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Posted: 6/23/2014 5:58:29 PM EDT
| I should have bought these a while back, but I have just now run into case sizing issues. I never adjust my resizing dies because I've never had issues but now I'm having issues with sizing my .223 and .308 ammo. I'm having the bolt fail to go into battery on my .223/5.56 AR's and the same in an AR10 (I sometimes crimp but I'm having this issues with both crimped and non-crimped ammo). I then have to mortar the rifles to get the case in question out. It's typically 90% of any rounds I've loaded so the consistency makes me think my dies aren't setup right anymore. Any recommendations on case gauges as far as brand and quality? Thanks in advance. |
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My recommendation is get a good headspace gauge so you can actually measure the headspace.
http://www.hornady.com/store/Headspace-Gauge-Kits/ With these you can measure brass that doesn't chamber, and incrementally resize it while measuring until it does. Then you know the actual headspace measurement of your rifle, no guess work. I've never liked the idea of the traditional gauges because it only compares to SAAMI specs. Why have a single gauge that represents all rifles? With a headspace measuring gauge you can fine tune the brass to YOUR individual rifle! |
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I bought the "cheaper" Lyman case gauges for 223 and 308.. They don't have them for grendel or 300BO so I went wilson on those gauges. I have heard some people complain about the Lyman but dang they have saved me. I was having hell issues with my new press with my old die. Setup was not as simple as old press and I was having same issues as OP. I got the gauges to verify setup. They have made my life so much easier.
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Quoted: My recommendation is you re-set up your dies. Your press has very likely worn a little (lets call it broke in) and now you need to re-adjust your dies. |
| as posted wished I'd just bought this in the first place over the other case gauges |
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Quoted:
Buy the Wilson gauges. This is the last choice in my opinion, better than nothing, but not worth the money. Hornady's Lock-N-Load (formerly known as Stoney Point) is more accurate and less expensive. It gives you a real measurement in .001" increments and can be used on every rifle round in your collection. You have to eyeball drop in gages and they tell you absolutely nothing as far a true measurements are concerned. You can use calipers to span the drop in gage provided the case mouth has been trimmed below flush. The greatest detraction is a separate drop in gage must be purchased for every caliber you reload. This is much more expensive than Hornady's Lock-N-Load. My favorite case gages are made by Mo DeFina, they are similar to RCBS's micrometer gage but use an actual chamber instead of reading off the datum line. They are competitively priced with RCBS's tool. They are not cheap, but represent the current state of the art for headspace gages. |
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Quoted:
This is the last choice in my opinion, better than nothing, but not worth the money. Hornady's Lock-N-Load (formerly known as Stoney Point) is more accurate and less expensive. It gives you a real measurement in .001" increments and can be used on every rifle round in your collection. You have to eyeball drop in gages and they tell you absolutely nothing as far a true measurements are concerned. You can use calipers to span the drop in gage provided the case mouth has been trimmed below flush. The greatest detraction is a separate drop in gage must be purchased for every caliber you reload. This is much more expensive than Hornady's Lock-N-Load. My favorite case gages are made by Mo DeFina, they are similar to RCBS's micrometer gage but use an actual chamber instead of reading off the datum line. They are competitively priced with RCBS's tool. They are not cheap, but represent the current state of the art for headspace gages. Quoted:
Quoted:
Buy the Wilson gauges. This is the last choice in my opinion, better than nothing, but not worth the money. Hornady's Lock-N-Load (formerly known as Stoney Point) is more accurate and less expensive. It gives you a real measurement in .001" increments and can be used on every rifle round in your collection. You have to eyeball drop in gages and they tell you absolutely nothing as far a true measurements are concerned. You can use calipers to span the drop in gage provided the case mouth has been trimmed below flush. The greatest detraction is a separate drop in gage must be purchased for every caliber you reload. This is much more expensive than Hornady's Lock-N-Load. My favorite case gages are made by Mo DeFina, they are similar to RCBS's micrometer gage but use an actual chamber instead of reading off the datum line. They are competitively priced with RCBS's tool. They are not cheap, but represent the current state of the art for headspace gages. I agree, Mo's gages are the best. Available at Fulton Armory. No commercial interest in Fulton, I bought mine long ago direct from Mo. |
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Quoted:
I agree, Mo's gages are the best. Available at Fulton Armory. No commercial interest in Fulton, I bought mine long ago direct from Mo. Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Buy the Wilson gauges. This is the last choice in my opinion, better than nothing, but not worth the money. Hornady's Lock-N-Load (formerly known as Stoney Point) is more accurate and less expensive. It gives you a real measurement in .001" increments and can be used on every rifle round in your collection. You have to eyeball drop in gages and they tell you absolutely nothing as far a true measurements are concerned. You can use calipers to span the drop in gage provided the case mouth has been trimmed below flush. The greatest detraction is a separate drop in gage must be purchased for every caliber you reload. This is much more expensive than Hornady's Lock-N-Load. My favorite case gages are made by Mo DeFina, they are similar to RCBS's micrometer gage but use an actual chamber instead of reading off the datum line. They are competitively priced with RCBS's tool. They are not cheap, but represent the current state of the art for headspace gages. I agree, Mo's gages are the best. Available at Fulton Armory. No commercial interest in Fulton, I bought mine long ago direct from Mo. Are these the ones you're talking about? http://www.fulton-armory.com/headspacegaugeforcartridge223556mm.aspx. I'm interested to see how they work. What are the benefits over the Hornady case gauge that uses the calipers? I live literally 5 miles from Fulton (they let you pick up locally even though they say they wont). |
| Yes, that's Mo's micrometer headspace gage. It reads every case to .001" and has the appropriate chamber cut so the entire case is enclosed inside the gage identical to your rifle's chamber. "Zero" on the headspace gage is SAAMI minimum (go gage). Very quick to use, which means it will get used a lot. |
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