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Buckythebrewer · January 13, 2007, 11:48 AM

I guess for handgun ammo(straight walled),It is not very important.But for loading bottle necked cartridges for semi-autos, gauges(like the rcbs precision mic,and to a lesser degree the wilson cartridge headspace gauge) for measuring shoulder displacement is a must IMO..Also I believe everyone using bottle neck cartridges sized in a FL die should be using this type of gauge to be sure they are not sizing there brass to much(increasing the chance of head case seperation).The exception would be neck sizing dies in Bolt actions because the brass is already sized properly to the chamber.
Again ,all this does not apply to straight walled cartridges(most handgun ammo) as far as I know..I was just figuring it would be nice for someone starting out to be able to check quickly that everything is sized properly,,Nice piece of mind,and as far as I know they are cheap too

.Elipce45acp,Were you have 45acp and 9mm to check for size, I agree you would be better off with some nice calipers.If you have the extra$$(I think around $20 a piece maybe less,maybe more)you could get the case gauges.The calipers will tell you the same thing and can be used for many more things than the case gauges can,so it would be $$$ better spent.

January 13, 2007, 11:48 AM	#13
Buckythebrewer Junior member Join Date: April 15, 2006 Location: Jefferson, ME Posts: 700	I guess for handgun ammo(straight walled),It is not very important.But for loading bottle necked cartridges for semi-autos, gauges(like the rcbs precision mic,and to a lesser degree the wilson cartridge headspace gauge) for measuring shoulder displacement is a must IMO..Also I believe everyone using bottle neck cartridges sized in a FL die should be using this type of gauge to be sure they are not sizing there brass to much(increasing the chance of head case seperation).The exception would be neck sizing dies in Bolt actions because the brass is already sized properly to the chamber. Again ,all this does not apply to straight walled cartridges(most handgun ammo) as far as I know..I was just figuring it would be nice for someone starting out to be able to check quickly that everything is sized properly,,Nice piece of mind,and as far as I know they are cheap too.Elipce45acp,Were you have 45acp and 9mm to check for size, I agree you would be better off with some nice calipers.If you have the extra$$(I think around $20 a piece maybe less,maybe more)you could get the case gauges.The calipers will tell you the same thing and can be used for many more things than the case gauges can,so it would be $$$ better spent.