Calipers and gages

[TailGator]

Forgive me if these are dumb questions, but I am beyond new to reloading - I am just now researching the idea of starting to reload for handgun calibers.

Are calipers and chamber gages redundant? I have a set of old vernier calipers in good condition. Should I plan on using them, replacing them with dial or digital calipers, buy chamber gages, or use some combination? Chamber gages appeal to me as an alternative to using pistol barrels for plunk tests if they are accurate.

And is there a reason they are so commonly referred to as gages rather than gauges? (I thought it was a misspelling the first time I saw it.)

 

[4runnerman]

Tailgator- I think ( for me anyhow) digital calipers are just easier to read. If you are proficient with the ones you have-No reason to change-although a pair of digital calipers are only $10.00 or so. The plunk test- I have heard of it many times in here-Point being if you buy a good die set and know how to use it, you will never need to do the plunk test.

 

[GTOne]

Gauge is a correct way to spell it. Gage has a slightly different meaning, in general.

In case gauges or headspace measurement gauges, they are called gauges everywhere I've seen.

You'll get good use out of both tools. Calipers are almost a must.(Millions of rounds were loaded over the years without, before they became inexpensive).
The case gauges are handy for quick checking ammo before boxing it up, and make it easy to set up bottleneck(rifle) sizing dies.
Your pistol barrel will do the job if that is all you're reloading.

I try to make a point to eventually gather a gauge for every caliber I load. I wouldn't load rifle without one. Easy enough to make ammo that would chamber without, but I'd rather not overwork the brass and it is an inexpensive way to avoid that.

The L.E.Wilson or Dillons are good. I would not buy a Lyman, too many bad reviews.

 

[chiefr]

I don't think I could turn out the quality of ammo and maintain and work on guns w/o a set of calipers. They are used when I make chamber casts, slug bores, adjust dies and many more.
Being old school I use analog or mechanical or whatever you want to call because that was how I learned. They can be calibrated and adjusted if required. You don't need batteries.
As far a digital, yes owned a set for about a year and used occasionally when I would forget where I left my mechanical one. The Digital worked OK until I accidently dropped it.

 

[Bart B.]

The only thing better than a precision measuring tool is a machinist friend helping you use it properly to get accurate measurements that are repeatable across several times done.

 

[bedbugbilly]

I'm and old ^#@& . . . and my eyesight isn't what it used to be. I primarily load pistol ammo. I use a set of digital calipers - I think I paid about $20 or so for them and I just find them easier to read. I still have a 1" micrometer that I use to check my cast bullet diameters after casting, etc. but I have had that for 40 some years - an old Sears brand and it works fine.

I do have "cartridge gauges" for the ammo I'm loading - 38 spl, 9mm, .380. While I don't really the 38 spl one very much, I do check randomly as some of my lead bullets I load "as cast". I do use the others frequently when loading just to make sure the cartridges are falling within spec.

Some use their barrels and do a "plunk test" when they are loading rimless which will also work.

I will say that until I got the digital calipers, I never knew what I was missing. I find that I use them quite frequently on things besides reloading as well.

 

[243winxb]

Use old vernier calipers

For handgun cartridges, a simple plastic tool works well to set COL . The barrel has the last word as to the quality of your ammo. Use it. Ammo has been know to pass the gage test, but fail the barrel chamber test. Bottle neck rifle cartridges may have head clearance (mostly called headspace) issues, so a "gage" is a handy tool, if loading on a progressive press. Not so much on a single stage press, as the dies size correctly 99% of the time.

[/URL][/IMG] http://www.photobucket.com/joe1944usa

 

[WESHOOT2]

exception

I have many cartridge gauges.

The only thing they confirm is that a cartridge does or doesn't fit them; use your actual barrel from your actual gun to actually confirm they fit that.

I have two barrels with chambers tighter than any of the gauges I own for that cartridge.

 

[Jim243]

A good caliper is a must, even a cheap one will work well. I use a Frankfort Arsenal one that did not cost that much. As to gauges, I only purchased them for rifle calibers.

Pistol calibers index on the mouth of the case while rifle cases index on the shoulder of the case. And taking out the barrel of a pistol is such an easy process for a plunk test (chamber test) that gauges for pistol calibers is a bit redundant.

Jim

 

[happymachinist]

Gauge is a correct way to spell it. Gage has a slightly different meaning, in general.

In case gauges or headspace measurement gauges, they are called gauges everywhere I've see

Gage is an acceptable spelling. Machinists dropped the "u" a long time ago.

 

[Clark]

I have:
Dial calipers
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VBCF0Q/ref=biss_dp_t_asn
digital calipers [my cousin designed these and got a patent]
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...ndustrial&field-keywords=Mitutoyo 500-752-10
head space gauges [go type]
http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...ges/clymer-headspace-gauges-go-prod27266.aspx
pin gauges
http://www.amazon.com/MC-0-M-011--060-Minus-Tolerance-Pin/dp/B0007Q1PV0
http://www.amazon.com/MC-1-M-061-250-Minus-Tolerance-Pin/dp/B0007Q74XI/
http://www.amazon.com/MC-2-M-251-500-001-Minus-Tolerance-Pin/dp/B0007PZF30/
http://www.amazon.com/MC-3-M-501-625-Minus-Tolerance-Pin/dp/B0007Q1PVA/
tube micrometer
http://www.use-enco.com/1/1/3319-tu...sc-spline-specialty-micrometers-990-1889.html
micrometer
http://www.amazon.com/Mitutoyo-193-211-Outside-Micrometer-Friction/dp/B001C0XXK6/
case gauges
http://www.sinclairintl.com/reloadi...adspace-tools/wilson-case-gage-prod33287.aspx
feeler gauge
http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Proto-J000AA-Master-Feeler/dp/B001HWDOK8/ref=sr_1_2?s=industrial
concentricity gauge [with dial indicator]
http://www.sinclairintl.com/reloadi...s/sinclair-concentricity-gauge-prod37479.aspx
depth micrometer
http://www.amazon.com/Brown-Sharpe-599-603-126-3-Micrometer-Resolution/dp/B0006J3GKQ/
test indicator and magnetic base
http://www.amazon.com/Mitutoyo-513-402-Horizontal-Indicator-0-15-0/dp/B001C0ZNH2/

I could get a round reloaded with two rocks and a nail.
I could shoot sub moa with just the dial calipers and a beam scale for measuring equipment.

 

[TailGator]

Thanks for the advice. The vernier caliper had the attraction of being handed down from my father, but I didn't realize that digital calipers were so affordable, so I will pick one up. I had thought that having a chamber gage (thank you for the spelling comment, happymachinist) would be convenient, but if they aren't reliable indicators of the pistol barrel dimensions, there is no convenience to them.

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

The plunk test- I have heard of it many times in here-Point being if you buy a good die set and know how to use it, you will never need to do the plunk test.

A good Die cannot seat bullets automatically to needed depth. Given the vast number of bullet sizes, weights, types, and different chambers in various guns I don't see how a Plunk Test is never needed!

 

[4runnerman]

wrenck n crew- I am kinda lost on your statement. Bullet size,weight,ect does not matter at all. You are adjusting your die to seat what ever bullet you are loading to the depth you need. The die does yor seating to the depth you set,which is what fits your chamber. Plunk test never needed.

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

wrenck n crew- I am kinda lost on your statement. Bullet size,weight,ect does not matter at all. You are adjusting your die to seat what ever bullet you are loading to the depth you need. The die does yor seating to the depth you set,which is what fits your chamber. Plunk test never needed.

What depth do you need and how is that determined? How do you know what fits your chamber? Couple of ways to help determine that and listed OAL within the load data is one of the most common. However it is a recipe and not absolutely to all pistols. I have loaded with listed OAL data to have the bullet sticking in the rifling. I was actually .002 under listed OAL and still was sticking.

Then there is working up a load on a bullet you have no data for. You could go online and make a thread, wait, have someone with the data relay it back too you or go find a book that has the data and buy it before returning home and using it, or search similar loads and cross reference , still doesn't mean it will fit. Plunk testing is fast and accurate, so how would a good die or knowing how to use it help me avoid using the plunk test in this case as well? Which is what I originally was trying to figure out. I mean even if there was a way to determine OAL of every bullet easily, at my fingertips and it were universal to every gun, why would it be the "good dies" and "knowing how to use them" that insured there was no need for plunking? Wouldn't the better, freely accessible and universal listed OAL data be what insures there was no need for plunking? Besides what does a good pistol die do compared to dies that are not as good? Maybe decrease the OAL variances by +/- .005" Max. However If I have good, universal Max OAL data I can always take the cheaper dies (knowing they vary by as much as +/- .005" and shorten them by .006" or more to insure feeding. Also knowing how to use them still doesn't tell me how deep to seat the bullet.

There are more reasons Plunking is useful. Even other than length. IF someone over crimps and bulges the bullet but they are new and don't know why the bullet is not feeding well. By using a marker and a plunk test they can determine fairly quickly and without looking up specs where the problem lies and most likely what caused it.

Because of those reasons and more Is the reason I believe the plunk test is useful. Also the reason why good Dies and knowing how they work/use them have nothing to do with whether or not there is a usefulness for plunk testing.

 

[4runnerman]

Wreck-n-crew- Ok that all makes sense now. It's just in all my years of loading I have never had the situation you say happen on any caliber. I have never not been able to find load data for a bullet I am loading either. Course I stay with common bullets. Thanks for the lesson.

 

[mikld]

I reloaded several years, mebb 12, without measuring OAL, because I reloaded for revolvers and seated bullets to the crimp groove/cannalure. When I started reloading for 2, 45 ACP pistols (a Ruger and a 1911) I began using dial calipers to measure OAL, but very quickly found that some ammo that would chamber in my 1911, would not fit my Ruger P90! Different guns, different chambers. The best way to determine if a round will chamber reliably is the plunk test (I have a Wilson gauge but have found an occasional round that fits the Wilson, but doesn't like the chamber of my gun???).