What Tool To Measure Throat Depth

[Sqdqo]

What tool do you use to measure throat depth for bullet seating reasons?

 

[jds holler]

I'm a pretty low tech guy, and here's what I do.

I take the particular bullet and stick it in the mouth of a fired case. It should easily slip into the neck but give a little resistance. Squeeze the mouth to fit the bullet tighter if needed. Now chamber the dummy cartridge, extract it and measure it -- several times. You now have an OAL to the lands. (with that particular bullet) jd

 

[Matt in Virginia]

FWIW & IMHO,
Sinclair makes a kit that takes a lot of the guess work out of it. I learned with a bent case mouth and a bullet colored with a sharpie and I knew there had to be a better way. There was and is...

http://www.sinclairintl.com/reloadi...lair-bullet-seating-depth-tool-prod35491.aspx

Regards, Matt.

Btw, I use a cheap Dewey bore guide to drop the bullet into the lands. Not at such an angle that it allows the bullet to accelerate and impact/engage the rifling and affect the measurement. That said at a modest angle it makes for simple straight bullet placement...ime

 

[Lapua40X]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FDA-CE-Dent...Material-Putty-Type0-2-20g-1Set-/152454769556

 

[hoz53]

What tool do you use to measure throat depth for bullet seating reasons?

Use the wheeler method to find touch if you want a reference for seating bullets. Go to wheeler accuracy web site to get to it. If you want to really measure it cerrosafe your chamber and measure directly.

 

[jepp2]

I never had any luck getting the Stony gage (now Hornady OAL gage) to work accurately for me. So what I use now is shown in the picture below. It works for me. It took me a while to develop the "feel" for when the bullet is in contact with the lands. It is easy to "shove" the bullet 0.020" into the lands when you think it is just contacting the lands.

The stops are exactly 0.500" so I can either measure between them, or on the outside and subtract 1.000" for OAL. Yes, to the tip not the ogive, but for my purposes it is just fine.

[URL=http://s860.photobucket.com/user/jepp2/media/COL5_zps0c16fc31.jpg.html][/URL]

 

[Steffen Bunde]

I use the Sinclair tool - works great.

 

[ShootDots]

Here is something to think about. Once you are satisfied that you have found the length of the base of the case to the ogive of the bullet as it touches the lands, with whatever method you use, save a few of those bullets from that lot. Then after one hundred rounds of firing, take those same bullets and do another seating depth test. After you have done that 4 or 5 times, you will get a pretty good idea of just how fast the throat of your rifle is being eroded every 100 rounds. Some powders eat up throats at an alarming rate, others are a bit more gentle. You will learn after awhile which powders in which cases will give you the longest barrel life reasonably possible. HINT! All powders eat up throats, some just have bigger appetites!

 

[kolar55]

I never had any luck getting the Stony gage (now Hornady OAL gage) to work accurately for me. So what I use now is shown in the picture below. It works for me. It took me a while to develop the "feel" for when the bullet is in contact with the lands. It is easy to "shove" the bullet 0.020" into the lands when you think it is just contacting the lands.

The stops are exactly 0.500" so I can either measure between them, or on the outside and subtract 1.000" for OAL. Yes, to the tip not the ogive, but for my purposes it is just fine.

I use this method also but after getting the measurement I take the same bullet used for this and seat it to the exact OAL and then measure the base to ogive with the comparator. I have also used this to verify jam length to see if the bullet has pulled back out of the case upon extraction. Works for me.

 

[hoz53]

Here is something to think about. Once you are satisfied that you have found the length of the base of the case to the ogive of the bullet as it touches the lands, with whatever method you use, save a few of those bullets from that lot. Then after one hundred rounds of firing, take those same bullets and do another seating depth test. After you have done that 4 or 5 times, you will get a pretty good idea of just how fast the throat of your rifle is being eroded every 100 rounds. Some powders eat up throats at an alarming rate, others are a bit more gentle. You will learn after awhile which powders in which cases will give you the longest barrel life reasonably possible. HINT! All powders eat up throats, some just have bigger appetites!

That is good advice and something I have not done but will try thanks

 

[hoz53]

I never had any luck getting the Stony gage (now Hornady OAL gage) to work accurately for me. So what I use now is shown in the picture below. It works for me. It took me a while to develop the "feel" for when the bullet is in contact with the lands. It is easy to "shove" the bullet 0.020" into the lands when you think it is just contacting the lands.

The stops are exactly 0.500" so I can either measure between them, or on the outside and subtract 1.000" for OAL. Yes, to the tip not the ogive, but for my purposes it is just fine. I have used tools like that- the stony point ect and I just can not get the right feel consistently like you say so that is why i use the wheeler method