Case gauge???

[ept000]

I'm tired of taking the barrel out of my gun to check the fit of my 9mm reloads. What kind of case gauges are you guys using?

[lcarreau]

I only have Dillon ones. I like em.

[BadSpellar]

I use the cartridge gauges from L.E. Wilson. I don't have a case gauge but I think they only check a case, not max length.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=888465&t=11082005

[thorn]

I have a Lyman, was about $11. It seems to work well enough for what it does. Things that fit/dont in the gauge seem to match my chamber's results well enough so far.

thorn

[ept000]

Good information, thanks guys. Any that I should stay away from, or don't live up to their expectations?

[WalterGA]

I started out loading .45ACP and got a Midway case gage. Used it a few times, when I was learning the ropes, but then just never found the need to use it, particularly after I got the 650. I use Lee dies and a Lee FCD with all my straightwall handgun reloading, and never have chambering problems.

I do use a Wilson case gage for setting up the sizing die for my .223 reloading. I didn't realize until I got that gage that it was impossible to bump the shoulder sufficiently for correct headspace, using my crappy Loadmaster. Fortunately, the rounds loaded and fired o.k., but the design of the Loadmaster shell carrier made it impossible to adjust the die down far enough for proper shoulder bumping.

[Rangerat]

I use the cartridge gauges from L.E. Wilson. I don't have a case gauge but I think they only check a case, not max length.


I use the Dillon gauges for .40S&W and .45ACP. They will tell you if the OAL is longer than the max. Will not tell you if a specific bullet/Brass combination will function correctly in your magazine(s).

Use them now to check when I change setups. Otherwise, spot check with a digital micrometer to be sure OAL is not changing during a loading session.

[gokyo]

I use a dillon for my 223 and my 308.

not sure why you would use it for pistol caliber.

I generally just stop using brass when the bullet falls in even after it has been sized.

[4eyes]

If you are using standard components, you shouldn't need a case gauge for 9mm. If barrel checking and you have no-gos, the dies are not set correctly or the dies are bad. You posted some time back that you had run off something over a thousand with a loadmaster. They all barrel chamber check?

This may raise a red flag with some young twerps, but I make up 10 rounds with new bullet substituted into a standard recipe, check oal with a caliper and run the 10 through the mag/ gun by hand. Anything with a new load that I question, I make dummy rounds first and run them through the gun. I have several hundred retained dummy rounds. If the dummy rounds and the 10 live rounds run, I damn sure don't need a case gauge for any future rounds of that load. I've loaded about 100K pistol rounds and have never owned or used a case gauge. There have been times when setting dies for a shouldered round that a gauge may have helped set the sizing die.

Back in the old days I had case gauges for rifle calibers and used them as trim gauges. Put in a piece of brass and file off any excess.

[freakshow10mm]

Carry ammo and commerical ammo I barrel drop. Plinkers no.

[layusn1]

I use a Wilson for the 223 rounds. I have caught a few that didn't pass, didn't size down far enough for some reason, and out of 4000 I caught about 5 that the 650 managed to mangle the case mouth, probably with a little help from me, so that they wouldn't even fit in the gage right but unless you were looking at the side where the damage was while you were counting them out for storage you would have never noticed. I really think it is worth it...gives that little extra bit of piece of mind.

[ept000]

A little background about why I'm asking. A short time ago I had one of my reloads fail to go into battery. With the slide about 90 percent shut, it was stuck. It took a little work to get it open and when I did I found that the round would not drop in the chamber of the barrel of my G19. It did not look like it was damaged at all, it just would not fit. Since then I have been dropping every round in the barrel chamber to be sure it fits. So far I have loaded about nine thousand rounds with my set-up, and just that one round gave me any problem. Maybe I shouldn't worry about this one failure. I had gotten the opinion that some of you guys chamber checked every round you made. Sounds like I may have been way off on that one. What do you guys think?

[freakshow10mm]

From what I have read, the case gauges seem to be of tighter tolerances than a chamber, even "match" chambers.

[layusn1]

I really like a better safe than sorry philosophy here. If it fails the gage then try it in your firearm...might still work, if so then no harm no foul but this way helps weed out the really bad ones right off the top and you don't want to find that one bad round during a match or SD situation if you load for carry do you???

[freakshow10mm]

Might make the gunfight a little more interesting.

[D. Manley]

I'm tired of taking the barrel out of my gun to check the fit of my 9mm reloads. What kind of case gauges are you guys using?

Dillon.

From what I have read, the case gauges seem to be of tighter tolerances than a chamber, even "match" chambers.

They're made to SAAMI chamber specs. If it passes the case gauge it should chamber in any OEM manufacturer barrel...unless, the barrel happens to be an "aftermarket" product with intentional (or otherwise), tighter chamber dimensions. In my experience more often or not rounds that barely fail the gauge are likely to fit in the more "forgiving" chambers in production guns i.e., Glock for example.

IMHO, anyone that regularly uses range brass should use one. It only takes a few minutes to run a whole batch through and it can save a lot of grief. I started using it more diligently after I had some factory ammo (American Eagle) jam my gun up tight 2 or 3 times out of a single box...badly mangled bullets with damage concealed by cartridge case prevented them from chambering.

Above said, I can't remember having a reloaded round previously fired from my guns that failed the gauge. Range brass, yep...not too many but regular enough to be on the lookout. Just recently bought a few thousand of the "pulled" bullets on sale @ MidwayUSA and I believe 24 of the 1st 3 or 4 hundred loaded up failed the gauge. Found that the bullets were "squashed" out of round enough to prevent complete chambering...caught them with the case gauge. Some of these 9MM bullets measured up to .360 at the widest point, so...I think a $10.00 case gauge is a good thing.

[BigDog[RE]]

If you use the barrel of your gun to check your bullets, you know one thing, that bullet will fit in that barrel only. If you use a case guage you will find out if your bullet is within SAAMI specs in terms of size. You still won't know if it will feed reliably in your mags.

Personally, I have case gauges for every caliber I reload, but I don't case check every round, just random ones.

[BigDog[RE]]

Just recently bought a few thousand of the "pulled" bullets on sale @ MidwayUSA and I believe 24 of the 1st 3 or 4 hundred loaded up failed the gauge. Found that the bullets were "squashed" out of round enough to prevent complete chambering...caught them with the case gauge. Some of these 9MM bullets measured up to .360 at the widest point, so...I think a $10.00 case gauge is a good thing.


+1, after reading a post on GTR about the bullets being out of round, I dropped mine through the case gauge. I found two suspect bullets in the first 500.

[Murphy's Law]

Freak is correct in the statement the tolerances are a little tighter. I check each load as it only takes a second (for both fit and length). From my short experience in reloading, if it passes the case gage, it works fine in my G23 with an after market EFK barrel. It's also a sure thing it will work just fine in the OEM barrel.