Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles ??Case Length Headspace Gauge??

I have some brass that has been fired several times in the same chamber. Trimmed to length, but it still is pretty tight to chamber or will not chamber. My question is on the "case length head space gauge". When using the gauge, if the case heads are raised above the gauge does that mean the shoulder needs to be bumped back or the case needs to be FL resized? Watched a few videos, and it seems the gauge does not measure diameter of the brass....so I assume it's the shoulder that needs to be set back.

I do not have the "Length Headspace Gauge" yet. Just looking for some answers as to cases.

All help is appreciated.

If the case fits but the head is high ( above the upper most edge), the shoulder needs to be bumped. If the case does not enter the gage, the case needs to be resized and the shoulder possibly needs to be bumped back (or not).

Test this out for yourself with virgin brass, 1x fired brass, 2x fired brass etc.

Quit buying useless expensive gimmicks...your chamber is your gauge...prussian blue or magic marker your too snug case...close the bolt, open , eject, read the witness marks on the case. Adjust dies, repeat until it chambers the way you desire..lock die. The bright witness marks may be on the shoulder and/or just ahead of the web, either way the bright marks will tell you where the interference is.

Nah, I think everyone needs headspace comparators, benchrest neck sizing dies and fancy oal finding tools. You have to have all those tools to survive hand loading these days...

That absolutely works...but it sure is a lot faster and easier to use the tools available.

Agreed, some may feel it’s not needed, some like using the tool for the job.

Always find it funny when people feel the need to tell others what they don’t need to spend money on.

To me it is dumb as hell to buy a bunch of guns for the sole purpose of punching holes in paper, to each their own.

What Sakoluvr said. The case needs to enter the gauge freely - "plunk" is a good word - for accurate assessment of need to bump the shoulder.

Loading for a single rifle, especially with brass fired from it, the rifle's chamber works perfectly.

Evidently, am not the only one with a drawer full of uppers looking for ammo that works in all. The Wilson gauge works for me.

Yes, I worded that poorly, for which I apologize. My point being, clearly this time I hope, the reamer that cut the 'chamber' on the tool is not the reamer your chamber in your rifle was cut with. SAAMI specs are the target for the machinist and they issue a plus or minus tolerance, the reamers have tolerances...the depth that reamer cut into the tool during production has tolerances...the same applies to the chamber of your rifle. So without even considering the biggest variable, which is the distance from the shoulder to the bolt face, you are now, in machinist parlance, in the area of 4 or 5 "stacking errors". IF your gauge happens to exactly match the chamber on your rifle, excellent, you are fortunate and the gauge is worth every cent. The chances of your tool exactly matching the chamber of your rifle with 5 variables are not good. Buy what you want and enjoy it.

Not a fan of the drop in chamber gauges. The Hornady tool is like 40 bucks. Money well spent. I assume you are neck sizing if the brass has been fired 4 times and wont chamber? Then yes the shoulder needs to be bumped.

308
Loosen your full length sizing die lock ring, then tighten the die 1/4 turn, snug up the lock ring. Resize a previous case where the bolt would not close. Try the fresh resized case in your chamber by closing the bolt and feeling no resistance (hopeful). Fine tune with 1/8 turns on other cases. I use case length gauges and comparators but always check in my chamber for that clean unencumbered closed bolt. What does that feel like? It’s the same as if the bolt were closed while the chamber were empty. If you turn the die in too far you will shorten the case unnecessarily causing another unwanted condition that is easily detected with a case length gauge. Good luck!

I reload for my Ruger Hawkeye .308. I Pretty much have it worked out now with all the help from above. It was just a pain in the butt running each case through the chamber. When I check cases in the chamber I have the complete firing pin group removed from the bolt. No pressure on bolt closure or lift unless the case has a problem. I now have the FL die setup for "proper" Case/shoulder resizing. I also bought the "Wilson case length headspace gauge" much easier than running every case through the chamber or resizing every case every time.

For 308 (and many others) a really fancy gauge will work nicely to show how much you've moved the shoulder back. What is this marvelous doohickey? A deprimed piece of 40 S&W brass.

Put the 40 case over the mouth of the 308 case and measure the length of the whole pair. Size the 308 case. Repeat the measurement with the 40 case in place. The difference in the measurements is how much the shoulder of the 308 case was moved.