Minimum SAAMI chamber gauge...?

[Victor N TN]

I'm looking for minimum chamber gauge for 308. I know that you can buy them for pistol calibers. But I can't find any bigger than 223.

I'm not talking about a case length gauge. But a gauge for checking loaded rounds. I have seen them before. But I can't remember where.

Thanks in advance.
Victor

 

[wxl]

Sheridan gages have 3 steps. "The face of the gauge is equal to the max acceptable headspace length of a SAAMI spec chamber. The middle step is the minimum headspace length of a SAAMI spec chamber. An in spec firing chamber will be somewhere in the range of these 2 slots. To make brass fit any SAAMI spec firing chamber, it should be at the level of, or shorter than the middle step."

The lowest step is the minimum SAAMI spec brass length. If brass is made between the middle step, and and lowest step, it should be in spec, and also fit any in spec firing chamber.
Sheridan Engineering - Slotted Ammunition Gauges

Have a gage (enclosed) or slotted so you can see shoulder of your brass compared to their 'spec' shoulder. Limited calibers, 223, 308, 6.8 300 Blk, 6.5 Gren...

 

[MajorHeadTrauma]

These may be worth a look:

http://whiddengunworks.net/casegauge.html

 

[Victor N TN]

wxl,

I sent an email after I read their faq's and asked a few different questions. Of those was price and lead time. Thank you for the link. That may be just what I'm looking for.

Victor

 

[Victor N TN]

wxl,

I got an email late last night, evidently from the owner. I think I'll be ordering at least 1 pretty soon. Thanks for the word.

 

[MajorHeadTrauma]

I think you will be pleased with Whidden. They have always been very responsive to my requests. They have been more than willing to machine products to adapt to changes


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Victor N TN]

I think you will be pleased with Whidden. They have always been very responsive to my requests. They have been more than willing to machine products to adapt to changes


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Thanks for the help. But I think the one from Sheridan is more like what I'm looking for. They are 2 different designs and check different things. Sheridan Engineering - Slotted Ammunition Gauges

Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[wxl]

wxl,

I sent an email after I read their faq's and asked a few different questions. Of those was price and lead time. Thank you for the link. That may be just what I'm looking for.

Victor

Very welcome. Give us a report on how it works for you.

 

[Victor N TN]

Very welcome. Give us a report on how it works for you.

I ordered the 308 Slotted gauge a day or so after the above post. I got it about 3 days later. I sprayed the inside with brake cleaner and blew it out with an air hose. This thing worked GREAT. I was looking for a gauge that would act as a go/no go gauge on loaded ammunition. Their gauge with the "window" or slot cut in it lets you rotate a live round and see where the tight or rubbing parts are.

When I first got it, I tried it with 4 different lots of 7.62 X 51 military ammunition and 2 different commercial brands. One was LC 07 LR they all fit just fine. But the ammo tuned for my bolt gun would not fit. I tried several of the rounds. None of them fit. That's OK. They fit that particular rifle. The ammo for it is stored differently and is marked differently. The boxes it's stored in are marked specifically for THAT rifle.

The M1A is a different story. When I load for it, I'll make sure that every fits through the gauge. THAT IS WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. I had gauges for the brass. Here again, the bolt gun has a different length chamber. The brass is trimmed to be 0.015" shorter than the chamber so it doesn't get burned too quickly. But that brass is still a bit longer than the M1A chamber / SAAMI chamber.

I liked it so much that this past Tuesday I ordered it's brother in 223 Slotted. It just came in the afternoon mail. Like I said. I'm impressed. For an old Tool & Die maker I don't generally impress very easily on machine work. I think they're a good deal for someone loading for more than 1 rifle. Good quality machine work, good finish and each engraved / marked with the caliber and made to SAAMI minimum specs for each caliber.

Check them out here: Sheridan Engineering - Slotted Ammunition Gauges

I think you'll be as impressed as I am.

Thanks for listening.
Victor

 

[Clark]

Can you accomplish what you want with a Wilson case gauge and use a depth micrometer to measure the case head space, and go gauge as your standard?
A case gauge is $26 and a go gauge is $27. This is a cheap way to measure.

For this post I tried a loaded round with 3 different depth micrometers and all of them said the same loaded round was 0.002" down from the top.
I dropped a 1.630" Go gauge in there and it measures 0.004" from the top.
So the round I loaded must be 1.632" case head space.
So if the 308, 243, etc ammo is supposed to be between 1.627" and 1.634" per SAAMI, then that round I loaded was 1.632" or .005" longer than the min and .002" less than the max.

 

[Victor N TN]

That's similar to the way I check my benchrest rifles. I pull the barrel and put a go gauge in the chamber. Then use a depth mic to measure to the shoulder that rests on the receiver. But 2, 6PPC rifles and a 22PPC and there are no gauges for "Wildcat" chamberings. I have all the tools you mention already. But how does that tell you where the ogive of the bullet is? I got these for checking loaded ammo.

For matches where I take already loaded ammo, (IPSC or High Power) I take the barrel out and make sure every round goes in easy and all the way. I've had a couple of surprises before. I'm not fast enough any more to make up for mess ups with the ammo.

 

[wxl]

Victor N TN

Thanks for the review

 

[Victor N TN]

Victor N TN

Thanks for the review

You're welcome. I do the same with the 223 in a few days.