Just Checking: What is a Case Gauge?

Reloading your ammo is the best way to practice. Reloading your ammo is the best way to get the best ammo possible for a competition. You’ll find a piece that doesn’t chamber when you vacuum up the range. This usually happens during a match. Murphy’s Law, etc. That night you’ll find yourself searching online for case gauges. Do it now and save yourself the hassle of having to match. Case checkers consist of a simple steel or aluminum block that has been reamed down to the absolute minimum chamber dimensions. They are used to check the “shoulder-bump” when reloading rifles. This is the setting of the shoulder that you check in order to have the proper headspacing set up. Case checkers are made by many people. Just choose the caliber that you need and use it. These are made by EGW and Dillon. After you’ve cleaned and sorted your brass (and also checked for cracks), load your ammunition. Once you’ve loaded a few rounds, spend some time alone dropping each round into the gauge. Turn the gauge upside down to let it fall. You should also check and feel the primer to ensure it is properly seated. (not upside down, sideways or crushed)… and below flush. If the round won’t fall out of its weight when you turn over the case gauge, it fails. Set aside the fails. What passes is your good ammunition, and you can compete or practice with it with confidence. What do you do when you fail? Learn. Inspect them first. Do they look normal? Good. Keep them. You should discard the ones where the bullet has crumpled or distorted the case because it caught the mouth of the case. Case checkers are caliber specific. You may not belling the empty cases enough, or you may be ham-handed when setting bullets or pulling on the press handle. There is no “one-size-fits-all” so buy the calibers that you will be loading. Learn what you are doing wrong and fix it. When you practice, bring along the box of failures. You’ll notice that there won’t be too many. They’ll be cases with a slight bulge at the base, which won’t pass a case-check. Shoot your usual practice session. Now, collect all your brass (and anything else you are used to collecting at the gun club). Load the magazine with all the failures and fire them. If all of them work, you know that your case gauge is better than your chamber. If a checked round does not stick halfway out of the case checker, then it is probably still good to use. Keep them as practice rounds, not match rounds. You have to find out if the chamber and the checker agree. This round is barely not-passing but it will probably work in most pistols. Test-shoot your rejects. If more than one or two fail, you’ll know that your checker and chamber are in close accord. Anything that fails the case gauge will only be “end of practice”. You can now take those empty cases and throw them away. You are doing a service to your fellow club members when you remove the oversized brass from circulation. Where does this brass originate? Some brass is bad. You can find out the names and head stamps of brass you should avoid by doing a quick search. Check your ammo and make your practice good, not just malfunction-clearing afternoons. Get Started with Reloading : Download your free Storm Tactical printable target pack62 Printable MOA targets with DOT drills – Rifle range in YARDSThis impressive Target Pack from our friends at Storm Tactical includes62 printable targets for rifle and handgun ranges. The grids and bullseyes are measured in MOA. Subscribe to the Gun Digest newsletter and we will send you your print-at home target pack immediately. Enter your email below.