder.) If you have plain base cast bullets and also have aluminum tape or copper tape (I have both) then you can give this a try.

Bullet prep.

I put a sized bullet into a drill (nose first, of course) and file the spinning bullet’s base clean. Removing the oxidized layer makes the tape adhere better (plus, removing the sprue improves accuracy). Cut some tape squares - slightly over size - peel and stick onto the bullet’s base. Press it on nicely. Next, take something like a putty knife and lean it against the flat base of the spinning bullet. This ensures optimal adhesion. While the bullet is spinning change the angle of the putty knife so that it’s at a sharp angle to the edge of the bullet . The pressure and friction between the bullet edge and the putty knife will cut excess tape off … leaving a clean GC with an edge that’s flush with the side of the bullet.

Hard lead is better.

A variation:

Rather than “cut” the tape on the edge, continue rolling the putty knife to make the tape cup onto the bullet. Then take a utility knife to trim off excess tape.

If you have nothing better to do … and lots of time … this may be for you.

 

[yomomma]

People have been glueing gas check on with crazy glue for years, why complicate things

 

[Snider shooter]

Much easier to buy a mould that takes gaschecks and put them on with a lubsizer press. Why over complicate stuff ? I have over 120 moulds so I just pick one that works.

 

[B]

I have had more success playing with powder coating than gas checks. Accuracy often seems to go down at least a bit , sometimes a lot with checks IME.

 

[kjohn]

Stick-on gas checks...that's a new one on me!

 

[kjohn]

I have had more success playing with powder coating than gas checks. Accuracy often seems to go down at least a bit , sometimes a lot with checks IME.

I am just getting used to powder coating, and I use gas checks on powder coated bullets. Go figure.

 

[saskgunowner101]

If you have nothing better to do … and lots of time … this may be for you.

Did you come to any conclusions in the end? Was there a difference in accuracy, or less leading, or? If it accomplished something in the end, that's all that matters. Whether it's a waste of time or not is a different story.

 

[saskgunowner101]

Much easier to buy a mould that takes gaschecks and put them on with a lubsizer press. Why over complicate stuff ? I have over 120 moulds so I just pick one that works.

I imagine the guy who has 120 bullet molds, and the guy who's seeing if aluminum tape for a gas check works, are of two different mindsets.

 

[Al Bear]

People have been glueing gas check on with crazy glue for years, why complicate things

Now I have visions of some guy picking his nose while gluing GCs … and ending up with GCs on his nose. Oy!

 

[Al Bear]

My experience so far is an improvement in accuracy but I suspect it’s due to dressing the base of the bullet before applying a s/o GC. I want to create a trap to capture the fired bullets to examine them more closely. And that won’t happen until after the end of deer season.

As a point of interest, I bought a box of Frontier bullets on sale (185 gr copper coated FN .308 … made in S. Africa) and found them to be as inaccurate as a poorly cast bullet. So I decided to cut them in two; the front being 130 gr FN and the back being a 50 gr wad cutter. My concern was whether the exposed lead would lead-up the barrel. And this is what prompted me to come up with the idea of s/o gas checks. After dressing the nose as well as the base and applying a s/o GC, these modified 130 gr bullets all landed on a 2.5” square “post-it” note … @ 100 yards. (4 shots with a 30-06). Good enough for a low recoil deer load. So now all my 130 gr cut-ups and my 98 gr casts sport a s/o GC.

 

[ted_dent]

My experience so far is an improvement in accuracy but I suspect it’s due to dressing the base of the bullet before applying a s/o GC. I want to create a trap to capture the fired bullets to examine them more closely. And that won’t happen until after the end of deer season.

As a point of interest, I bought a box of Frontier bullets on sale (185 gr copper coated FN .308 … made in S. Africa) and found them to be as inaccurate as a poorly cast bullet. So I decided to cut them in two; the front being 130 gr FN and the back being a 50 gr wad cutter. My concern was whether the exposed lead would lead-up the barrel. And this is what prompted me to come up with the idea of s/o gas checks. After dressing the nose as well as the base and applying a s/o GC, these modified 130 gr bullets all landed on a 2.5” square “post-it” note … @ 100 yards. (4 shots with a 30-06). Good enough for a low recoil deer load. So now all my 130 gr cut-ups and my 98 gr casts sport a s/o GC.

You are a patient man, my son. And I thought powder coating was time consuming.

 

[mg34]

i have about 9000 30 cal check that are no good to me as they are cut from .10 aluminum and will not fit my bullet they are good for glue on only. if l can get 10 $ plus shipping i would be happy to help out a fellow reloader.