guys I have 44mag,45acp,going to buy a 40 soon . MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME .looking to load none jacked rounds for range .never used these before any suggestion .o yea what the hell are gas checks needed ?thanks any help would save me reading time .safety first

gas checks are for high speed "hot" loads, mostly in rifles.

With the .45 acp you definately don't need gas checks.

For really fast/heavy .44 magnum loads you might want gas checks if you don't have really hard lead alloy bullets.

Don't know about the .40 but I suspect it would be fine without gas checks too unless you're able to push 1400 fps or faster (I know absolutely nothing about a .40 and I'm too old to learn).

I agree 100% with M1A4ME.

Pick up a Lyman reloading manual, lots of lead bullet reloading data there.

You can always try the on line loading data also.

Top of the page for the links.

Gas check seen on the RCBS 124gr RNL bullet sitting beside the 9mm cartridge.  I use gas check (bullet is cut for them via the mold) as I like to "gas" these up... book load of AA-#7 leaves my Uzi barrel @ 1338 fps avg.

All the 45acp seen is plain wheel weight, as is the 9mm.

If you decide to use the LaserCast bullet, I've loaded for my GP100 up to 1600fps with no signs of leading. This wasn't the best group, which was back at 1500, but these pricey bullets shoot clean.