Vent: My $400 digital headspace gauge just saved a customer's rifle from a bad reload

A guy brought in a custom .308 that was having extraction issues, and his reloading data looked fine on paper. I popped in the gauge and it showed the shoulder was actually being set back about .003 more than his calipers said, which explained everything. Anyone else run into reloads that measure okay but cause problems under pressure?

3 comments

3 Comments

troy_gibson431mo ago

Totally get that. My buddy's 6.5 Creedmoor was doing the same thing, his brass looked fine but the gauge showed a tiny bulge he missed. Ever try checking factory ammo with yours?

burns.patricia1mo ago

Yeah, saw a forum post about gauges catching bad factory rounds too.

rubywebb26d ago

That thing about factory ammo, @troy_gibson43, reminds me of a friend. He had a box of .223 that just felt off, and his gauge found a couple with shoulders pushed way back. Looked perfect in the calipers though.