Case Comparator Gauges?

[Joe C]

O.k., so I've been looking at the different comparator gauges that are used on calipers. Can anyone tell me specifically what is the difference between the hornady and sinclair aside from cost and color?

They look the same in the pictures but I would like to make an educated choice before buying one of these.

Thanks much in advance!

 

[tmason1]

Joe,
My experience is that the comparator bodies (blade attachment) are basically the same but the inserts are different. I prefer Sinclair inserts.....the Hornady has a plastic feel.

Tommy

 

[Nodak7mm]

Joe,

I been running the Stoney point/hornady for yrs with no probs. Thing to remember is they provide a reference point, thats all.

With that said Sinclair makes great tooling, but available only from Sinclairs.. Hornady parts and pieces are available most places locally (Cabelas in Omaha, for example), that sell reloading equip.

Diff twen the two? None really in my opinion..

Rod

 

[MVW]

I have a Horandy, but switched to using a Bob Green Comparator a while ago. This is a bit complicated and confusing. Green's is sized basically to match the throat of the chamber, so the Green gauge indexes off the point where the bullet hits the land. The Hornady hits at an arbitrary point on the bullet The distance between where the Hornady gauge (and bullet seaters) hits the bullet and the ogive can vary bullet-to-bullet making it difficult to get the ogive a consistent distance off the lands. At least that has been my experience.

Mike

 

[Joe C]

Mike,

So are you using the BGC comparator that does just the bullet so you can sort them out or are you also using his caliper measuring tool that is similar to the Hornady and Sinclair?

Hmmmm...decisions, decisions...do you guys know if the sinclair inserts fit in the Hornady base? If so, a person could get the hornady base and try both then...unless a smokin' deal comes along on the sinclairs of course.

 

[nra-for-life]

too bad the B.G.C. only comes in three bullet sizes..... I called him the other day to see if he would be interested in making me one for .224, I was denied. :'( :'( :'(

 

[Steve Blair]

Mike's explanation is half there and it's not that complicated. The Green comparator measures the distance between the leade and seating stem contact points. The body is machined to match the 1½° rifling leade and the stem attached to the dial indicator is machined to match a typical seating stem. By sorting to this dimension, your loads will be seated to exactly the same depth within the tolerance to which you have sorted. The system works as advertised after developing a feel for seating the bullet while measuring. I have three of them in 6mm, 7mm and .308. Bob's is the only bullet sorting tool I have seen, other than a precision scale, that makes sense. [br]
http://greensrifles.com/New_Products.html

 

[Joe C]

Mike's explanation is half there and it's not that complicated. The Green comparator measures the distance between the leade and seating stem contact points. The body is machined to match the 1½° rifling leade and the stem attached to the dial indicator is machined to match a typical seating stem. By sorting to this dimension, your loads will be seated to exactly the same depth within the tolerance to which you have sorted. The system works as advertised after developing a feel for seating the bullet while measuring. I have three of them in 6mm, 7mm and .308. Bob's is the only bullet sorting tool other than a precision scale I have seen that makes sense. [br]
http://greensrifles.com/New_Products.html

Steve,

Great info there and thanks for explaining it to me like that. But, regarding the original question, what is the best tool to get to use to measure the OAL based on the ogive of the bullet? Or are you saying it isn't really necessary if you are doing the bullets themselves? It would still seem that a person needs a way to measure the OAL to get the dies set up properly. Please educate me on your thoughts.

 

[Steve Blair]

I use the Sinclair tool that attaches to calipers but Bob's tool would work just as well.

 

[MVW]

Bob also makes an attachment for the calipers. I suspect it is very similar to the sinclair. Mike

 

[LRPV]

I use the Hornady/stoney point set. I did order a Sinclair 40 degree ackley body/bump insert and it fits in the Hornady comparator body.
Jason

 

[tenring]

I like the Davidson nose pieces and base for accurate measurements. They also attach to the caliper jaws. But as Dave said, the nose pieces vary somewhat in the same caliber. I mark one for use only in measuring OALs and the other for use in a pair to check bearing surface. Sinclair has them.

 

[jdb]

Joe,It sounds like you're pretty lucky here, According to Bob Green, the biggest problem he has with selling his comparator is that after someone gets one, they wont tell any body else about it. Personally after using one, it would be real hard to go back & grab bullets out of a box, load 'em & shoot!

 

[MVW]

Lawrence, that is a great idea. Hard to do unless you have an old barrel or a reamer, but it seems like the perfect solution. I suspect the Bob Green device is sort of the next best thing.

jdb - yer right about people not saying much about Bob's tools.

Mike

 

[jlow]

Sounds like a great idea, but would not throat erosion quick change things?

 

[fdshuster]

Lawrence: I would raise the same question. As throat erosion develops the gauge is providing outdated information.

I had several made with my chambering reamers cut along with the barrels chamber, and in a few hundred rounds fired, they are no longer usable. Just askin.

 

[Joe C]

Hmmm...why do you guys do this to me? Huh...always bringing up new stuff that I had NO idea about so that I have to spend more time at the bench to make money to purchase such things! Is that all this forum is good for, the spreading of useful information that will make me a better shooter if I care to be? LOL!

So, I guess I need to call Mr. Green and have a conversation with him sometime in the next week or two...

Something else came to mind. I saw in my Redding catalog that they make a bullet comparator as well. Thoughts? I'm sure it isn't as good as Mr. Greens since his are custom. But if he doesn't make a .22 caliber one and that is needed at some point down the road, well...?

And thanks for all the help guys...up next I'll be asking in another thread about dies and such as I'm getting an order ready to go to Redding.

 

[mikecr]

Bob Green's tool is an ogive comparator, and not an OAL comparator.
It's a great tool for pre-qualifying bullets, before any other comparison is made on them(like bearing length), or before seating.
I submitted a small design change to Bob for a replacement bushing/stem system that allowed for a reasonably priced kit covering most cals. But he didn't seem motivated due to sales as it stood and I can't blame him there. He's a good guy.

For OgvOAL measurements on loaded ammo, I actually prefer a Sinclair 'nut' over all others. I don't know why, but it's just more consistent for me than caliper attachments, or dial indicated stands I've tried so far.
I'm getting around to testing one of these for this: http://www.larrywillis.com/
I've found so far that it does work pretty good for headspacing(which surprised me).

 

[bozo699]

Bob Green's tool is an ogive comparator, and not an OAL comparator.
It's a great tool for pre-qualifying bullets, before any other comparison is made on them(like bearing length), or before seating.
I submitted a small design change to Bob for a replacement bushing/stem system that allowed for a reasonably priced kit covering most cals. But he didn't seem motivated due to sales as it stood and I can't blame him there. He's a good guy.

For OgvOAL measurements on loaded ammo, I actually prefer a Sinclair 'nut' over all others. I don't know why, but it's just more consistent for me than caliper attachments, or dial indicated stands I've tried so far.
I'm getting around to testing one of these for this: http://www.larrywillis.com/
I've found so far that it does work pretty good for headspacing(which surprised me).

Mike,
I agree with you on the comparator tool and it's uses. Also I bought the Larry Willis headspace gauge which really isn't a headspace gauge but a comparator itself and it does a great job of it, I get very repeatable results with it and wouldn't be without it now that I own it. I never had good results with the Sinclair nut and got rid of it but that was a long time ago and have since learned how to operate a caliper so maybe I would get better results with it, I should pick one up and give it another try.
Wayne.

 

[MVW]

I believe Bob Green also has a caliper tool that is reamed to match the throat, so that you get an OAL from the base of the cartridge to the ogive. Just for fun I also use it to check bearing surface on bullets before they are loaded.