Do You Measure And Plink Test Every Pistol Round?

AJC1 said:

I could care less about an oal check as that is part of my workup and many rounds I shoot long on purpose. How one uses a guage I guess is just as important. I use my guages for brass specifications.

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Yeah I never check OAL either in a gauge—I use a micrometer to double check a couple at first and then keep going.
I did just find why the 45acp Hornady is so much tighter than the RCBS—because it is=it’s .451 vs .452. Finally read their website.

CQB45ACP said:

Yeah I never check OAL either in a gauge—I use a micrometer to double check a couple at first and then keep going.
I did just find why the 45acp Hornady is so much tighter than the RCBS—because it is=it’s .451 vs .452. Finally read their website.

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Might use one for jacketed and the larger for lead if you can chamber the larger.

I check oal on first and last few rounds of a batch. Most pistol rounds I also check beginning and end with case gauge, but 9mm has bit me too many times. If I've sorted my 9mm by headstamp and it's one I trust, I'll just spot check. Pmc brass and some others have bit me several times and they get every round checked in Wilson case gauge. Even doing that I've had a couple that fit the case gauge and still wouldn't go into battery in my G3C, but it is new and seems to have a tight chamber for now.

AJC1 said:

Might use one for jacketed and the larger for lead if you can chamber the larger.

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Yeah. Good idea. I feel silly not seeing that size difference before. I’ve never had a chambering problem except with my Ed Brown (which I simply quit using).
I’m going to run some experiments beginning today with 4 barrels and 2 gauges. Why? Because it’s fun.

Only for hunting ammo. I no longer reload for s.d. But I do chamber test even the factory sd stuff.

Nope. No time, no need, not anal.

The top pic is a properly plunked round in my G3c barrel. The second is a round that won't plunk, but fits in the case gage fine as seen in last pic. Case length is 0.750, Coal 1.06 because any longer and these bullets are jammed. These are 115gr Sierra Jhp and PMC brass.I am barely crimping but getting an imperceptible swell near the base. Running back through the sizing die fixes these, but if I didn't plunk check them, I wouldn't know there was a problem.

Hugger-4641 said:

The top pic is a properly plunked round in my G3c barrel. The second is a round that won't plunk, but fits in the case gage fine as seen in last pic. Case length is 0.750, Coal 1.06 because any longer and these bullets are jammed. These are 115gr Sierra Jhp and PMC brass.I am barely crimping but getting an imperceptible swell near the base. Running back through the sizing die fixes these, but if I didn't plunk check them, I wouldn't know there was a problem.View attachment 1016486 View attachment 1016487 View attachment 1016488

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I have a similar issue with my 45acp rounds in one barrel but not others.

I've actually had reloads where the cases split and it didn't go into the case gauge. it was slight and I may not have noticed it by eye and happy the gauge picked it up.

No, not all of them. Usually about a magazines worth from the first part of a run. Not doing all of them may eventually come back to bite me but its worked well for me since the early 60's.

Hugger-4641 said:

The top pic is a properly plunked round in my G3c barrel. The second is a round that won't plunk, but fits in the case gage fine as seen in last pic. Case length is 0.750, Coal 1.06 because any longer and these bullets are jammed. These are 115gr Sierra Jhp and PMC brass.I am barely crimping but getting an imperceptible swell near the base. Running back through the sizing die fixes these, but if I didn't plunk check them, I wouldn't know there was a problem.View attachment 1016486 View attachment 1016487 View attachment 1016488

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I find it very hard to believe that it went in the case gauge but didn't pass the pluck test in the barrel. Even at 1.060" COL and 115gr bullet that it hits up against the lands. Something is not right here?

Ok, I think I still have a couple I haven't resized yet, I'll get you a video.

runner3264 said:

I find it very hard to believe that it went in the case gauge but didn't pass the pluck test in the barrel. Even at 1.060" COL and 115gr bullet that it hits up against the lands. Something is not right here?

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Hugger-4641 is using HP that is similar to FP/FN which is like Cone Nose with tip cut off with longer base and this will result in short OAL to clear start of rifling. So if gage is not set up to test contact with rifling or have longer leade but the barrel's leade is shorter, then finished round can pass the gage and still not fully chamber in the barrel.
Take a look at below comparison picture of RMR JHPs with MPR on the right being HP design from RN with tip cut off that results in longer base. Like OP's bullet, it also requires short OAL of 1.040"-1.050" to clear the start of rifling.

I can't get the video small enough for THR to upload, so its on my YouTube channel.

For the finished round to "plunk", it needs to freely drop into the chamber with a "plonk" and spin without hitting the rifling. Since semi-auto cases headspace off the case mouth, case base rim should also be at or below the barrel hood.

At 0:33 second of the video, looks like the Speer case round is showing too much of bullet shoulder/base above the case mouth. Incrementally decrease the OAL by .005" until finished round passes the barrel, this will be your max OAL.

Also, if you are using OAL right at the pass/fail length, since resized brass will be different lengths, measure several samples of each headstamp and use shorter length cases to determine the max OAL. (If you use longer cases to determine the max OAL, then shorter cases will allow more of bullet nose to be inserted into the rifling and/or headspace off the extractor)

And if your working OAL is several thousandths below max OAL, then variance of case length won't matter that much.

You may be right that I need to go even lower than 1.06. All my brass is checked and trimmed prior to priming. 0.748 to 0.750 gets resized and primed, 0.751 or more gets trimmed first and then resized. I have had some range brass measure as high as 0.756 before trimming.

Hugger-4641 said:

0.748 to 0.750 gets resized and primed, 0.751 or more gets trimmed first and then resized. I have had some range brass measure as high as 0.756 before trimming.

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FYI, SAAMI minimum chamber length is .754" and max is .776" -
https://saami.org/wp-content/upload...FP-and-R-Approved-2015-12-14-Posting-Copy.pdf

And I measure case length after they are full-length resized.

BTW, brass case tends to get shorter as it is reloaded repeatedly and work hardened and I don't trim straight walled semi-auto cases that headspace on case mouth.

whughett said:

Why? What would be the necessity.? Your machine is set up properly, dies adjusted and locked down,load and go.
I’ll do the set up then check one after each primer reload or so.

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In my case, I find that some range pickup has one of two issues. The first is that that rim has some scratches/marks caused by the extractor that will cause the rim to stop the shell from fully seating, usually in the Sig P320 or the Dan Wesson Pointman. Second, if I have an occasional case where there a "buldge" very close to the rim that is not handled by the sizing die that will cause a problem. I normally do not use a separate crimp die and using the crimp die will fix the issue. Sometimes, some sandpaper/file hand work is required. This is a rare occurrence, but I check every round with a Lyman size gage. The need for special handling is around 1 or 2 in 500 rounds. Most of my brass is range pickup and not necessary brass that I have shot. Started using undersized Lee sizing die and a U (M?) expander. Also now use exclusively RMR FMJ bullets. Accuracy has been noticeably improved with these process changes.

Hugger-4641 said:

I Pmc brass and some others have bit me several times and they get every round checked in Wilson case gauge. Even doing that I've had a couple that fit the case gauge and still wouldn't go into battery in my G3C, but it is new and seems to have a tight chamber for now.

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The biggest negative surprises came when reloading R-P 9mm. Perhaps as many as 10 out of a hundred would not plunk. I have been staying away from them.