Dave Manson, at Manson Reamers, also makes a Field gage.
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Dave Manson, at Manson Reamers, also makes a Field gage.
Even if the chamber is on the long side, all a reloader has to do is fireform the brass to fit and re-size accordingly. Of course that may mean the ammo can only be used in that rifle
True
TANSTAAFL- There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
I do save my brass (with the intent to start reloading in the future). Sounds like I should stick to the no-go gauge. I imagine it would require quite a few rounds before you get past nogo anyways.
Or I could get both and know that after I pass nogo just start shooting steel-cased until the barrel is trash (since it is probally close to end of life at that point anyways) and then start again.
From what I've seen, the no-go gage dimensions are arbitrary and vary from one maker to another. The field gage, which measures 1.4736", is the best option for determining if your headspace is safe. Measure your fire-formed brass to see what your actual headpsace is. I'm willing to bet it will be closer to the minimum, 1.4636"
All I care about is safe/not safe. The rest is just details. There is no practical way to adjust headspace on an AR-15 for the home hobiest other than to test a box full of bolts hoping you will find one that is where you want it. Therefore, I don't mess with go and no-go gauges and stick with a genuine U.S. military field guage.
Some headspace gauge dimensions here:
http://ar15barrels.com/data/headspace.pdf
Field and Go gauges are most important.
Not entirely true. If you have factory brass that was fired in an excessive headspace chamber the thinning of the web has already started and can result in a head separation on the first reload firing. The proper way to make ammo for excessive headspace is to neck up virgin brass and then neck back down to set the new shoulder in the proper position.
Brownells sells headspace gauge sets in .001" increments if you want to know what your exact headspace distance is.
You can adjust your headspace if you have a bucket full of stripped bolts and some proper measuring tools to pick a bolt that is slightly dimensionally different in the direction you need.
Advntrjnky
I think this is the style of Gauge you are looking for. But this is the field gauge for 5.56mm
gauge reads
7799734
rifle/carbine
5.56 mm
gage
headspace
1.4730 (max)
field service
mfr 19204
00900723