Pennies to Gas Checks

[Land_Owner]

I was rolling pennies last night and thinking about how difficult would it be to roll/squeeze a penny into a thin sheet from which gas checks could be made?  If copper is currently "expensive", and steel is available, perhaps a series of rollers could be fashioned to increase the pressure/decrease the thickness and roll it to whatever thickness is desired through a "simple" hand crank machine not unlike the penny roller that makes a Tourist trinkets at the Turnpike Plaza.  Or does currency copper have other less desirable stuff in it?

[mechanic]

Modern pennies are made of zinc with a copper wash.  Older pennies were pure copper, (95%) until 1982 when it cost more to make a penny than it's worth.  With the price of copper now a days, I'm surprised there are still copper ones in circulation!
 
In 1983, a bunch were mistakenly minted in copper...if you find one of these it could be worth a few bucks...
 
Ben

[BUGEYE]

people, including myself are hoarding ammo and reloading components and I also save 1981 and older pennies.  those are all copper and though I don't reload, they would be handy for gas checks and bullet jackets for people that do.

[bilmac]

WE USED TO LAY COINS ON THE RAILROAD TRACK AND TRY TO FIND THEM AFTER THE TRAIN PASSED. THAT MADE THEM PRETTY FLAT.

[BUGEYE]

It's not real hard to flatten a penny. I've done it with a ball peen.  the penny can then be heat treated to soften it and you can drive it through your homemade die very easy.

[vidiot]

Sounds like a lot of work to do a thousand times in the evening...just saying

[Lloyd Smale]

if your serious about making your own checks theres tools for sale on ebay that will make them out of copper roof sheating. Much cheaper then using pennys and its allready the correct thickness. Only problem with them is the tools wont put a ridge on the check that will allow it to crimp on. YOu will get checks like the older lymans that will tend to fall off in flight. Not a great thing if your looking for the best in accuracy. Ive looked at it all. I shoot a ton of gas checked bullets and if i could find a way to do it right that was cheaper then buying them believe me id have done it years ago. to me buying them is just a nessisary evil like buying powder and primers and brass. Some things are just a bit tough to make yourself.

[Land_Owner]

I hear you.  It was one of those "off the cuff" ideas that come late in the night that require a mental "itch" to be scratched to make it go away.  Thanks.  Gas checks sure have gotten expensive though.

[BUGEYE]

Sounds like a lot of work to do a thousand times in the evening...just saying

I'm thinking if components weren't  available.  which would be the case if obama gets reelected.
or if the dollar becomes worthless, those pennies and my silver would be spendable.

[Land_Owner]

If the dollar becomes "worthless", so too will be the pennies.  Rifles, handguns, and bullet making components may become barter and worth much-much more.

[BUGEYE]

If the dollar becomes "worthless", so too will be the pennies.  Rifles, handguns, and bullet making components may become barter and worth much-much more.

copper pennies would be spendable and useful for making bullet jackets etc.
1982 and newer pennies would be worthless.
copper has always been included for coins along with the gold and silver.  things like platinum wouldn't be useful because of the difficulty in refining it.

[geezerbiker]

I read somewhere about using cardboard gas checks.  They're essentially a paper wad that lasts long enough to keep the flame of the burning powder away from the base of the bullet.  I haven't had a chance to try it but at least in theory it should work...

Tony

[anachronism]

There was an article in Handloader magazine recently about alternative gas checks. The authors conclusion was that if you don't have gaschecks, the second best option was to just shoot the bullets plainbased. He tried cardboard, milk cartons, weatherstripping foam, tin flashing and plastic from anti-freeze bottles. Everything let him down.

[manatee1947]

I thought I had heard of a device for making aluminum gas checks but cannot find the article. I have heard quite a bit of chatter about using 40 S&W cases in 44's and 444's as jackets for bullets, and 380 cases for 375 jackets. From what I have generally heard here , and personal experience, if you use a harder alloy and good lube, you can get 2000 fps without checks. My question would be, what are you wanting to do  that cannot be done by a good bullet at 1600 fps? The only things I can think of is long range varminting, and some competitive matches with specific requirements. Both hunting at short/ medium ranges, and practice and plinking, do not require premium bullets. I buy small bore match or varmint bullets , the cast are relegated to handguns and big bore rifles. Do you use gas checks on your everyday/ plinking ammo?

[streak]

WE USED TO LAY COINS ON THE RAILROAD TRACK AND TRY TO FIND THEM AFTER THE TRAIN PASSED. THAT MADE THEM PRETTY FLAT.

That is a big ( "10-4") on that!
That really flattens`em!!

[geezerbiker]

Speaking about using other things as gas checks, I found the spent large rifle primers are just the right size for .224 gas checks.  I was thinking about making a punch to flatten out the firing pin strike but I haven't gotten that far yet.

Tony

[Anduril]

WE USED TO LAY COINS ON THE RAILROAD TRACK AND TRY TO FIND THEM AFTER THE TRAIN PASSED. THAT MADE THEM PRETTY FLAT.

That is a big ( "10-4") on that!
That really flattens`em!!

I'm still looking for the quarter that I put under a NYCRR back in '62. 
..
 

[bilmac]

That's what you get for putting big money on the track.

[45-70.gov]

Speaking about using other things as gas checks, I found the spent large rifle primers are just the right size for .224 gas checks.  I was thinking about making a punch to flatten out the firing pin strike but I haven't gotten that far yet.

Tony

now that really looks like something to persue

[anachronism]

There's no need for cast bullets to be looked upon as "second class" Gas checks have their place, especially when handgun velocities are exceeded, but are not necessary for every application. The "Freechex" (google it, tons of information out there) tools are viable, and very effective. Commercial gas checks are 2-3 cents each, and free if you make your own. Jacketed bullets seem to start at about 10 cents each for little ones, and climb very quickly. There are also dual alloy bullets you can make yourself, and a myriad of special techniques for high performance cast bullets, much of which is actually old technology being rediscovered and expanded upon.

[Austin from NC]

Hate to tell yall but it is a crime to destroy government property. Currency is government property.

       Austin

[243dave]

Pennies are best used for washers after a hole is drilled, cheaper and faster than going to the hardware store.  If anybody cares copper pennies(82 & older) weighs approxiamately 3 grams and the zinc ones(82 & newer) average weight is 2.5 grams.  So now you can start going thru your jars of pennies and looking for those rare 83 copper pennies.  
Dave 

[45-70.gov]

Speaking about using other things as gas checks, I found the spent large rifle primers are just the right size for .224 gas checks.  I was thinking about making a punch to flatten out the firing pin strike but I haven't gotten that far yet.

Tony

now that really looks like something to persue

got  me thinking
what else might  work??
.40 cal  auto brass.....cut the base off for a  heavey duty 44 gas check
9mm base....  for a 375 gascheck
what else  is out there ??

[Hooker]

Hate to tell yall but it is a crime to destroy government property. Currency is government property.

       Austin

The government owns no property in fact the government is property. The peoples property.

Pat

[mechanic]

Hate to tell yall but it is a crime to destroy government property. Currency is government property.

       Austin

The government owns no property in fact the government is property. The peoples property.

Pat

If you do it with intent to defraud...yes.  As in making a 10.00 bill out of a 1.00, or a dime from a penny.  Other wise it's YOUR money.  You can make a bracelet of it, burn it in the fireplace...whatever.
 
Ben

[Flash]

I thought I had heard of a device for making aluminum gas checks but cannot find the article. I have heard quite a bit of chatter about using 40 S&W cases in 44's and 444's as jackets for bullets, and 380 cases for 375 jackets. From what I have generally heard here , and personal experience, if you use a harder alloy and good lube, you can get 2000 fps without checks. My question would be, what are you wanting to do  that cannot be done by a good bullet at 1600 fps? The only things I can think of is long range varminting, and some competitive matches with specific requirements. Both hunting at short/ medium ranges, and practice and plinking, do not require premium bullets. I buy small bore match or varmint bullets , the cast are relegated to handguns and big bore rifles. Do you use gas checks on your everyday/ plinking ammo?

The 40S&W cases work well in the 44. They have to be bumped out to 429 but it doesn't take much and once they're filled with lead, they make dirt cheap jacketed wad cutters

[EdK]

Pennies are best used for washers after a hole is drilled, cheaper and faster than going to the hardware store.

[mbopp]

Didn't Vernon Speer make jackets out of .22 rimfire cases? It would be a multi-step process to turn them into gas checks though.

[BBF]

I'm trying hard to convince myself for using cast bullets this year for the 45-70.
 
 I prefer a load that gives approx 1000 ft/lb at 100 yards and consistently group at least 4" at that range. So far I'm not getting that.

[Anduril]

scatterbrain,
 
What firearm and bullet are you using?
even at 350 grains you only need 1150 ft/sec to get 1000 ft-lbs.
should be do-able.
..