.30 cal. Aluminum Gas Checks.

[Ben]

These are .014" thick Amerimax Alum. gas checks.

I made these in 20 minutes today with Charlie's FC III tool and my 1 ton arbor press .

Ben

 

[Josh]

The only thing I use, I automated my press and can crank out about 3k an hour. Those Freechex tools are great, I have it so the finished product drops into the correct drawer.

About 3 hours of watching the press:



But do they stay on the bullet? Yup, they do:

 

[Ben]

Josh,

You're way out ahead of me with your production volume !
That's impressive.

Ben

 

[35 shooter]

This is making me feel out of step with the times lol.
I'm still using one of Charlies hammer tools.

May be time to upgrade to an arbor. Those are great looking checks you guys are turning out.

 

[Ben]

If there is an accuracy edge with Hornady checks, I'm not a good enough shot to detect it.

Ben

 

[35 shooter]

Ben,

Commercial checks would be hard pressed to beat the groups you shoot with your al. checks.

After a lot of group testing in my whelen 2 years ago, it became obvious my homeade al. checks were definitely beating the hornady checks.

 

[fiver]

i'll attest to the ones Josh showed.,,
I have been using the copper ones I got from him on some pretty high velocity 30 cal rounds and the aluminum ones are just about perfect as possible on the 31 cal rifle molds.
they slide into place like butter and size into place smoothly.

 

[Josh]

i'll attest to the ones Josh showed.,,
I have been using the copper ones I got from him on some pretty high velocity 30 cal rounds and the aluminum ones are just about perfect as possible on the 31 cal rifle molds.
they slide into place like butter and size into place smoothly.

Thanks Fiver! I think I have over half of a coffee can left of those 30 cal copper checks, I have been using Aluminum, let me know if you are running low.

 

[fiver]

I'm still doing good on the 30's
I'd have to look but off the top of my head I have something like 20-25 K of them.
somehow I ended up with something like 50+K 30 cal gas checks a couple of years back.
i have a few paper type boxes of 7mm ideal slip on gas checks marked like 3.19 per box and 2 Tins of 348 win. checks I forgot I had.
I haven't had a model 71 in, god I dunno how long now,, since before I bought the Browning 86 anyway.

going through every thing and moving it around from place to place from time to time has it's advantages.

 

[Glen]

A friend of mine is convinced that Al GCs, when pushed to high velocities (>2000 fps) will leave behind fouling in the barrel, and ruin accuracy. Have you guys ever seen anything like this? The only accuracy testing I've done with Al GCs has been in the 1500-1900 fps range, and I could detect no difference whatsoever between the Cu and Al GCs. I have some .30 caliber Al GCs, and have planned to do a comparison between Cu and Al using a Husqvarna .30-06 (1 in 12" twist) and a pet load at 2150 fps, but that project is a little ways down on the "Things To Do" list. It seems that you guys like Al GCs, what about at higher velocities?

 

[Ben]

Glen,

35 shooter has shot his Whelen at 2,500 fps + with AL checks. No problems for him.

Ben

 

[Ian]

The only experience I have with Al gas checks is from a batch of .30 caliber ones Josh sent me to try out a couple of years ago. I had zero issues with fouling, even at very high velocity (I use a good lube), but apples-to-apples accuracy fell off a full 100 to 125 fps below the point where the loads using Hornady checks lost consistency (for whatever reason, probably not the Hornady checks that were the problem, could be that I was crowding 2700 fps in a 12-twist .30 caliber). So I'm going to say "almost" as good as Hornady checks. Not bad at all, and no side effects that I could tell.

I ended up shooting the rest of the sample batch in a couple of other rifles which had less than stellar factory barrels and if there was any fouling from the checks left behind, it didn't adhere more tightly than a solvent-dampened patch would shake loose.

 

[35 shooter]

I've used al. checks exclusively for a couple of years now in my 35 whelen with loads from mild to wild. Bore is just as bright and clean as when i used copper checks.
I've never seen so much as a hint of al. fouling before or after cleaning the bbl., nor copper fouling from copper checks for that matter.

 

[Rick]

I have no idea if Aluminum checks would/could foul a bore because I have never used them but here is something for the grey matter to chew on . . . How difficult might it be to see aluminum fouling in a bore? Seems it would be pretty close to the same color looking into a bore as the bore itself.

.

 

[Ian]

Most of my bores have bluing in them, it would be easy to see if it were close enough to the muzzle or breech to notice without a bore scope.

Funny thing about getting a new gun or barrel and only running cast through it, the bluing takes many years to wear off.

 

[Glen]

Thanks for your comments gentlemen.

 

[KHornet]

My old stand by saying applies to the individual and his supply and demand of whatever: "If it works, don't fix it". Probably doesn't apply to everyone.

 

[yodogsandman]

I'm still scared to use aluminum gas checks in my bores. What solvent removes aluminum from your bore? I know what takes out copper fouling! What about aluminum oxides forming on the checks over time. Aluminum oxide is a great material for abrasives. Is the aluminum some how coated to prevent oxidizing?

 

[Ian]

Do you get copper fouling from copper gas checks? I doubt it. The difference is the lube. Al oxide on checks may be hard but isn't necessarily abrasive. Think TiN or NiBx.

 

[fiver]

heck just think tin or antimony.