Lee Loader

Has anyone here ever tried ( or accomplished) the reaming out of a gas check shank in a mold?
I have an NOE 7x57MM bore rider mold that the gas check shank (as cast with my alloy) is about 3 thousandths smaller than I like.
The Gas checks seat and look good but can be removed with a thumbnail and some pressure.
I would like them to be a tad tighter and was considering honing out the gas check portion a couple of thousandths but did not want to start without asking if anyone else had done it and how it worked out.

Any reply (good or bad) appreciated.



beekeeper

beekeeper wrote:Has anyone here ever tried ( or accomplished) the reaming out of a gas check shank in a mold?
I have an NOE 7x57MM bore rider mold that the gas check shank (as cast with my alloy) is about 3 thousandths smaller than I like.
The Gas checks seat and look good but can be removed with a thumbnail and some pressure.
I would like them to be a tad tighter and was considering honing out the gas check portion a couple of thousandths but did not want to start without asking if anyone else had done it and how it worked out.

Any reply (good or bad) appreciated.

I've done it with a drill press and appropriate reamer on aluminum mold. You are dealing with a measurement that is .0010", so be careful as .0015" could mean that the check not fit at all. Also, I was working with a known measurement say, .310, and wanting to take it to .311". I bought my reamers through Atlas.

I was thinking about using a round whett stone to do the job.
Using a set of vernier calipers to watch the size.
Doing it by hand seems the best way for me but I was worried about getting it out of round.
Did not know if or how much that would hurt the bullet.

My thought was if it was a small amount out of round it would be sized to correct size when the gas check was run through the sizing die.
It only needs to be enough to get a little better grip.


beekeeper

I thought about using the lemmenting procedure and only putting the lapping compound on the gas check area.
Using barkeepers friend and a little oil should be about as fine as you can get and hopefully should work.

what do you think?


beekeeper

beekeeper wrote:I thought about using the lemmenting procedure and only putting the lapping compound on the gas check area.
Using barkeepers friend and a little oil should be about as fine as you can get and hopefully should work.

what do you think?

Give it a shot, a little goes a long way and the only way you can test it is to recast so buckle down for the long run.

beekeeper wrote:I thought about using the lemmenting procedure and only putting the lapping compound on the gas check area.
Using barkeepers friend and a little oil should be about as fine as you can get and hopefully should work.

what do you think?


beekeeper

That is what I would try but What RD suggested with the reamer is probably the best way to go.

If the check is loose, what I try first is running the bullet backwards through the Lee sizer (base first).