Gas Check

[akinswi]

I was watching a video last night on youtube of a gentleman cloning buffalo bores 180 grain Hardcast load for 357 magnum.

Some interesting things I noticed in the video is that he thought the powder they were using was 15.8 grains of lil gun. and the 180 grain bullet had a gas check.

I never did understand the concept of trying to guess powders by how they look , I know some are drastically different than others. But I thought it was interesting.
In the video it looked like H110 to me but im not a visual powder expert

Also At what point would you use a gas check in a revolver. Is there a certain threshold?

Here is the video

https://youtu.be/imcKcKxI6DU

 

[reddog81]

I use gas checks in rifles when going over 1,500 FPS. For revolvers I have a few molds with a gas check shank. If using a bullet from those molds I use a gas check. Is it necessary? I'm not sure but it doesn't hurt and they aren't terribly expensive. For full strength .357 loads a gas check probably isn't a bad idea.

 

[Shadow9mm]

watched this video and tried it probably a year back, Here's the thread, check post #34 for the results. While I duplicated his process, I opted not to go the 0.8 over max, and i was unable to duplicate the results, velocities were low, and I do not believe could be achieved with the extra 0.8g
https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=613068

from my research, with traditionally lubed bullets, gas checks are recommended above 1200fps.

As far as powder coated bullets with no gas checks, I have heard around 1400-1600fps give or take before you start needing gas checks.

and in rifles, even with powder coated, gas checked bullets, 2,000-2,200 is about as fast as you can push them before groups start opening up and weird stuff starts to happen.

 

[44 AMP]

I'd say you were watching a video of someone attempting to replicate Buffalo Bore's ammo without knowing what was in it.

NOT a smart idea.

Determining what a powder is from looking at it is a barking STUPID thing to do. ALL looking at it will tell you is what it looks like, its physical appearance and gives you NO indication of what its chemical properties are.

NONE.

Just assuming what a powder is based on what it looks like can be extremely dangerous. If some idiot on UTube does it and manages to avoid damage or injury, I'd say he's lucky, NOT SMART.

Gas checks are for use when the base of the bullet gets deformed (melted) due to heat and pressure. This usually happens when you get to the higher end of the usable velocity range of cast bullets, but can happen before that, depending on the alloy composition of the bullet and the specifics of the powder used.

 

[HiBC]

I agree, visual,id of the powder is ridiculous. Its only for idiots.
If they did accidently ID the correct powder ,at this point guessed LilGun,there was a recent,now closed thread about LilGun and gas cutting in 357 Magnum revolvers .

Seems like that road heads into the swamp.