I was wondering if anyone had used home made gas checks, what they were made of, how well they worked and if they affected accuracy(good or bad)?

A couple months back there was an article in one of the gun rags on this, Basically, they were pretty much a waste of time.

gas checks aren't at all expensive....why go to the trouble to make them?

I've seen them made.....they come out of a punch press about ten a second.

quote:

gas checks aren't at all expensive....why go to the trouble to make them?

Because you can! As far as accuracy goes I have had excellent results with low velocity loads in rifles when using checks made from pop cans and layered up, I have never did much, but some with checks made from shim stock and aluminum flashing, just not enough shooting for a fair comparison. That said I probably have 20000 Hornady, Lyman, Gator checks on hand so they get used most often, but I always have the option to make my own. As with all casting, it takes lots of time, and making your own checks just takes more time.

quote:

Originally posted by swheeler:

quote:

gas checks aren't at all expensive....why go to the trouble to make them?

Because you can!

OK.....that's good enough!

Vapo; always trying to be a step ahead of the libby gun grabbers, if they can't get the guns they'll go after the ammo. That's why I hang on to my guns and my religion, I don't trust the government! I'm sane.

Its not the Government I don't trust but the sociologists that hid under the "liberal" name and state of mind.

I d like them force me to put my name, SSN and all that tracking info on a cast bullet shot out of my 1903A3! Track that!

The only People that are affected by GUN CONTROL are the law abiding "subjects"!
If you want crime in your area to make a huge jump in less then a year, restrict all fire arms and post it in all the newspapers and TV news channels. From there sit back and look in aw when you see that now you have told the criminals everyone is unarmed. You are the only one packing! Who will stop you when you have someone at gun point and the closest person to challenge you is a cop 5 min away?
They could do anything and be gone in that time!

Now for making my own gas checks, it would be nice to be able to be independent of shelling out 30 bucks every time I needed more. Then you have to look at gas and travel time, or shipping and handling! Which is the better deal? One day I will start swaging my own bullets!

quote:

and the closest person to challenge you is a cop 5 min away?

Old saying: "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away!"

James Kain ; Let me know how that works out for You !.

I looked into a stock duplicator a decent one single or dual station job .

I cost between 10-20K'$ a person with a duplicator charges $100-175.00 to rough it out for you .

See where I'm going with this ?. Gas checks are CHEAP to purchase Buy in Bulk from the manufacturer

save the middleman . Casting and swaging your own bullets is cheap enough , especially if you reuse

the lead and continue to cast .

Tools were (and maybe still are) available for making gas checks from aluminum beverage cans (can you think of a better excuse for buying more beer?).

Neco used to supply them, then got out of it for a while but the last I read, they were planning to make them available again.

Anyway, they were sold as"Free-check" tools, though I think it was spelled just a bit differently as a "brand-name" thing.

I have several of their tools, and they work fine just one layer thick. You need a different tool for each major diameter you want to make. If I recall correctly, the tools were not very expensive...somewhere in the $25-$35 range. May be double that now, for all I know.

As to buying in bulk with no middleman, may I ask from whom? For a time Hornady made ALL brands of gas checks sold in America, and I don't recall them ever offering to cut their commercial buyers' throats by selling in bulk direct to the public. They are still the only maker I am personally aware of.

Perhaps things have changed, but again I'd like to ask...buy in bulk from whom?

AC ; Aren't the vast majority of gas checks copper ??.

What size do you require and how many of them do you want per run ?.

I don't do them but know who can . They're not going to set up for K but for 10K they would do a run

I'm sure . If enough guys on this forum and other forums were interested is having say

4-8 different calibers done in sufficient numbers tens of K's . I can get them in a heart beat .

You give me the specs and I'll supply prices and delivery info at zero cost !.

The World is hungry for work do you want them made domestically or foreign produced ??.

quote:

Originally posted by Doc224/375:
AC ; Aren't the vast majority of gas checks copper ??.

!

No, they aren't copper. They are Lubaloy, a "tin/brass alloy" provided in rolls by Olin and sold to Hornady...at least until very recently. I got a shareholders' notice just a few months ago from Olin saying they were going out of the ammo and other related metal businesses (don't recall whether that includes all metals), and concentrating on their much more profitable chlor-alkalai business ventures. Whether Olin will still make or sell Lubaloy for gas checks remains to be seen.

For more info on Lubaloy, look here:

http://materials.globalspec.co...E1-A5E9-94F028D9AD4B

If you don't want to register on the engineering search engine, go here and go to the right hand side of the page. Alloy 425 is Lubaloy:

http://www.metal-mart.com/Guid...pper_Alloy_Guide.htm

Thank You ; Understood .

I have some OLD .44 cal gas checks and they simply say copper I believe they are Hornady .

I will run into the shop and DBL check . They don't say anything other than Gas Checks .44 cal

So they are whatever you tell me the material is . Is that a protected material Lubaloy ?.

Brass, Bronze or Copper Alloy
Specifications ASTM / ASME; B591
Tempers & Finishes ANNEALED, 1/4 HARD, 1/2 HARD, 3/4 HARD, HARD, EX. HD., SPRING, EX. SPR.
Shape / Form Semi-finished, Mill Stock or Near Net Shapes (optional feature); Fabricated Parts or Shapes (Castings, Forgings, Machined Parts, etc.) (optional feature); Hollow Stock (Tube, Pipe, Column) (optional feature); Sheet (optional feature); Strip (optional feature)
Features Wrought; Cold Finished, Rolled or Cold Drawn
Notes Modulus of elasticity: 16000000 psi, density: 0.317 lbs/in³

Found this .

Looks like Olin has an additional adding of Iron and Nickel at a fraction % .1 Fe and .1 Ni

Std. Lubaloy
88 Cu Copper
10 Zn Zinc
2 Sn Tin

Does anyone know the annealed softness or hardness of Gas Checks , I can test them tomorrow if not.

Interesting specs you show. I do not believe them to be accurate unless they are from a recently updated Olin site.

Basically, the trademarked Lubaloy has always been a gilding metal with 5% to 7% (varies) of tin added, not the 2% tin shown in the specs you posted. Olin has a spread sheet of all their alloys which also shows typical uses, but for some reason I can't find it on my "favorites" file right now. The iron and nickel are simply impurities that it is too expensive to get rid of.

AC; I pulled it from here .

http://www.technicalmaterials....etal_prop/brass.html

I haven't the foggiest notion as to the hardness of the gas checks without testing a couple .

I also pulled up additional information from metals materials acquisitions resources .

That is a priority site which requires membership in ACS .

Doc-

I had also gone to ASME and looked it up, but I am becoming convinced the formulation has been changed for some reason.

Back in the '30s through '40s it was definitely 7% tin. Then the next time I looked in about the 50s or 60s, it was shown as 5% tin. Then I looked on Olin's specs spread-sheet about 3 or 4 years ago and it was back shown as varying from 5% to 7%. Now I've seen it a couple of places listed as 2%.

What seems to have changed over the years is the amount of tin and amount of copper, but the amount of zinc appears to have remained constant. I don't know whether that is because the various manufacturers found they could save money on the tin and still meet use requirements, or because they wanted more ductility, but it definitely seems to have evolved away from what it originally was.

Doesn't really matter anyway. It basically isn't copper, but a tin-brass, closely related to products also known as "lubronze".

I would have to agree AC . Not being a metallurgist but rather a Polymer specialist

this is out of my area of expertise . I know a local guy who has a stamp mill and am

pretty certain , one machine could be converted to punch those out . I haven't spoke too him

about anything like that , as I never figured there was much of a need .

And I thank you for your offer to the AR folks here regarding arranging a bulk buy. Personally, I am not interested, as I would rather make my own when and if I need them. But others may wish to take advantage of the possibility, I don't know.

For one thing, having some of the commercial tools at hand, I see how they are designed and I can make my own for any size (diameter or depth) gas checks I may want to experiment with or use regularly.

Secondly, I am not tying up a bunch of space and/or money storing things I may not live to need. Heck, I'm well into my 70s now. (I don't feel the same way about smokeless powder, as I can't make that myself.)

Besides, as alluded to in my first post on this thread, I need the excuse to buy more beer (to get the cans for gas checks, of course). Somehow though, I usually forget and buy the tall bottles, or better yet, good quality European-made Schnapps.

LOL I quit drinking at the age of 25 but at 27 I still have one for weddings and events that are "important" like that. :P But I don't think I will ever fun out of cans to make my checks from due to the fact that my wife to be is addicted to soda! Tell you the truth its most likely the caffeine or sugar or both! Minus well get something back from each can besides 5pennys!

Also being a disabled vet I have so much time to do all these things and the room to do it. Why not! Maybe at some point I would like to start swaging bullets; full copper , half copper bullets and gas checks. Hell I may end up with a hobby that could give me a return! Now only if I could get a shop that was heated! I m tired of doing all my "playing in the reloading room"(as Liz my wife to be says) in weather like we have been having. Its -5*F right now.
(please don't mind my ramblings)