Case/Chamber Gauge For Checking Ammo?

Does anybody use a case/chamber gauge for ammo checking in rifle or pistol? l have a LYMAN Case/Chamber Ammo Gauge for pistol reloads AND factory ammo. l shoot more than one gun in the same caliber. Checking factory/reloaded ammo with a case gauge is a Safety Step. l have not used one for rifle factory/reloaded ammo before. l would simply cycle the round thru the action since l rarely had more than one rifle per caliber.. Things changed over the last couple years when l got another 223Rem.. There's also a friend l load for occasionally.. l am getting OLDER and feel the need for extra Safety/QC

 

The Wilson gauge would do what you want.

Hope the firing pin is removed... I will never close the bolt on a live round in my house with the firing pin in place.

 

I use Sheridan Ammunition gauges for both pistol and rifle cartridges. Sheridan gauges verify lengths and diameters while most other gauges only verify a couple of length features. If you want to ensure that your ammo will fit any SAAMI spec chamber then Sheridan is your best choice.

 

^^ I’ have a Sheridan on my shopping list.
J

 

Those gauges look nice, learn something new everyday! The new slotted ones look very useful, to see how round actually fits in chamber.

 

I recently purchased the Lyman small rifle ammo checker, has worked very well. I used it to setup a 223 full length die to resize some once through the rifle(AR) 20 practical brass. I have 204,223,22-250 so one small block on the shelf for a quick check.

 

Case gauges can vary in diameter, meaning most are at the max case diameter and some are smaller in diameter.

Below a Dillon .308 case gauge with a fired Lake City 7.62 case in the gauge.



Below the same case in a JP Enterprise gauge that is smaller in diameter.



Below a Wilson, Dillon and JP Enterprise .223 case gauges with the cases reversed. This clearly shows the JP Enterprise gauge is smaller in diameter. And if the resized case fits in the JP Enterprise gauge it will chamber in any .223 chamber.

Note, in a semi-auto, pump or lever action rifle the resized case should be .003 to .005 smaller in diameter than its fired diameter. This allows the case to spring back from the chamber walls and extract reliably.

 

I use the Wilson Case Gage for a quick check on head space for all my hunting rounds. I size so the case is between the upper and lower steps on the gage. For experience, I know that if it's between those steps I will not have any problems chambering a round in the filed.

However I set my sizing die using the Hornady Headspace gage to achieve an approx. .001 to .002" shoulder set back.

 

A number of years ago, I was loading some .223 Rem ammo for junior SR practice. Kept having problems with rounds that wouldn't chamber. Drove me nuckin' futs, as I *knew* the cases were being properly F/L sized, etc. - and had the tools to check it.

Finally broke down and dropped a few rounds into a case gauge... and a small number wouldn't go all the way into the gauge. Checked the headspace, all the relevant dimensions that I could think of... finally found that what was causing the problem was the case *rim*. This was 'once fired' LC 5.56 brass, that was *supposed* to be 100% processed (not even close). Pretty sure that stuff had been fired thru something full-auto, with a gi-normous chamber... that had mangled the crap out of the *rim*, enough so that some rounds wouldn't chamber, period.

After that, I started gauging *every* round I turned out for the juniors, which was a considerable PITA. Probably would have been quicker/easier to just take that batch of 2k cases to the scrap recycler and buy some more... but that'd be admitting defeat...