another gas chek question

[Scibaer]

i've been reading up a bit about casting my own bullets.  what keeps getting my attention is gas checks and bullet bases.
 i read over and over that the base of the bullets effect accuracy more then anything else.
 some mold makers offer molds that pour to the nose, so the bullet base is better dimentionally and therefore more accurate.

now here's what i got to thinking, the gas check is brass and should be a better fit, closer tolerances to the barrel or it would not work.
this means that the gc would grab the rifling better to perform its job. so in effect make the bullet base "better" and make the bullet a little more accurate.

am i right, or a nutter ?
glenn

[Catfish]

The only bullets I have ever cast have been round balls for front stuffers. I have shot alot of cast bullets in handguns and some in rifle though. Gas check are normally used in conjunction with hard cast bullets so that you can shoot them faster. I have pushed some gas checked bullets to abt  2,600 fps without leading. I do not know of any one useing them just to get better accuracy.

[Scibaer]

i would have thought that by now i would have gotten a few responses either way..
 my idea must be really out there
  it wouldnt be the first time

[gypsyman]

Scibaer, no, your idea is not really out there. Plain base bullets can very well be as accurate as a gas checked one. But it would be my belief that you can shoot a hell of a lot more gas checked bullets, and not lead up the barrel. If you are going to clean the barrel after every 10 or 15 shots, probably wouldn't make much of a difference if you shot plain base or gas checked.
Depending on how many shots you plan on making in between cleaning will determine accuracy. There are some Schutzen shooter's, (probably didn't spell that right), that clean after 20 rounds or so. And they have to use plain base bullets.
I might go 200 or more rounds in between cleaning at a silhouette matchs, but I know that the barrel hasn't leaded up, because I gas check my bullets. Therefore, still getting good accuracy.(wish my eye's were as good as my guns are!!)   gypsyman

[Scibaer]

ok, so  what are the point of non gas checked bullets ? is there an advantage to them ?
 glenn

[Steve in Michigan]

I had a gas check mold and a regular base mold (.357, 150-grain or so RCBS). It was a copy of the Thompson gas-check mold 358166 that was supposed to be such a good bullet. It was a good bullet, but the plain-base 150-KT RCBS mold would cast bullets that matched the other in accuracy. I think more critical than a gas check is properly fitting the bullet to the caliber and velocity. I shot both of these bullets around 1,000 to 1,100 fps. If you have sized the bullets right and they have the right hardness (or lack of it), you should be able to shoot rounds all day long and have only a very slight amount of leading in the barrel, if any. The only time a gas check helps is if you want to shoot very soft bullets or propel lead bullets very fast. The gas check helps to keep the leading down, but I think it is more important when the bullet does not match the caliber as well as it should (such as in .45 Colt loads where the chamber size is much larger than the bore size i.e. .456 to .451. In this case the gas check helps reduce gas cutting of the base of the bullet.

I have never had a real need to gas checks after I had that first mold which I traded away. I think in the big bores such as .44, there is very little need for a gas check. Mostly they add cost and effort to your cast bullets.

Steve

[gypsyman]

I would say that the advantage plain base have over gas checked is time involved in putting them on, as that will definitely slow you down on the sizer, and with today's price's of gas check's running between $25 and over $30 a thousand, it'll increase the price of the bullet you shoot by .03 apiece. Most of my molds are a gas checked bullet, simply because that's what I wanted. I liked the idea of possibly cutting down on the chance of leading in the barrel.  gypsyman

[Catfish]

Years ago I used to shoot abt. 400 rounds a weekend all summer long. Most of the ammo I shot was 240 gn. semi wad cutters with a beveled base. The load shot abt. 950 fps. and it did not lead the barrel very bad at all. To clean the lead from the barrel I would should a cylinder full of jacketed bullet abt every 800 rounds.

[wgr]

you can shoot the plain base bullets up to around 16/1800 fps with the right hardness. after that you ll need a gas check and hard bullet are you ll most likely get leading

[Scibaer]

thanks, i think i got an understanding now.
it all makes sense ( after it is explained, lol )
 i like the idea of shooting some  jacketed bullets to clean out the leading
thanks for all in input