Author Topic: Gas Check Questions  (Read 1051 times)

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Offline Hawk's Feather

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Gas Check Questions
« on: September 04, 2004, 09:47:56 AM »
Quick history and then on to the question(s).  I have reloaded pistol and rifle for quite a few years and assume (you know what that does) that I know what I am doing there.  I have been loading both jacketed and lead bullets for my handguns, but don’t really like the lead build up that I have to deal with after shooting lead bullets.  Also, some of my pistols foul MUCH more than others.  I am aware that the velocity of the load, etc. will affect the amount of lead that remains in the barrel.  All most all of my loads are on the light to middle end of the velocity range for any of the calibers that I shoot – none are maximum loads.

Now on to the questions.  Would adding gas checks to the lead bullets help reduce the leading problem?  Can gas checks be added to lead bullets that I already have?  (I do have a melting pot and have done some muzzle loader balls, but really don’t want to turn out the needed number of bullets for my pistols.)  If gas checks can be added to my current bullets, what is the best way?  In reading some of the posts here it seems that they can be added during loading, but I would like do things the best way, rather than the quickest way.  I have checked the Magma site and wonder if their lube/sizer would be the best way to go.  Also, by doing searches on the internet, I have not been able to find gas checks for much other that 30 and 44 caliber.  What about .357 and .40?  I am open to your suggestions.

Thanks,

Hawk

Offline Veral

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Gas Check Questions
« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2004, 10:32:41 AM »
You are shooting commercially cast bullets.  From my experiance, leading and poor accuracy is to be expected from most brands, because of three simple problems, listed in order of importance, or likelyhood.

They use wax for lube and it doesn't work.
The bullets are rarely a good design, but worse they are battered in mass production.
They probably are sized to noninal jacketed bullet diameter, which is too small for the majority of guns.

Gas checks cannot be added to plain base bullets.

The other problems are your guns vary dimensionally and in smoothness.  

It is sometimes possible to make bullets shoot clean with the above problems by adjusting the loads for the individual guns to a pressure level where the bullet diameter just barely get bumped to fit the gun.  - At this point the lube gets sealed into place, the bullet fills the rifling and stress on the bullet is minimum possible and still get the required bump up to fit the gun.  If your bore is smooth, inadaquate lubrication will still shoot quite clean.  Accuracy will probably be so so, by my standards, as I damand that any handgun/load I shoot be able to print a cylinder full into a ragged hole at 25 yards.  

Almost all revolvers will get this type accuracy, and many will do it at 100 yards, but the only people I know of who can do it are those who cast their own bullets in LBT molds and use LBT lubricant, and most have to study my book 'Jacketed Performance with Cast Bullets', to understand all the requirements.

I sometimes feel like I'm sounding pushy about LBT products.  Please understand that I could not get performance with cast which was acceptable in any way, even back when my standards weren't very high.  So I put a lifetime of precision machine rebuilding experiance into finding the problems and developing the required lubrication, bullet designs and technology, or knowledge about the guns, so anyone, including new casters, could get results on the first go around.  -- No other mold maker offers what LBT does, so I have to point everyone to LBT, or my advise is worthless.

To answer the rest of your questions:  Get an LBT 4 cavity mold for each caliber handgun you shoot.  It will produce 800 bullets per hore for me, and I haven't heard of anyone who can't get 600 per hour after a little experiance with it.  My 4 cavity molds weigh less than an iron or steel 2 cavity, so they aren't tiring to work with.

The Magma sizer, which is the Star, is THE Rolls Royce of sizers.  It is also the fastest by far.

Gas checks are available for all american calibers except .17.  Hornady makes most of them, including Lyman and RCBS checks, and Bullet Swaging Supply makes what they don't.

When you put gas checks on with the Magma sizer, push the bullets nose first so the checks are clamped on squarely during sizing, or order bevel base bullets when you don't want to us gas checks.

If you have a bunch of commercial cast bullets which lead badly but that you want to use up, put a tiny smear of Tetra lube on each just before sizing.  Just a drop on the index finger, smeared around the lube area will do.  LBT Blue soft lubricant works very well used this way also, even though only a film is laid over the poor lubricant.
Veral Smith