do strait walled need a case gauge?

[Axis II]

I have ventured out of bottle neck and into straitwalled cases-9mm, 44mag, 45-70 and 38spl. I was wondering do you guys use a gauge for strait walled cartridges or just plunk them? I have loaded for my 44mag and being a single shot if the case fell in and out of the chamber freely i called it good and the same with 9mm.

Is 38spl okay to plunk in the cylinder and if it free falls I'm okay or should i use a gauge and the same for 45-70 which is also a single shot.

 

[stoky]

IMO, you need one for the 9mm more than the others you mentioned. It's taper is relatively profound (for it's length), it's a high pressure cartridge and cases insufficiently sized can stuck in semi autos.

 

[Walkalong]

I do not use a gauge for any straight walled pistol caliber. The 9MM is the only pistol caliber I use a case gauge for. If your 9MM chamber is generous, as many are, it's unlikely you will need a gauge for it either.

 

[Sunray]

Best gauge there is is the barrel's chamber or the cylinder. Never used a gauge of any kind in 40 plus years myself. Mind you, when I started there was no such thing.
Best you read your manual's how-to chapter again.
Biggest difference between straight walled cases and bottle necked is the need for a wee bit of flare on the case mouth. Just enough to be able to sit the bullet in the mouth and have it stay put. That and pistol cases, like the 9mm, headspace on the case mouth. Means no roll crimping, ever. You can roll crimp rimmed cases, but still only enough to hold the bullet in place. No crimp at all for .39 Special target loads though.

 

[ATLDave]

I case gauge my 9mm, .45, and 10mm cartridges. Is it essential? No, it isn't. As long as the dies are set up correctly and the bullet profile plays well with your barrels, that's what matters. The individual rounds of ammo certainly don't remember whether they were gauged at the time they are fired.

However: I have caught some problem rounds through the gauging process. Some of these were due to brass that had work-hardened to the point where it was no longer taking the re-sizing (just sprang back out to an oversized dimension - this also meant the rounds had insufficient tension!); those get pulled and tossed. Some, more commonly, were situations where the brass had a ding or gouge or nick (usually on the extractor rim) that was just enough to prevent gauging. Those get marked and used as practice/plinking rounds. About 99% of the time, they work just fine. But sometimes they don't.

My casual observation is that high-volume reloaders/shooters who gauge every round do seem to have a little less trouble in matches than those who don't. But maybe it's just that OCD types like gauges, and the same OCD tendencies cause them to make good ammo to begin with.

 

[HOWARD J]

I use a case gage for all my cartridges except Mi carbine( wilson will not make a proper one) For carbine I use the revolver of a Ruger blackhawk--if it works in the blackhawk --it works in the M1 carbine

 

[someguy2800]

I've never owned a case gauge for any cartridge and I don't really know why I would want one.

 

[.308 Norma]

I've never owned a case gauge for any cartridge and I don't really know why I would want one.

Me neither.

 

[LUCKYDAWG13]

Just use your barrel

 

[VAReloader]

I am a big fan of a case gauge. Below are 3 photos.
#1 - every once in awhile things just don't go right, this will fail both the case gauge and plunk test
#2 - an ever so slight malformation of the case
#3 - different angle of #2
The second bullet will pass the plunk test but fails the case gauge.

That said, it's probably safe to shoot but is it worth the risk? Probably, but then again you never know.

 

[Axis II]

I'm new to handgun so trying to keep it safe. I bought one for 223 and used it maybe 10 times and now just set the die up till the once fired lake city military brass chambers. I'm running a lot of mixed handgun brass so was thinking it would be a safe thing to use but if it's not needed I'll use the $25 to buy more components.

 

[hdwhit]

Never used a case gauge.

 

[rfwobbly]

I have ventured out of bottle neck and into straitwalled cases-9mm, 44mag, 45-70 and 38spl. I was wondering do you guys use a gauge for strait walled cartridges or just plunk them?

1. No one "needs" a case gauge. Case gauges are a convenience for some calipers.

2. 9mm are not straight walled case, more precisely they are tapered. As such, they are almost in a class by themselves and there are lots of ways for 9mm reloads to be troublesome. This because, unlike the other cartridges you mentioned, the tapered chamber will allow the 9mm to enter half way and then stop, making troubleshooting difficult. But some pistols have more generous chambers, so the rate of rejection varies.

A case gauge for a competitive shooter with a target chamber then might be a quick way to sort through 300 rounds before a competition to help cull out the possible "troublemakers".

So the answer to your question is it depends on the type shooting you do and the brand of pistol you use.
.

 

[Damon555]

I've never owned a case gauge for any cartridge and I don't really know why I would want one.

Agreed.....Don't waste your time and money. When reloading you can get buried in useless gadgets

 

[Walkalong]

So the answer to your question is it depends on the type shooting you do and the brand of pistol you use.

And do you want your ammo to fit just your pistol, or any pistol in that caliber, assuming a proper SAMMI chamber.

 

[ATLDave]

One other point about the value of a case gauge versus a barrel. Imagine a loaded round with a substantial asymmetry near the base of the cartridge (say, an un-removed Glock bulge). If you drop it in your barrel and the bulge happens to line up with the feedramp, it will plunk. If you then put that round in your magazine and the round comes up with the bulge at the top... failure-to-feed problem ahoy! Case gauges don't have feed ramps. They are more unforgiving than most chambers/barrels.

Only you can decide whether that matters to you. But barrels are not completely functionally equivalent to case gauges.

 

[Walkalong]

Good point.

 

[Axis II]

1. No one "needs" a case gauge. Case gauges are a convenience for some calipers.

2. 9mm are not straight walled case, more precisely they are tapered. As such, they are almost in a class by themselves and there are lots of ways for 9mm reloads to be troublesome. This because, unlike the other cartridges you mentioned, the tapered chamber will allow the 9mm to enter half way and then stop, making troubleshooting difficult. But some pistols have more generous chambers, so the rate of rejection varies.

A case gauge for a competitive shooter with a target chamber then might be a quick way to sort through 300 rounds before a competition to help cull out the possible "troublemakers".

So the answer to your question is it depends on the type shooting you do and the brand of pistol you use.
.

I plan on doing armature IDPA at my club and running a 4.5'' M&P 9mm.

 

[Axis II]

And do you want your ammo to fit just your pistol, or any pistol in that caliber, assuming a proper SAMMI chamber.

I would like to run them for any 9mm if possible.

 

[Walkalong]

A lot of competitors either gauge all the loaded ammo or use a Lee FCD to make sure it will chamber. Accuracy needs to be good, but not great. It's not Bullseye, and a jam/misfeed costs you dearly.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I don't own case gauges for any handgun cartridges. I do however use my barrel as a gauge to be sure I'm not producing useless ammo. Yes, I know it's not perfect but it works for me and I only own one 9mm and one 45 ACP pistol.

I always set up my rifle sizing dies using a gauge. I think it saves a lot of problems for very little time and money.

 

[Axis II]

A lot of competitors either gauge all the loaded ammo or use a Lee FCD to make sure it will chamber. Accuracy needs to be good, but not great. It's not Bullseye, and a jam/misfeed costs you dearly.

I am using a fcd just cause of the range brass I scrounge.

 

[hdwhit]

ATLDave wrote:
If you drop it in your barrel and the bulge happens to line up with the feedramp, it will plunk. If you then put that round in your magazine and the round comes up with the bulge at the top... failure-to-feed problem ahoy!

I understand the point you are making and that you are using "Glocked" brass as example and that there are other things that can cause a round to pass a barrel where they would not pass a case gauge.

But, in the specific case of bulged brass, I am dubious about the ability of any system to properly restore the bulge that results when brass is fired from an unsupported chamber. This is why I cull all brass bulged near the case head from my reloading stream.

 

[mstreddy]

For my 9mm I use my Glock 17's Lone Wolf barrel. It's the tightest chamber of all of my 9MMs, so I load to fit it. Consequently, they will fit in all the others. So for 9MM, that barrel is a very effective gauge.

For my revolvers I check my rounds as I'm setting up the dies in the cylinder. And then I spot check a few as I go along. For 45 ACP I have a storm lake barrel for one of my 1911s and I use it as it is tighter than the others.

 

[hdwhit]

ohihunter wrote:
I was wondering do you guys use a gauge for strait walled cartridges or just plunk them?

Neither.

Now, I only have one gun for each pistol caliber round I load so I don't have to worry about interchangability and I recognize that could change the response, but I have so far found that once I get my reloading dies adjusted to the point where an entire batch of loaded rounds will chamber, I don't have a problem with rounds not fitting.