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Old July 30, 2012, 08:08 PM   #1
Super Sneaky Steve
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Lee gas check pics

Thought I'd try my had at some gas checks. Turned out to be a royal pain in the ass. If the sprew play didn't cut super clean they were a bitch to get on. I ended up having to hand file a lot of the bases then use a small hammer to tap them on.

The mold read 158 (C358-158-SWC) but when lube and GC installed they weighed in around 160-165. These beauties are sitting on a healthy dose of H110. Crono and accuracy testing will be done on Monday. If all goes well it will be my new white tail load.

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Old July 30, 2012, 11:36 PM   #2
Beagle333
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Them's pretty!! That oughta put the brakes on your whitetail.

That (checking) is my next project too. I done got ahold of some GC cast ones and I gotta put shoes on em now. It's all fun though. Learning about all the parts of casting and reloading is very interesting.
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Old July 31, 2012, 03:47 PM   #3
Super Sneaky Steve
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Learn from my mistake and give the mold more time before you whack the sprew off. Any bit of smearing will give you a really hard time putting that GC on.
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Old July 31, 2012, 03:57 PM   #4
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Yeah,, there's an art to it. Lots of things come into play, including alloy. I had the devil's own time setting checks on one set of bullets when the alloy had too much linotype. Next time I added some wheelweight and the checks snapped on just like they were designed to do.

I seat my checks by using the Lee push-through sizer. I tumble the bullets in LLA. When they're dry I stick a check on the base, run them through the sizer, which crimps the check in place, then lube them again. I can push them to about 1800 fps with no problem at all.



Good luck with your bullets. They should be very satisfying whitetail medicine.
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Old August 6, 2012, 04:16 PM   #5
Super Sneaky Steve
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Test fired them today. With a 6" Ruger GP100 and 15.5 gains of H110 I got 1301 FPS which is 620 ft/lbs. Very respectable and I could hit the vital areas at 100 meters.

No lead in the barrel after cleaning.
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Old August 7, 2012, 04:46 AM   #6
Mike / Tx
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Steve,

One thing that has been mentioned when using the GC's is to anneal them by setting them on the top of your melt in the pot til they change color. They will then go on a bit easier.

However as mentioned simply trying to get the rhythm of your cut more consistent will help also. I use them on a couple of bigger bullets like the Lee 452-300 and .430-310, and find that there are some which are a pain to get on. I sometimes get them on enough to stay put, then tap them on using the boolit weight against my bench top. Might not be the best way but it works out and I haven't noted any issues with loosing them or accuracy.
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Last edited by Shane Tuttle; August 10, 2012 at 09:11 AM. Reason: bullet
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Old August 7, 2012, 07:07 AM   #7
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As Mike/Tx stated, annealing the gas checks makes working with them a whole lot easier. I dump mine into a two inch diameter, six-inch long iron pipe with caps on the end. During the winter when I have a fire in my fire place, I throw it into the fire. The next morning, when the fire has burned out and cooled, I pull it out of the ashes and remove a the cap and dump them back in their box.
They are not "pretty" anymore, but go on to the bullet bases a whole lot easier. It is worth the extra effort.
Annealing the gas checks has become somewhat of a standard practice for rifle cast lead bullet shooters in the Cast Lead Bullet Association's matches.
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