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Favorite bullet comparator/shoulder bump

Kevin1990

So I installed new flooring in my reloading room/basement, brought everything back in,(I moved it 20 feet) and can’t find my Hornady guages/inserts, or body. They are just gone. No idea how.

Was wondering what everyone’s favorite was?

I just noticed Whidden has a multi purpose OAL gauge that uses bushings. Looks like a pretty cool product. Or maybe a SAC comparator?

Thanks fellas!
 
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I’ve always used the standard Hornady gauges, or the Whidden bump gauge that comes with the dies. I don’t think spending more money buys you more accuracy. What does matter is always using the exact same gauge insert for the same gun/cartridge. The other thing that has helped me getting consistent measurements is a good set of calipers and the little red Hornady anvil base attached to the sliding end of the calipers. Having said that the new Whidden gauge that uses bushings looks good and is fairly inexpensive provided you have the necessary bushing.
Nothing worse than loosing or misplacing tools, and the older I get the more I do it !!!!!!!!!!!
 
I use the Whidden bump gauge for setting my dies for optimum sizing. It's a single piece caliber group specific bump gauge - no inserts - minimal interfaces. Works great for me especially if you leave it installed on your caliper. I get very consistent and repeatable measurements.
 
The SAC comparator will center on caliper effortlessly. I was an advocate for the Redding instant indicator and long believed it was the cats meow. Now I am hooked on the SAC comparator with matched angle. Every piece of brass centers with exact quick readings.
 
Kevin1990 said:
@6BRA Read a thread on here about the o-ring locking system having some play? Any play in yours?


@ACard that sure is a nice set. Too much for this poor man, though! Lol
Click to expand...
It is, I shoot primarily ELR and decided to upgrade from the SAC set to these, as 6BRA noted just make sure you get a good sold close on your calipers when zeroing with the SAC. They are great tools!
 
One thing to be aware of is that the hole size for a given caliber comparator insert from different companies may not be the same. For example, the hole sizes in Hornady's aluminum comparator inserts are noticeably smaller than the comparable steel inserts sold by Sinclair.

What does this mean for the user? The smaller the hole, the farther out the comparator insert seats on the ogive of a given diameter bullet. This means that if buying a new set of comparator inserts, the CBTO lengths measured for established loads will no longer be the same as they were with the old set of comparator inserts. Should this be a deal-breaker? Not necessarily. But reloaders generally have much greater than average OCD, so it is something to be aware of before making the change. Because bullet length variance between the two contact points on the bullet ogive critical for uniform seating depth (seating die stem/comparator insert contact points), using a comparator insert with a different sized hole can also affect the perception of seating depth consistency. My point here is simply that if the Hornady comparator inserts worked well for you previously, there are sometimes good reasons not to switch brands.
 
@Ned Ludd I did notice that the holes on the Hornady inserts were rather small. I also was not a huge fan of them, as they felt soft and the bullet would wedge in it often with very little force. Really good point Ned. im only reloading for 4 different cartridges right right now, and I have ammo loaded for all of them. So ill measure everything with the new ones, and redo a lot of notes. Ill compare with my new comparator, and then compare notes. haha
 
I have seen differences in the Hornady inserts on the pointy secant ogive bullets (88/90 gr .223) up to .020” between two comparators on the same bullet CBTO. My old one which is likely wallowed out a bit over the years versus a new one.
 
I started with Sinclair's stn.stl. inserts, got a Whidden from a custom die purchase, and recently bought a Hornady full set to fully cover all the bases for all the cartridges I reload for. Unless I have a smith-made gauge, for competition cartridges I prefer the Sinclair inserts being stn.stl. and replicates the shoulder angle for greater contact with the brass shoulder than the minimal edge contact of the Hornady and Whidden gauges.
 
My Hornady .223 insert contacts the ogive @ about 0.213" diameter.
When I bought the set I got an extra .223 insert and reamed it to 0.217" figuring it would be closer to the contact point with a 0.219" bore. Of course if I lose it I will have to start over and modify another.
With a cheapo caliper I can get very repeatable readings.
217-insert.jpg
85.5-BTO.jpg
I use that to sort bullets and measure CBTO.

For bump I use a flared X39 steel case. I adjust for "just short enough" to chamber a case (AR-15 slow fire) with a fit check in chamber, then adjust for another 0.002".
HeadSpace-1.jpg

I set up body dies for two different chambers and bolts (about 0.001" difference).
One set for the wife's AR using 22 Nosgar, and mine with 22 N/Dogtown brass.
H-and-N-bump.jpg
 
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