larry willis headspace tool

[Yellow11]

On the basis of the comments published here and following the principle that you can never have too many tools in the toy box. I ordered one of Larry's tools, which arrived here in the UK much quicker than the normal hangfire delivery I expect from companies like Sinclair.

I opened the box and had a little play and within second of using the appliance I was smiling. It looks simple and questionable accurate at first glance but looks can be deceptive, for it has proved to be simple, effective and accurate.

Lots of success to you Larry - very please to have joined the band of happy owners.

 

[greywolf]

I got my DHG yesterday and have been playing around with it a little. I think I understand the basic concept of the measuring of the headspace and am good to go on that.

The thing I can't yet figure out is how to measure case length and OAL. Maybe I'm just dumb or am having a basic misunderstanding, but here's what I tried and how I explained it to Larry:

I was wondering if there is any special trick to measuring OAL of the case and the COAL once a round is finished.

Since the stem isn't long enough to truly measure OAL or COAL of most cartridges (my measurements give me about 1.0115" total length of the stem with regards to measuring ability) is there a trick you use to get things right?

I was thinking of either a known (from a caliper measurement) block or base (let's say 1"), that you would write down that measurement, and then when measuring the OAL of a case or cartridge you'd just take the measurement from the gauge and add that block/base measurement in. I hope I'm explaining it correctly.


Again, I assume using my method of measuring with a known block or base and adding that measurement will then give me a OAL that I can work with.

He anwered my email but I'm still confused. I feel stupid, but maybe I'm just not explaining what I'm trying to do.

Here was my response:

I guess I'm just unable to conceptualize how to measure the OAL and COAL given your instructions. Meaning, I can't seem to get the gauge to read beyond 1.0115" since from the absolute bottom to the absolute top of the spring arm that it goes up and down on under pressure, it measures from 0 to 1.0115"

I can see that the entire gauge itself will go up the thick shaft 4.25", but I guess my problem was figuring out how to take into account the "free space" that is left when the entire gauge is higher up - I'm honestly not trying to make this difficult - but using a caliper it is easy - I put the blades together, zero out, then open the blades up, put the object to be measured between them, tighten, and viola - I have a measurement. Is it possible to use your instrument to get the same overall measurement reading on the device?

 

[bozo699]

greywolf,
I don't know how it works either and I never ask Larry when I emailed him. Could you email me the instructions Larry gave you and I will try to figure it out. What I would think how the tool would measure coal would be the same as it measures head space....It doesn't it is a comparator tool. I would think you would make a dummy round with a bullet seated exactly where you want it, put the dummy round in your die box and the next time you need to reload for that cartridge you pull out the dummy round,..zreo the DHG,
purposely seat the bullet long and compare it continue turning you seating die down until you have reached zero. with this tool you will always be able to seat your bullets exactly the same once you build your dummy round @ least thats my take on it.
Wayne

 

[greywolf]

greywolf,
I don't know how it works either and I never ask Larry when I emailed him. Could you email me the instructions Larry gave you and I will try to figure it out. What I would think how the tool would measure coal would be the same as it measures head space....It doesn't it is a comparator tool. I would think you would make a dummy round with a bullet seated exactly where you want it, put the dummy round in your die box and the next time you need to reload for that cartridge you pull out the dummy round,..zreo the DHG,
purposely seat the bullet long and compare it continue turning you seating die down until you have reached zero. with this tool you will always be able to seat your bullets exactly the same once you build your dummy round @ least thats my take on it.
Wayne

Yup, that is what I was thinking of doing as well. Make a dummy round for COAL, and a fired case for case length (after trimming to correct size)/headspace (or clearance).

 

[bozo699]

greywolf,
I don't think I would ever be interested in using the tool for comparing oal of case, I would use a blade caliper and trim to where I want. I might use it for coal I don't know I just bought it with shoulder bump in mind and it does a awesome job of that. As a matter of a fact I had a coffee can clear full of .300wm brass that I wasn't sure which one of the of the three rifles it came from. I used Larry's DHG and it took me about 20 minutes to do a couple of hundred cases in three seperate piles with twelve cases that never came from any of my rifles.
With out this tool that job would have been a PIA and took at least a couple of hours. I own five 22-250s and after years of shooting them my wife has about three coffee cans full of just 22-250 brass and some loaded rounds that she has cleaned out of my pockets that I have no idea what goes with what? in a night or two I will tackle that pile. With the DHG I will be certain which brass or rounds goes with which gun when I get done and it won't take that long to do it. For me the tool is well worth its price for that function alone.
Wayne.

 

[greywolf]

Wayne, that's exactly what I had in mind when I bought it. I was having an issue with .300-221 loads - first the problem was the chamber was too tight, so I get it reamed out to .300 BLK, and now I find out that I had my shoulders bumped back too far (I mean a LOT too far!) and so weren't even getting the primer dented and the extractor wouldn't engage the rim or help pull it out. I compared, using the gauge, a fired piece of brass to the loaded piece and found the shoulder was bumped back .038" - yeah, I was surprised as well - LOL. I guess I'll do up my dummy case and dummy loaded round for each caliber and use those as my way of measuring case length and OAL and use thise tool the way it was intended to be used

 

[Dgd6mm]

Thanks Larry, it is obvious it is the best tool I ever bought. They make great gifts.

 

[Innovative]

Greywolf ......

When you use calipers to measure OAL, you get a specific measurement of the overall length of the cartridge. However, that doesn't take into consideration the variation of bullet tips, and it is almost meaningless without ALSO knowing the size of your particular chamber. In fact, if you're concerned about accurate seating, all you really need to know is the distance between your bullet and the rifling. Using a slotted case (like the one below) is explained on the webpage link I emailed you. http://www.larrywillis.com/OAL.html

Measuring to the bullet ogive is far more accurate (and more consistent) than measuring to a bullet point. Just chamber a slotted case (like this) and let your rifle seat the bullet. Then compare this to your handloads, and you'll see "exactly" how deep you to seat your bullets - right at the rifling.

Let me know by email if you have more questions. It's quicker for me to reply by email, and it's less confusing to others. Hope this helps.

Good Shooting,
Larry

 

[greywolf]

I think I get it now, thanks Larry.

Sorry for the hijack and confusion, people.

 

[Heavies]

I have just ordered one of these myself. I can't wait to play!
In the past I just used the 'feel' method of setting up my die. I am super curious to see how far off I am.
Also, I plan to use this as a oal gauge as well.
I do not own any tool to measure from the ogive, so this will take out alot of the guesswork I've been using in my reloading.