Gas Checks - Hornady vs lyman vs Gator

[Billy G]

I have used Hornady & Gator. I like the crimp on Hornady much better than the mash on Gator . Never used the Lyman . I can't find any 30 cal. Hornady checks but can find Lyman & Gator. I don't want the gator . Lyman cost about $10.00 more than Hornady , but if they are as good I will buy anyway . Anybody have any thoughts on the Hornady vs Lyman.

 

[Rick]

I could be wrong, but I think Hornady is making the Lyman checks. Read that somewhere a while back.

 

[Billy G]

I hope you are correct. I had to pull some bullets recently. part had Hornady & part had Gator. Most of the Gator checks stayed in the case necks. I H-T coat my bullets prior to seating checks. I noticed the Gator checks had dug into the coating & pushed it up to the rear driving band . the Hornady checks don't do that.

 

[RicinYakima]

Lyman quit making their own gas checks about 40 years ago. They were for the tapered shanked bullets. When they changed to straight sided shanks, they had Hornady make theirs also. The old ones are valued by those of use who still have the old style bullet moulds.

 

[Billy G]

Try the Gators, I have a couple of Lee molds that have tapered shanks & Gators work fine on them.

 

[BudHyett]

Mike Mohler won the 2006 CBA National Matches shooting a .243 Winchester. At that time, I was campaigning a 6mm BR in Long Range Handgun. We talked of the shortage of 6mm gas checks. He stated his experimentation with gas checks showed no difference between the Hornady tapered shank and the Lyman straight shank gas checks, to use what you could find. His added his wife was shooting a 6mm BR Heavy Rifle that shot better with the Lyman straight shank bullet.

 

[Tomme boy]

you have to make sure WHICH checks you are getting from sage. One is a gator and the other is his he makes. Gator is a crimp on. Sages is a slip on. And there is a price difference between the two also. Gator are more $$$$

 

[JonB]

Lyman quit making their own gas checks about 40 years ago. They were for the tapered shanked bullets. When they changed to straight sided shanks, they had Hornady make theirs also. The old ones are valued by those of use who still have the old style bullet moulds.

I've never heard anyone say this out loud. It's been whispered to me...and I was sure happy to learn that, because the vintage Ideal checks I scrounge at gunshows, sure do seat nicely on bullets cast from my old Ideal molds.

 

[dale2242]

I use both Hornady and Sage.
I see no difference in their performance.
I no longer use the Lyman since I had them come off and hit the face of my Chrony.

 

[Billy G]

The Hornady kind of snaps on & the Gator feels like it just mashes on , on a straight shank . Are Sage like the Hornady or the Gator.

 

[STIHL]

Hornady checks are a little nicer in finish, but sage checks slip right on just like the hornadys. Until I PC then they are all a PITA!

I prefer the Hornady checks, but for the price sage makes a nice check.

 

[RicinYakima]

Try the Gators, I have a couple of Lee molds that have tapered shanks & Gators work fine on them.

They are my back up when I have shot up the 2,000 or so I have left.

 

[Billy G]

you have to make sure WHICH checks you are getting from sage. One is a gator and the other is his he makes. Gator is a crimp on. Sages is a slip on. And there is a price difference between the two also. Gator are more $$$$

I think you mite be wrong about Gator being crimp on. It feels like it just a friction fit. Hornady has a lip inside at the top that crimps into the shank where gas check goes when ran through sizer. Gator is smooth inside.

 

[STIHL]

I understand what your asking now. No the sage doesn’t have the lip inside like the hornady does.
The sage does crimp on nicely and doenst come off easily, but may slip off if you have to pull a round down.

 

[Elpatoloco]

I've used gas checks from Sage for many years. I've never had one come off. Hell, they even stay on when penetrating a deer length wise.
Maybe all my slugs have FAT shanks.

 

[Reloader762]

I started shooting the Gator checks back when you could buy them for $8 a K, now they're $29 a K, glad I bought a bunch when they were cheap or cheaper. To my knowledge never had one come off shooting but if the fit is tight they will come off in the case neck when pulling bullets which I only have to do on a rare occasion.

Sage's in house, 30 cal. checks.

.30 / 7.62 mm Caliber .017 Copper Gas Checks

Sage's Outdoors .017 copper gas checks for .308 or 7.62 cast bullets.

www.sagesoutdoors.com

Gator 30 cal. checks.

.30 / 7.62 mm Caliber Gator Gas Checks

Gator brand gas checks for .308 or 7.62 cast bullets.

www.sagesoutdoors.com

 

[Reloader762]

Hornady checks are a little nicer in finish, but sage checks slip right on just like the hornadys. Until I PC then they are all a PITA!

I prefer the Hornady checks, but for the price sage makes a nice check.

Most of my bullets are fairly easy to put the gas checks on even after powder coating, but I do have a couple that are a PITA. For those, I just started applying the checks first and powder coating over them.

 

[STIHL]

@Reloader762 thats what I’m going to have to do with a couple of my molds. They way I do my PC comes out a little thick at times and gives me too much DIAmeter on the shank. Live and learn. Going to start checking these before I PC works much better. Some of my old tapered shank molds I can PC and they go on without issue.

 

[Winelover]

Over the years, I've used Hornady, Gator and Sage's checks without issues. I recover my bullets from my river sand berm. Most checked bullets still have the checks intact. Pulled these out of the last batch, recovered from the berm.



The first recovered bullet is RCBS 240 CG, cast over thirty years ago. Has a Hornady check, because that's all I used back then. Shot from a S&W 3" Model 24 using WW alloy.

The second is a 30 caliber rifle bullet with a Gator check......alloy was three parts pure to one part linotype.

Third is a MP 250 HP with a Sage's check. I switched to Sage's before obtaining this mold. This particular mold drops a bullet with a smaller/looser shank. This bullet was shot out of my Marlin 1894 and cast from 20-1 alloy. Still retained the gas check.

 

[JonB]

IMHO, this gas check variance is more about the bullet and mold. When you find a GC that properly fits a bullet, it's gonna stay on whether it has a hornady edge or teeth like a gator. With the many molds I'd had over the years, there have been a few I've struggled with, either finding a GC that fits, or reforming the check, or annealing it, or just learning a technique to cast the bullet so the shank is a wee bit smaller to fit the GC I wanted to use.
.
Then there is the mold that was cut incorrectly, ie, I've bought 4 different NOE mold designs for fat 6.5mm, 3 of them had different shank sizes. My biggest struggle with them, was a standard 6.5 was too small to size .269 or .270 I've had about a dozen samples made by two different small time manufacturers ...different material thicknesses and formed with different dies. Two of those molds would work with one GC and the other two molds struggled with two different samples...most of the samples wouldn't work at all.