Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Gas Checks

Kinda new to loading cast bullets. Have done my rifle ammo since I was a youngin', But I want to try some cast .45LC, what constitutes the need for gas checks? Any help?

Sorry meant for reloading forum

A tight forcing cone, a cobby barrel might need gas checks. In most handguns they keep leading down. That leading is caused by an issue with the gun, or fitting, more than anything.

I currently load for 4 45 Colts and do not use gas checks in any of them out of any need.

Thanks HawkI, any suggestions on moulds. Mostly for plinkin' and some huntin, and God forbid, maybe home D. I was thinking about a hollow point mould. What are pro's and con's HP, RN, SW ? Once again this should be in the reloading section , but since I have your attention......

For the .45 Colt, I simply don't see the need for a hollow point mould. Particularly, with a heavy semi-wadcutter. Even with hard cast, the bullet is going to deform with most contact and certainly with any bone contact. A big heavy semi-wadcutter moving along at 900fps is about as good as it gets for home defense and deer will decide to lay down and die with a good double lung shot.

The RCBS-270-SAA is a good commercial one. Cast from plain old wheelweights.

I agree with Dan on the hollowpoint.

Completely agree

Thanks men, that opens my selection of molds.

the problem, such as it is, with the .45colt is cyclinder/bore diameters.
Depending on who made it and when, they can be all over the place.
I have a smith 25-5 that a .451 sized bullet drops right through the cyclinder. Cast to .454, it works quite well. So first answer is to slug it and find out what you have, or figure out another way to determine it.
Most .45 colt revolvers are not condusive to those hot ruger only loads, and straight wheelweight work mighty fine, and not real hard cast tend to shoot better anyway until you get to the higher velocities, mostly which you aren't going to do in a .45colt anyway.
I have gotten in the practice of adding a little lynotype or lead free solder, to harden up my cast bullets, for among other reasons they fill out the mould better, and make "crisper" bullets. I have checked the BRN hardness, and i am only running to the hardness of the old lyman no 2. By the way, moulds are set for lyman no 2 generally, which is the reason why the mentioned 270 rcbs mould throws wheelweight to about 281.
I have heard it said you should set hardness in the lead to the velocity you are running. In that case, since 45 colt is lower velocity, generally not pushing 1000fps wheelweights work just fine. No gas checks needed.
as to moulds, being a pagan i use rcbs lyman, custom made, lee, you name it. Lee makes inexpensive moulds and i think they work just fine.
as to the hollowpoint, let me put it this way. I do have the scovill designed rcbs 270saa, and love that bullet. But i also throught the cast bullet forum, obtained a mould made in europe in the same style bullet but i have the ability to make a pentad shaped hollowpoint in the saa bullet. Fired out of a six inch smith 25-5 at about 1000fps, it went through at least four inches of a phone book, and opened up to about .95, using my micrometer on the recovered bullet. I really need to post a picture of that mass of lead on here.
I can see applications for it, which is the reason it's in the four inch version now.
and also the reason why i bought similar moulds for .41caliber and 10mm/.40s&w.
I think if i get drawn again this year for elk, i am going to take a long barreled smith .45colt with that 270saa along. Probably in the solid bullet.
This year was my first experience with killing a elk with a handgun. I hit her in the head with a 210grain golddot out of a .41 mag, probably from memory doing about 1400fps. It hit her so hard that her eyes bulged out, and smoke was coming out of her nose. Instant lights out.

if you want something that just flat LOOKS nasty, get some gold dots for .45colt. I think you could stick your finger into the end of one of them.

What is a gas check for? 99% of shooters think it is to protect the base of a boolit from heat.
What it does is to stop skid as the boolit takes the force of spin and keep rifling marks the same size as the barrel with no gaps for gas to shoot through. See it? GAS CHECK. Hard concept isn't it?
A PB will shoot OK at low speeds but as you increase velocity they skid so they need to be harder and believe it or not, a fast powder with initial full pressure needs harder then a slow powder.
When do you need a GC? When the base band is showing larger rifling marks then the barrel has.
I have taken PB boolits to 55,000 psi in the .454 with accuracy and no leading just because of the alloy.
Many say to soften to "OBTURATE", others say lube will seal but both are wrong. The base band is your only seal to gas.
The proper alloy with a PB can take enormous pressure.

Yep, although obturation can and does create a seal, rotational forces, if too soft, will destroy it if pushed with too much pressure, like faster powders do.

Its also why I mentioned a cobby barrel and a barrel with irregular loose spots and constrictions needing one. Gas checks help keep leading "in check" when a hard alloy does not conform to these anomalies.

Cast likes a bullet to fill the throat; the throat should be the largest dimension the bullet encounters and the smallest dimension should be the muzzle; a long, tapered seal, with zero distortion.

Very true, no distortion of the boolit at all. It is hard to explain how slump is wrong.
A bad barrel is rare. It happens and then you have a problem.

Undersized throats are usually the main reason for a handgun not liking cast, but forcing cone constriction is also not uncommon in older guns.

Yes, Ruger made threads a tight fit but power lapping would fix it.