After having my rifle built, I needed to get some brass put together and get my dies adjusted. I have a pile of once fired 30-06 that I intend to use for cast bullet shooting and a bunch of Hornady 35 Whelen Brass for jacketed. I also have another rifle in 35 Whelen AI and need to make sure I keep everything straight between the two rifles.
Measuring is a PITA with all the different brass, as most bump gauges have generic hole that sits somewhere on the shoulder and gives you a caliper reading to compare each case to. That doesn't work so well with cases of varying shoulder angles (fire formed vs. factory vs. 06, etc.) as the gauge doesn't sit in the same place on any of them. The number on the dial is pretty much worthless. What I really needed was a stub gauge, but I didn't think of it in time and the stub from the barrel shank was long gone. The Hornady Headspace Gauge Kit that is pretty much useless for my purpose had potential once modified. I took the insert that had the hole diameter closest to the bore and set out to make a gauge that would work.
My dad chucked it up and centered it in his lathe, drilled a pilot hole for the reamer (I purchased the reamer for my build, so I had it here). Some light duty cutting (the insert is aluminum) with ample cutting fluid, and the part was finished. Now I can measure any case and know how it fits the chamber. I have the cases from test firing of the rifle, so I used those to zero the calipers before making measurements on other cases. I was able to set my die up to size 0.002" under the fire form dimension in just a minute or two. I can also measure how much crush I am getting on factory ammo and I am able to set the location of the false shoulder on the 30-06 brass so that I get sufficient crush for fire forming. Measurements are for more consistent as well, since the neck and shoulder are held by the gauge instead of an oversize hole floating on the shoulder.
I can now measure the difference between rifles and use die shims to allow the use of the same die for both rifles. I am happy.
Measuring is a PITA with all the different brass, as most bump gauges have generic hole that sits somewhere on the shoulder and gives you a caliper reading to compare each case to. That doesn't work so well with cases of varying shoulder angles (fire formed vs. factory vs. 06, etc.) as the gauge doesn't sit in the same place on any of them. The number on the dial is pretty much worthless. What I really needed was a stub gauge, but I didn't think of it in time and the stub from the barrel shank was long gone. The Hornady Headspace Gauge Kit that is pretty much useless for my purpose had potential once modified. I took the insert that had the hole diameter closest to the bore and set out to make a gauge that would work.
My dad chucked it up and centered it in his lathe, drilled a pilot hole for the reamer (I purchased the reamer for my build, so I had it here). Some light duty cutting (the insert is aluminum) with ample cutting fluid, and the part was finished. Now I can measure any case and know how it fits the chamber. I have the cases from test firing of the rifle, so I used those to zero the calipers before making measurements on other cases. I was able to set my die up to size 0.002" under the fire form dimension in just a minute or two. I can also measure how much crush I am getting on factory ammo and I am able to set the location of the false shoulder on the 30-06 brass so that I get sufficient crush for fire forming. Measurements are for more consistent as well, since the neck and shoulder are held by the gauge instead of an oversize hole floating on the shoulder.
I can now measure the difference between rifles and use die shims to allow the use of the same die for both rifles. I am happy.
