Gas Check Boolit Loaded W/O the GC ?? Any Problems ???

Boolit Mold Join DateDec 2012Locationnorthern californiaPosts17

New to casting and was just wondering what would happen if a GC boolit was loaded up with out the gas check ?? I have a half dozen moulds on order thru the GB program .. With zero experience casting boolits I decided to jump into the mould collecting addiction and am now wondering if that was a prudent idea .. The more I learn from you folks the more I realize how little I know about not just casting but reloading in general .. I joined the forum a few months ago and have spent most of my free time browsing the threads and suckin up knowledge .. Thanks to the people that contribute to this forum .. You folks have taken shooting from a hobbie to a science !! My first 2 moulds arrived from NOE and I must say there were exactly as many of you folks had described them " A work of art " I quickly added my handle to 6 more GB's mostly with GC" mould requested because I plan to push the boolits hard but then I scanned the list and found more people with PB requests than GC .. I guess Dirty Harry was right " A mans got to know his limitations" Thanks Coltman

Welcome coltman

I asked the exact same question a few weeks ago. I tried pretty hard to get some 30 cal Lee GC boolits to work without the GC. Others with more experience and skill might have been able to make it work, but i ran into inaccuracy at low velocity then light leading at higher vel. When i adjusted the boolit diameter the leading reduced but accuracy got no better.

Then i tried a range of velocities with good fitting boolits and GC installed. With all other factors held constant (diameter, powder charge, lube, alloy) the GC helped every load improve accuracy. I cant explain it, maybe someone else can. I suspect that some moulds designed for GC will work better sans GC than others. Maybe wrong there. I was shooting Lee boolits exclusively and most of the testing was with 30-30 and 7.62x39.

The only load i was remotely happy with was about 8 gr unique behind a 150 gr in my marlin 30-30, leaving the GC off. Very light. But even that load shot better with GC.

If I were to take a stab at guessing how many boolits designed for GC are fired with total satisfaction without the check installed I would put it at about half.
I would add that it is by casters/loaders that are well up in the learning curve not beginners.
Think about how accurate 22 LF RF are and how similer the base of a gas check type boolit is without the check to a heeled boolit design.
I also base my 50% guess on my own shooting of GC type boolits w/o the check.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I will be offering the GC seater plate for the lyman 45.
Also I have replacement springs for the Lyman 45 lubesizer, If your's is weak or missing, let me know

Cant be done!

Where there is a will, there is a won't

Pay particular attention to post #7 by Bret4207 . He's put a lot of thought and effort into it.

I'm particularly interested in this thread as I don't want to use gas checks. The point that the gas check protects the boolit base, keeping it square is probably the most important aspect. Something not mentioned by Bret is trailing edge feathering or distortion. A plain base boolit will suffer trailing edge failure at a certain point, however, a GC design boolit is going to suffer other deformations as well so one can expect a plain base to perform higher than GC boolit without the gas check.

As for gas sealing, I would say yes but I've had gas cutting with a gas check. I've also had a plain base hard cast boolit suffering gas erosion down the grooves, leaving the land impressions sort of higher than the groove impression! But no skidding. A softer boolit did not do that and shot better. That was a 44 mag revolver. I've also experienced 357 mag plain base shooting very well in a rifle. The only experience I've had with GC boolits with and without the gas check were 224's in a 223 and a hornet. In the 223 I tried without the gas check working up and found the accuracy to drop off at around the sonic level while with gas check accuracy levels were considerably higher. I use the term 'accuracy' loosely here. These boolits never gave stellar accuracy for me but then again the castings were not good. They were from a RCBS 22-55 FN mold. In the hornet if I call, I shot them with gas check and accuracy was also iffy but I did get them on paper but I don't remember whether that was at 100 or 200 meters. If I could cast decently with that mold I would try them again in the hornet without the gas checks. Now days I like to use a filler which I believe acts as a gas check and the hornet is an ideal case for such loads.

I've done a fair amount of 'test tube' firing in which I can examine the boolit bases and that's quite revealing. I can't do anything for check-less boolits right now as I don't have any. I could mimic a GC design for the purposes of testing but probably not today. For starters, my 'test tube' is now outside and the neighbours would hear the shots - not as a muzzle blast but as a clang and thump as the metal parts jump - so I'd be loath to test full power loads just yet.

Just another point - all my testing is with smooth sided boolits which can take higher pressure and velocity because they don't have narrowed lube grooves and have full length rifling engagement.

Regards
303Guy

?It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them!? Nietzsche

Nice link! I get too stuck searching sub forums sometimes and forget about the classics and stickies. Thanks!

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Abbreviations used in Reloading
Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt"

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