Every round thru case gauge?

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MySuomi said:
I load on a single stage press. I also use a spare barrel to plunk test every single round made. (380, 9mm, 40 cal, 45). I test immediately after bullet seating/crimp.

But, after reading the thread I am wondering if I am not getting thorough results since I use a barrel and not a case gauge.
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Are you having malfunctions?
 
Johnnyd said:
I load for a dozen different 9mm guns and my gauge is tighter than all of my barrels.
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Mine too Best To Make sure. It is also a time to do a Good final inspection of each round and catch any possible problems. Just something VERY satisfying about seeing that Bullet you made go Nice and Slick thru that gauge. And if it don't Time to do some measuring and close inspection to find out Why.
 
Jim Watson said:
Are you having malfunctions?
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Quite a few bullets that don't go nicely thru my Gauge will still Make it in the Barrel Test. BUT I Believe the few bucks you pay for the gauge is well worth the peace of mind it Brings. Just Loaded about 500 45 Acp I began By Checking both the AOL as well as running them thru the gauge. I wound up Spot checking the AOL but continued Running every Bullet thru the Gauge. I work 20 bullets at a time on my Dillon. Stop check sizes, run thru gauge and, then add them to the rest that have been made and checked.
 
I gauge every round of 9mm & 45acp.

Once fired brass, very few rejects.

Many fired/range brass several rejects per 100.
-Mainly due to burrs on case rim or case head diameter increasing below where sizing die can reach.
 
I don't use a case gauge for anything.
I do run bottleneck rifle rounds through my hunting rifles to make sure they all chamber before going hunting.
Same principle I guess.
 
From a semi-auto handgun point of view, why not just use the barrel you intend to shoot the ammo through and save the money. If your case gauge is not minimally tighter than your tightest barrel/chamber of that caliber, why bother? When your freshly made rounds "plunk" and spin in the barrel/chamber you intend to shoot them from, a case gauge isn't going to tell you anything you don't already know.
 
The gauge is on the bench beside the press.
The chamber is in the barrel in the gun in the safe.
I paid a little for convenience.
Very little compared to the "de-progressive" equipment and procedures that are getting popular.
 
FROGO207 said:
I use the barrel when setting up for autoloading handguns or rifles. Then I spot check every 25 or so. I do inspect every round that I make for splits etc.
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This is how I do it.
I would like more tools as I go but I prioritize on getting up and running first.
Using a barrel works so long as you inspect brass.
I look at my brass before I size/deprime.
I usually double check when I prime it before it gets powder.
Every so many rounds.
 
Don_P said:
From a semi-auto handgun point of view, why not just use the barrel you intend to shoot the ammo through and save the money. If your case gauge is not minimally tighter than your tightest barrel/chamber of that caliber, why bother? When your freshly made rounds "plunk" and spin in the barrel/chamber you intend to shoot them from, a case gauge isn't going to tell you anything you don't already know.
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JayZee said:
This is how I do it.
I would like more tools as I go but I prioritize on getting up and running first.
Using a barrel works so long as you inspect brass.
I look at my brass before I size/deprime.
I usually double check when I prime it before it gets powder.
Every so many rounds.
Click to expand...

It may seem silly. But in the thirty thousand 9mm cases I've guaged i bet I dropped that case guage quite a few times. Sure wouldn't want that to be my barrel.
 
I get enough rounds that fail to fit the gauge that it warrants a 100% check (loading on a 650 using a Dillon gauge). Usually a second pass through the crimp die fixes it.

Now, I've never segregated those failures and tried to fire them, which I probably should. It might show that a 100% check isn't necessary
 
Nature Boy said:
I get enough rounds that fail to fit the gauge that it warrants a 100% check (loading on a 650 using a Dillon gauge). Usually a second pass through the crimp die fixes it.

Now, I've never segregated those failures and tried to fire them, which I probably should. It might show that a 100% check isn't necessary
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Same with my 550. I had never considered re-crimping them, but you have been in this game a lot longer than me and know a lot more tricks. I'm here to learn.

I have tried the failures in my CZ and the worst ones won't chamber there, either.
 
DanK3Pos said:
I had never considered re-crimping them,
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Give it a shot. I'm making 9mm now and had ~10% fail on the first cycle. Ran them through the crimp die again and all passed the second go-round.

DanK3Pos said:
you have been in this game a lot longer than me
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Don't assume that. My post count is not indicator of knowledge or skill at anything other than a propensity toward verbosity ;)

There was a guy on here (he's since been "moved on"), and I won't name names (but his initials were @Sunray). He had a prolific post count....... and everything he burped up was wrong :rofl:
 
Fishingted said:
Had a bit of a reality check just yesterday. Recently Had bought a Lee Bulge Buster for My 10MM and 40S&W brass. Also got a gauge for that same calibers. Mind You 98% of my Brass for the 10mm Glock 40 MOS is all My Own. I started out reloading for that gun with brand new Star Line Brass. I quickly bought several after market barrels for it. A LW 9 inch and a Alpha Wolf Threaded Barrel with a compensator on that Barrel. I had just made up about 500 rounds of 10MM using CFL Powder. I Load on a Dillon 550. This Brass has only had 1 Loading Cycle. I have checked a little over Half of them with the gauge and I am getting about a 10 percent failure rate. Most were able to be fixed by running thru the bulge buster. But even then a few on closer inspection were suspect and I pulled the Bullets and discarded the cases. Conclusion is that when I first Got that gun I had shot some ammo thru it with the Glock stock Barrel. Which is a a Unsupported Chamber. Some of the Finished bullets were Very Hard to even get to go thru the bulge buster Die. And I did manage to Jam one that I had to Beat Out. I hate To think what could have happened Had I not ran them the thru the Gauge. I am now in the process of going thru all my 10mm and 40 S&W ammo. If it doesn't make the gauge it isn't going in the Gun. That simple. Also have Gauge for my 45 ACP. And I am Getting a Gauge for my 9MM also. Also I will Never Shoot any Ammo in a Glock Stock Barrel that I intend to Reload. A little Lengthy But I hope it helps other Re-Loaders to Not make a Posable Catastrophic Mistake. Get A Gauge and Use It.
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I had this problem with 9mm brass shot through my friend's Ruger SR9. After sizing, some of the brass (IMI in particular) would stick in the case gauge. Some would fail to go in all the way. I noticed that there was a little bulge pushed down to where the sizing die stopped. I got a LEE bulge buster and a 9mm Mak die and now I run the brass through that before sizing. No more problems.
It is supposed to fix the sizing of 'Glocked' brass, but I'm not sure if the case has been weakened or not. Therefore, I scrap any brass that looks like its been through an unsupported Glock chamber.
 
Don_P said:
From a semi-auto handgun point of view, why not just use the barrel you intend to shoot the ammo through and save the money. If your case gauge is not minimally tighter than your tightest barrel/chamber of that caliber, why bother? When your freshly made rounds "plunk" and spin in the barrel/chamber you intend to shoot them from, a case gauge isn't going to tell you anything you don't already know.
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If you run off 1000 rounds, do you really want to put every round in the chamber? Also, if you use a Shockbottle, the rounds will go right into an MTM or Berry's case so it takes essentially the same amount of time as putting rounds into a 100 round MTM case. Also, the Shockbottle is minimum saami specs, while I don't reject rounds that I know will chamber in my pistol, I do examine any round that doesn't case gauge perfectly and have found some that would have chambered in my barrel but had to be pulled.
 
packetloss said:
If you run off 1000 rounds, do you really want to put every round in the chamber? Also, if you use a Shockbottle, the rounds will go right into an MTM or Berry's case so it takes essentially the same amount of time as putting rounds into a 100 round MTM case. Also, the Shockbottle is minimum saami specs, while I don't reject rounds that I know will chamber in my pistol, I do examine any round that doesn't case gauge perfectly and have found some that would have chambered in my barrel but had to be pulled.
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That's what I am talking about!!
 
Don_P said:
From a semi-auto handgun point of view, why not just use the barrel you intend to shoot the ammo through and save the money.
Click to expand...
Because I shoot my reloads through at least a dozen different pistols (9mm).
Shockbottle gauges are expensive ($110) not including risers but I’m glad I made the investment.
 
packetloss said:
If you run off 1000 rounds, do you really want to put every round in the chamber?
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After loading a few thousand I will sit at this table and run every one through my single Dillon case guage. Keep the rotation of guaged in separate akro bins until all guaged. Then set in storage as needed

20200815_135708.jpg

Shock bottle would be great.. but every time I go to buy i end up putting towards more raw materials
 
Gauging every round has taught me how to find the slightest of setup issues. This is especially true when using mixed brass.

Usually if I'm getting more than one reject every 200 or so rounds it usually points to a sizing or crimping issue. Obviously split cases, extractor burrs and alike are not included.
 
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