Question for the Experts

[AnthonyB]

Question: Should I lube the section of the gas check shank in front of the gas check or leave it empty so the gas check can scrape the bore clean and have a place to deposit debris?
Tony

[45-70 Chevroner]

You can't avoid lubing that area of the boolit as the lube will automaticly lube any grove below the depth that you set you lube sizer at for the bullet you are lubing. The lubrisizer will have to be adjusted each time you set up to do different length boolits.

[AnthonyB]

Chevroner; I use a Star and can avoid lubing the upper part of the GC shank; I'm just wondering whether I should.
Tony

[lwknight]

I'm no expert but , I think it don't matter.

[btroj]

I just lube it. If it is going to scrape, it is going to scrape.
I just don't see a purpose of over thinking things. If it does make a difference is it enough to be of importance to your use?
Me? I like simple. I am not a bench shooter so a fraction of an inch does not matter to me. But I also don't own a casting thermometer, a hardness tester, and dont weight bullets. But somehow I manage to kill a deer each year. Go figure.

[HORNET]

Anything that the gas check scrapes off is just going to push the lube out of the groove onto the surface of the barrel, which is where you want it anyways...

[45-70 Chevroner]

AnthonyB: I've never used a Star, they are a little out of my price range, I've heard very good things about them though. I really don't think it is important to keep the lube out of the GC grove. If your boolit is sized correctly for your barrel and the boolit is the correct hardness you probably won't have any leading. I shoot a lot of WW with a little tin and air cooled and have never had any serious leading. I also shoot a lot of plain base boolits allbeit a little slower than GC boolits with no leading issues.

[45-70 Chevroner]

Oh and by the way I don't think any of us would claim fame to being experts, there are only those that have a lot more experience than others. I have been doing this casting thing for over 35 years and I still learn someting here on this great web site almost every day.

[old turtle]

45-70 +1 for you. Your comments make a great deal of sense.

[1Shirt]

Have always liked the broken down yankee defination of EXPERT!
EX=Hasbeen
sPERT=Drip under pressure.
Don't think there are any experts on this forum that fall under that catagory. What there are however are a lot of very serious casters/loaders/shooters, with a vast amount of experiance, and a willingness to share that experiance with others. As to the original question of lube in front of the gas check, "eh", to me, the more lube the better. Would really like it if a lot of lube grooves on a lot of cast were deeper to hold more lube. Just my opinion however!
1Shirt!

[45-70 Chevroner]

Thanks Turtle.
+ 1 for 1Shirt, by the way do you need some help with some cloths, Ive got a lot of shirts that I don't wear any more. I wear 2XLL. Ha Ha.
I do know a guy that must not have but one set of cloths as he always wears the very same thing every day including his hat. I do know that his wife makes (sews) all of his cloths including his shirts, hats and blue jeans and vests. The hats she makes have a ball cap type bill front and back. He must have at least 5 or 6 sets of the same outfit. I have never seen him wear anything else. A really nice guy though. I used to shoot with him a lot but I now live about 225 miles away.

[Char-Gar]

No expert here, but I have lubed the gas check shank ahead of the check for many years and have never given it any thought. I doubt lube there would have any effect on whatever scraping the check may or may not have.

[Maven]

Tony, I'd try ~25 with v. ~25 w/out lube in that area, thoroughly wiping the bore between trials. If I were truly scientifc about this, I'd also weigh the patches for each trial before and after cleaning to see if lubing v. not lubing made a significant difference.

[Von Gruff]

You can't avoid lubing that area of the boolit as the lube will automaticly lube any grove below the depth that you set you lube sizer at for the bullet you are lubing. The lubrisizer will have to be adjusted each time you set up to do different length boolits.

I found an easier way than adjusting the depth on my lubrisizer every time I wanted to change from deep set for lubing deep my boolits to shallow set for nose sizing just the first 1/4 inch for "fit".

I set the lubrisizer for the deepest I need and set the lock nut, then drilled a 3/8 hole through the primer pocket of some 44 spc cases and cut them lengthways to take a section out of the side so they would sit on the locknut and partially surround the adjusting stem. Cut them to various lengths to suit the depth I needed for a particular sizing job and leave that case with the die and top punch in a small plastic jar. A dab of lube on the stem and it is a simple matter to change the die, top punch, and put the case on the locknut against the stem and everything is set to go without the agravation of winding the adjusting screw and making multiple tries to get it all set for that particular need. I have a heat gun in the gun room and always give the die and die lock nut a blast of heat to warm the lube and make the nut easier and more accurately set onto the thread. It also takes less pressure to screw down firm without the lube confusing the "feel" and dimishes the potential for cross threading and or striping by overtightening.

Von Gruff.

[runfiverun]

i like to use the minimum amount of lube i can get away with.
sometimes that means only lubing that area above the gas check.
usually i only fill the lube groove[s] and let it go at that.
if things are right the check shouldn't be scraping anything.
it should be protecting the base of the boolit,and helping prevent skidding.
if i am pushing the boolit hard i fill the area in front of the gas check to help with the sealing, and to help strengthen that area.
it also adds weight back there.
so iguess my answer is, try it, see if it helps or not.

[Bass Ackward]

I've ran testing. And you know what some folks think of my testing, so take it for what it's worth.

From my tests, the answer is it depends.

If the bullet hardness exceeds the pressure, you can do it. Many folks just tumble lube the surface area and leave it blank. Or they shoot a design without the check. No check, no lube right?

But, " IF " you need this lube for lubrication, or for the more critcal use of strengthening the bullet because your pressure DOES exceed the hardness strength, (ain't that why you use a check in the first place?) then it better be there.

[AnthonyB]

Fellas:
Thanks for the thoughts. I have always put lube there, but sized 100 RCBS 35-200 FN last night and didn't bother to drill out the shot to open another layer of lube holes (die was last used on a 358429). Managed to lube the groove with no trouble, but the bare spot above the GC made me wonder.
I may try Maven's testing idea this summer, but suspect I'm not good enough to tell the difference.
Tony