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Posted: 7/24/2009 7:11:14 AM EDT
| I'm shopping for a headspace gage, Lyman, Wilson, RCBS etc. Probably will order from Midway. I already have a Brown & Sharpe dial caliper. Any suggestions on ease of use, accuracy, cost? Thanks |
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Quoted:
I'm shopping for a headspace gage, Lyman, Wilson, RCBS etc. Probably will order from Midway. I already have a Brown & Sharpe dial caliper. Any suggestions on ease of use, accuracy, cost? Thanks Actual headspace gauges or case gauges? Headspace gauges are precision steel tools used to check the headspace of a gun, and a 'go' and 'no go' are the minimum set. Case gauges to measure shoulder length are not a "headspace gage." |
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Quoted:
Ah yes, they are different.
Once again I did not make my requesst clear. I'm looking for a case gage that measures from the case head to the shoulder. Quoted:
This is a good answer.
Get your self a dillon case gauge, makes life easy, plus after resizing, you can check to see if you need to trim or not..... If you are reloading for a semi-auto, then gauging your reloaded ammo is important. All of the problems I have had with my reloaded ammo is due to either improper sizing, or improper crimping (pistol). It sucks when you have to re-crimp 1,000 rounds of pistol ammo because you eye-balled the crimp and the ammo would not chamber reliably. ALSO - if you are looking to measure the headspace dimension [of the case] and not just ensure it is somewhere within within spec, then I recommend the RCBS Precision Mic. |
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I have both the RCBS Precision Mic and Hornady Headspace Gauge Set (formerly Stony Point). For ease of use and for a set that will check headspace on most all calibers the Hornady set is nice. The RCBS Precision Mic is very nice but only is for the one caliber. I like them both.
http://www.realguns.com/archives/035.htm http://www.inlandshooters.net/index.php?contentid=99 |
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RCBS Precison MIC is a terrific tool, especially if you are only reloading for one caliber (multiple calibers require multiple guages –– thus increased $$$). With one of these, you can tailor the cartridge headspace to that of your rifles as well as fine tune your bullet seating depth.
I have Precision MIC's for every caliber I reload, and wouldn't do without them. |
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+1
I have both gauges also. I really like the RCBS Precision Mic because it is easy to read the value of the case dimension before and after firing, and after resizing. Using this gauge to adjust your sizing die so that you are setting the shoulder back about .003"-.004" from the fired case dimension is very easy to do. I also like the RCBS Precision Mic because it eliminates the need to do a lot of math. You read this gauge in terms of + or - the reference line. So if new brass starts out at the 0 reference line reading and after I fire the case expands to +3 lines from the reference line, all I have to do is adjust my sizing die so that it sizes the case back down to where the case headspace reads right at the 0 reference line again and no more. The reference line coresponds to the minimum sammi spec and there is a table so you can get an actual case headspace number of your cases. You don't need to know this number unless your brass is really expanding to more than the max recomended sammi spec. This would happen if you are shooting a worn out rifle. The down fall of this gauge is that it only reads one caliber and so it is expensive if you want to use this gauge for more than one caliber because you have to buy them all. The Hornady Headspave Gauge is good because you can use more than one caliber because of the interchangable bushings. For me this one gauge will cover everything I load for. 5.56, 6.8, 7.62x51. 30-06. The downfall of this gauge is that you really have to take your time to use it to get an accurate reading with the caliper. Then once you get your reading you have to do the math to get your answer. A lot slower in my opinion than the Precision Mic. Quoted:
I have both the RCBS Precision Mic and Hornady Headspace Gauge Set (formerly Stony Point). For ease of use and for a set that will check headspace on most all calibers the Hornady set is nice. The RCBS Precision Mic is very nice but only is for the one caliber. I like them both. http://www.realguns.com/archives/035.htm http://www.inlandshooters.net/index.php?contentid=99 |
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