loademwell
New member
When and where do you want to gas check? Do I want to do it on all of my lead? Or just the rifle ones?
To gas check or not to gas check
- Thread starter loademwell
- Start date
Try this for starters.
6 pages with a LOT of information on gas checks
That will give you a great place to learn which questions you want to ask. There are just way too many answers to "When do I need a gas check?".
There are lots of ways to push a bullet fast without a check, as well.
Some of those are mentioned in that thread. It helped me a lot!
6 pages with a LOT of information on gas checks
That will give you a great place to learn which questions you want to ask. There are just way too many answers to "When do I need a gas check?".
There are lots of ways to push a bullet fast without a check, as well.
Some of those are mentioned in that thread. It helped me a lot!
AlaskaMike
New member
If you get 20 replies here, 8 of them will say you need gas checks for any cast bullet in any application. Another 8 will say you don't need them at all, and the remaining 4 will be somewhere in between.
Here's my $0.02: I use gas check designs when I shoot cast bullets from rifles. None of my handguns require gas check bullets, and my magnum loads (.357 mag, .44 mag) push cast bullets at 1350+ fps with excellent accuracy and little to no leading.
You may find that you need gas check bullets in some of your guns, but ultimately you'll just need to do some experimentation. Try the plain base bullets first and see how they work. Compare with some gas check bullets, and then decide which works better for you.
Here's my $0.02: I use gas check designs when I shoot cast bullets from rifles. None of my handguns require gas check bullets, and my magnum loads (.357 mag, .44 mag) push cast bullets at 1350+ fps with excellent accuracy and little to no leading.
You may find that you need gas check bullets in some of your guns, but ultimately you'll just need to do some experimentation. Try the plain base bullets first and see how they work. Compare with some gas check bullets, and then decide which works better for you.
chris in va
New member
Pretty much anything over 1400fps. I gas check for my 7.62x39 for example.
I check most of my rifle loads and I get great accuracy with a 358156 lyman out of my N frame Smith. Not only does a gas check help reduce leading it also gives a nice base to the bullet. So it can increase accuracy and reduce leading all things being equal. Having said that, most of my reloads use plain base bullets
Sure Shot Mc Gee
New member
When I first got into gas checking. Anything 1000-fps and above pistol or rifle was the suggested speed to start considering the use of G/Cs. Since that time many business casters have entered the market place and have devised ways to increase their bullets BHN {hardness factor} which helps to reduce the chance of leading seen in a barrel without the use of G/checks.
Since I cast my own bullets and I don't bother to make specific bullet hardened alloys anymore. These days everything gets gas checked whether it needs it or not. Its just so much easier not having to worry if your bare bullet is leading your barrel or not to simply G/C it before hand. A penny or two for a Check is good insurance knowing I/you won't have to deal with a leaded streaked barrel >ever.
Since I cast my own bullets and I don't bother to make specific bullet hardened alloys anymore. These days everything gets gas checked whether it needs it or not. Its just so much easier not having to worry if your bare bullet is leading your barrel or not to simply G/C it before hand. A penny or two for a Check is good insurance knowing I/you won't have to deal with a leaded streaked barrel >ever.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned you just can't apply a STANDARD gas check to a bullet unless it's designed to take one. That means it HAS to have the rebated base to accept the check.
Now, there's a homemade gas check maker that fits like a reloading die in your press. One is called free checks, the other I can't recall. They both make checks out of sheet copper, popcans, roof flashing, or shim stock.
In the case of pop can alum. it's thin enough to be applied over the base of a plain base bullet. The bullet is sized first, then the check is applied. It swages a small amount of lead out-of-the-way on the base.
Those alum. checks have been shown to work quite well. I haven't got one yet, may never get one, but there's that option.
Hornady gas checks are expensive. The cheapest I found on midway's site is $27.49/K, those were .223 caliber, 35 caliber are $42.49/K That makes every .357 bullet cost 4.3 cents just for the GC!!!
Now, there's a homemade gas check maker that fits like a reloading die in your press. One is called free checks, the other I can't recall. They both make checks out of sheet copper, popcans, roof flashing, or shim stock.
In the case of pop can alum. it's thin enough to be applied over the base of a plain base bullet. The bullet is sized first, then the check is applied. It swages a small amount of lead out-of-the-way on the base.
Those alum. checks have been shown to work quite well. I haven't got one yet, may never get one, but there's that option.
Hornady gas checks are expensive. The cheapest I found on midway's site is $27.49/K, those were .223 caliber, 35 caliber are $42.49/K That makes every .357 bullet cost 4.3 cents just for the GC!!!
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