Ball mic or tube mic for measuring case neck thickness when turning necks for BR?

[JMayo]

Cheaper than dirt has hornady ball mic around 85.oo.
I use a vice as a holder

 

[Intheshop]

$15 Brown&Sharpe 233 thimble..... 1.25" diameter, .0001" I made everything else.

Also have some tube mic's but like the larger diameter of the above 233. (358 cast bullet for scale)

 

[Fclassfool]

iGaging Reloading Micrometer Tube Ball Spherical Anvil Digital 0-1"/0.00005" | eBay

Resolution 0.00005"/0.001mm. Large LCD Display. Professional Tool, SUPER Precision. Important Information. Ratchet Stop.

www.ebay.com

I've got this one it works good.

 

[Rick300]

Any other stand recommendations for the ball mics.

Scroll down the page and there are a bunch of them

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DD4I0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[STS]

I think the very best way is to measure a loaded round with a very good micrometer but if I must measure thickness, this is tough to beat imho. It's much less subjective to user input, which is very critical to tubing mics.

Mitutoyo 2358A-10 Dial Indicator, 0.5", 0.0001"

Mitutoyo 2358A-10 Dial Indicator, 0.5", 0.0001". Great savings PLUS Free Shipping when you buy now from GlobalTestSupply.com.

www.globaltestsupply.com

G&G has it right. Make your measurement where it actually counts which is on the loaded ammo. You can run into tolerance stacking issues measuring neck wall thickness plus bullet diameter.

 

[6BRA]

loaded ammo checking is fine for neck chamber clearance....but does nothing for neck tension and inconsistency in wall thickness. Am I missing something? Turning is done by alot of people to even the mess out....alot of brass is out of whack over .001 from side to side. Including Lapua and Alpha etc.

 

[Ccrider]

With the most accurate mic, until the operator gets consistent with feel, the measurement will be off. Ask me how I know. The I gauge above has clicks at the end of the adjustment. Vary the number of clicks and you get different results.

With that said, do you guys measure neck thickness to touch, or do you put substantial pressure on the mike to measure?

 

[Murray Brook]

When I measure mine I always do 3 clicks on the ratchet after touch. I'm not a machinist so I try to be as consistent as I can to get a constant measurement. I'm sure the pros have better methods.

 

[mikecr]

It's called a clutch (slipping with clicks). Works very consistent.
Thickness measure with a ball mic works well enough to estimate loaded thickness. It's actually more accurate than standard reloading calipers on loaded necks, and there is no gain in better accuracy than that.
And of course a ball mic is practical to see thickness variance around necks, and thickness throughout neck length.