Every round thru case gauge?

[Jonny2guns]

Been reloading for 10+ yrs, set the Dillon up OAL checked and never looked back. Used to load 12,000+ a year in 9mm. Never had a problem.

 

[WeekendReloader]

I check every round with a case gauge and also check OAL too.

 

[jonb32248]

I use the case gauge at every step of the way. Not every round but I even use it after sizing the case. If they don't drop in then I may throw them out or just run them threw again but usually they're gone.I was having a problem where my glock wasn't going back into battery all the way at times. So started checking closer in the reloading process and haven't had a issue since.Seems the case may have been a bit out of spec.

 

[NMexJim]

I came to Pistol Max gauges because I load for family and can't always plunk, them being somewhere else. I'm now using gauges as a final check when setting up a set of pistol dies and then a few times during the session. It's quick and it's easy.

 

[entropy]

I use an old barrel as a gauge, and yes, check every round. I don't load on a progressive, however.

 

[Jim Watson]

Range pickup or "once fired" brass, bulk coated or plated bullets for cheap IDPA and USPSA shooting.
You bet I gauge 100%.

 

[9mmepiphany]

When I first started reloading, I was taught to case gauge my 9mm rounds...I was just starting shooting in competition then. My failure rate was running about 5-6%. As I refined my reloading process, started using better dies, and sorted my cases by headstamp, my failure rate has dropped to less than .25%.

That number isn't acceptable when I'm spending $1k to go to an out of state match. I've see enough jams in competition to know that even a quickly cleared one is enough to cost you the match. So I case gauge every 9mm round that I reload.

I case gauge with a Shock Bottle Hundro...100 rounds at a time...stopping after I refill the primer feed and gauge as transferring from the finished bin into an ammo box. Any round that is even a little high goes into the practice box.

 

[Erief0g]

If your not finding cracked cases until the final load inspection your process if flawed imo. My decaping inspection gets a few, most are found when sizing, I find or make a few when expanding and almost none when sorting by head stamp for storage. My process is labor intensive and progressive loading will result in flaws in finished product.

This was one reloading session on my 650. I've loaded over 30lbs of 9mm powder in last five years on this machine. I'm guessing I've found a dozen splits in rounds at case guage step.

That's maybe a dozen in over 46 thousand rounds.

I wet tumble with old primers still in brass then dry. I then sort all by headstamp and catch many. Then upon loading on a progressive there are the ones you feel which is easier to notice since all one headstamp. Then final step is case guage find any more.

I don't feel this is flawed. This is a different way than yours that creates quality match ammo in high volume. Generally any caliber I'm pulling the lever on is for a production run of one thousand rounds minimum to 3500 on the higher side

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I check all my 9mm also. Once my press is set up correctly I rarely find one that won't pass unless the rim has a bur on it. But I do find a Makarov now and then and an occasional .380.
That makes it worth it to me. I don't compete but I still check them all.

 

[rfwobbly]

I only 100% check rounds to be used in competition. In that situation "time is money".

Rounds for plinking and practice get the '1 of every 50' spot checks.

But then, I do a lot of brass inspections before loading.

 

[lordpaxman]

I’m another one that enjoys the run and gun games and gauge every round. Shockbottle gauge for 9mm, .40 and .45.
An advantage of the 9mm is it’ll catch .380’s that make it though the process, which isn’t too often for me but 1 in 1000 usually do. Rifle rounds are only spot checked, so far. Good luck.

 

[jmorris]

It depends on what I am using them for.

I case gauge every round I intend to fire in competition.

That said, there are lots of rounds I load for that I don’t own a case gauge and I also reloaded for more than 20 years without owning a single case gauge.

 

[alfsauve]

Unless you're using all brand new brass, you are going to run into split cases that you missed during reloading. Also bulges near the head that don't get resized are another problem.

When I suspect a batch of used batch may have bulges, I resize then chamber check, before I waste the primer/power/bullet reloading them.
At the moment I'm pretty confident in the brass I have, so I chamber check after I load.

Call me anal, but I chamber check all the ammo I take out to a competition, even the factory stuff. Have I found a problem with factory ammo? Yep.

 

[NMexJim]

When I first started reloading, I was taught to case gauge my 9mm rounds...I was just starting shooting in competition then. My failure rate was running about 5-6%. As I refined my reloading process, started using better dies, and sorted my cases by headstamp, my failure rate has dropped to less than .25%.

That number isn't acceptable when I'm spending $1k to go to an out of state match. I've see enough jams in competition to know that even a quickly cleared one is enough to cost you the match. So I case gauge every 9mm round that I reload.

I case gauge with a Shock Bottle Hundro...100 rounds at a time...stopping after I refill the primer feed and gauge as transferring from the finished bin into an ammo box. Any round that is even a little high goes into the practice box.

I haven't bought a 100-round block yet, but I have cut-up a 100-round plastic ammo box which I load up from my progressive's output bin. Bullets down to check primers and eyeball general COL, then a stiff piece of plastic as a cover to flip the box and rounds over to inspect the bullet end. I use gallon freezer bags marked with the load info and get as much air out as possible for storage. Gauges are used to set dies and occasionally during the process. This has been working for me for a long time, but I am looking at blocks.

 

[507Reloader]

Case gauge all range brass after decapping and resizing and then case gauge after every completed round. Catch more bad brass after depriming/resizing than after loading.

 

[Erief0g]

I went to my "need pulled" zip lock of out of spec or unknown issue cartridges.

Found this cartridge that was caught at case guage step. This will get pulled and primer and projectile reused. Powder tossed as I often don't do a kinetic puller job for a year or so depending on volume.

 

[NMexJim]

Case gauge all range brass after decapping and resizing and then case gauge after every completed round. Catch more bad brass after depriming/resizing than after loading.

I agree

 

[NMexJim]

I went to my "need pulled" zip lock of out of spec or unknown issue cartridges.

Found this cartridge that was caught at case guage step. View attachment 961952

I must be lucky or have an angel on my shoulder. I've not suffered cracked cases like this.

 

[Jim Watson]

The last 9mm I found was a hairline split that I might not have seen if I had gone straight from press to clip. But it would not pass the gauge and I peered at it closely and saw the crack.

 

[Erief0g]

I must be lucky or have an angel on my shoulder. I've not suffered cracked cases like this.

To be honest I can't say how many times my brass has been reloaded. I would assume I have well into the thousands that have been reloaded ten times or more. I generally pick up 3000 9mm per year to add to my rotation (2700 last month from JO JO on this forum) just to cover lost and any damaged i find. It's such a very small percentage in the volume I reload that I'm ok with it. The case guage every round is my safety net. I want all my ammo to be match caliber and function all my families firearms.

Only did one year of different loads for different guns.. pain in the... was worth the effort to reevaluate and find a great load for them all

 

[ManFromMontana]

Wow...so many varied responses: Everything from "I never check" to "I check every round" and everything in between. Interesting.
I get it that my progressive press may not catch all defective brass, which led to the question. Since it was bugging me, I decided to go through about 2,200 9mm loads and case gauge every single one, just for piece of mind. It took about 2 hours or so, but afterwards I found several questionable rounds. 3 of them had a significant bulge at the base, although closer inspection didn't reveal any visible cracks. Several others just sat slightly higher in the gauge than others, so I set them aside as well. After pulling the bullets, reusing the primers and recapturing the powder, I just tossed all questionable brass away.
I'm not really certain as to what kind of issues those rounds would have had upon firing, but I definitely feel better knowing they're gone. At the very least, the bulged brass would have caused jams.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who responded. From this point onward, I will likely check all finished rounds, just to know that I've been thorough. Doesn't seem to take much time...but I definitely see a Shockbottle in my future.

 

[Nature Boy]

I gauge every round I make. Its my last QC check.

same for me

 

[Erief0g]

Another thing the guage finds is when you have reloaded a few times and one or more of the extraction marks dinged the brass so it wouldn't seat correctly. I use a small file when it's a simple fix or toss depending on severity

 

[Mike L.]

I gauge all the 9mm I reload. Have had a couple cracked like the pic above in a thousand or so rounds. I consider it worth the effort.

 

[lezmark]

I used to and then i tried firing the ones that failed, and surprise, they have all fired flawlessly, so i now i dont, at least for all pistol reloads. I check all rifle except 223. I used to check those too but found it just didnt matter