.40 S&w Case Guage

[Urbanti]

Need to buy a .40 S&W case guage for use making IPSC .40 S&W minor/steel ammo. Primary use will be to ensure that resized once fired brass will chamber nicely in stock STI Edge and in a Kimber single stack Gold Match.

I see that Dillon advertises a stainless steel case guage for about ten bucks.

Are all brands of case guages equally good, or does anybody out there have a specific recommendation, and if so why?

thanks in advance for any suggestions,

Tim

[Nolan]

The stainless steel Dillon case gauge is nice because it won't rust like some of the other brands.

As with any case gauge always check that a fired case from YOUR gun will NOT fit in the case gauge.

Nolan

Skilled, but otherwise unremarkable.

[GuildSF4]

The Dillon stainless gauge is nice. It is tighter than my midway gauge, and won't rust.

(If it won't gauge it goes in the practice ammo bin.)

[wide45]

I don't own a case gauge.

Inspect the brass before you load it, then use the EGW U die.

[.40AET]

I don't own a case gauge.

Inspect the brass before you load it, then use the EGW U die.

Personally, I would not spend the money and time to attend any match and have one bad round blow a stage. Yes, the EGW is good insurance. I also use a FCD to resize the final round. I still get 1 or 2 out of 1000 that won't pass the gauge. I drop check everything that goes to a match.

For practice I don't even look at them, just dump them into a box and off we go.

Dillon case gauge for all calibers.

[Flexmoney]

I have had Midway guages that are tigher than the Dillon's.

[warpspeed]

Dillon for all pistol caliber case guages.

Also, try using the barrel itself ( removed from the gun of course ) as a guage.

Take a few rounds that won't guage in the Dillon Guage and see if they pass the barel test. If they do, then you know that the guage is tighter than the barrel itself and should then give you that extra bit of confidence you are searching for.

If not, use the barrel. A PITA for sure but ......

[dirtypool40]

I have the EGW U dies and case gauge. I sent the gauge in with the parts when my last gun was built and had the GS ream it too.

[GuildSF4]

I have the EGW U dies and case gauge.  I sent the gauge in with the parts when my last gun was built and had the GS ream it too.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I had one reamed and then found that some of the ammo that passed the gauge wouldn't chamber fully in the barrel.

[Nolan]

The case gauge needs to be smaller than your chamber, so I don't recommend having it reamed the same size as your chamber. I also don't recommend using the barrel as a case gauge. The case gauge surrounds the rim 100%, the barrel has cutouts for the extractor and the feed ramp. If a bulged round happens to go in the barrel just right the bulge may clear the feed ramp cutout and it will appear the round is OK. I can just about guaranty it won't be oriented that way on match day! That same round will not pass a good case gauge.

I agree with Flex that some of the Midway case gauges are tighter than Dillon's, but some of them are also shorter, some are off center, others are looser, and in my hands all of them rust instantly.

Nolan

Skilled, but otherwise unremarkable

[kevin c]

I have had Midway guages that are tigher than the Dillon's.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ditto, and also ditto on Nolan's comment on the rust (don't have enough guages in various calibers to confirm his other findings, though).

[Nolan]

My luck with Midway case gauges hasn't been very good. I bought a 45acp case gauge that worked OK until I actually got a match grade barrel. The fired cases out of the BarSto barrel almost rattled around in the case gauge and I forgot to spray it down with Sheath so it rusted badly.

The recess for the rim area was off center on the first Midway 38 Super gauge that I bought. I returned it and they replaced it with no problem. The second gauge worked great, but I forgot to spray it down with Sheath and it rusted badly.

Since I'm a slow learner I bought a .40 case gauge from Midway and none of my long loaded .40 rounds would pass the case gauge. At the time I was loading Billy Bullets Moly coated lead bullets which were a little bit fat so I just reamed the 'bullet' portion of the case gauge. Gee, they all still fail the case gauge. When I measured the case gauge it was waaay short. Dan Ruff fixed that for me and it worked great until I forgot to spray it with Sheath so of course it rusted.

I replaced them with Dillon gauges that I'm still using umpteen years later.

Nolan

Skilled, but otherwise unremarkable.

[Urbanti]

Just wanted to say thanks to all the responders.

I bought the Dillon .40 S&W gage.

So far, it looks like every stinking reloaded cartridge of mine passes the gage, even the ones that originated as Glock-fired brass.

Soooo, the combination of the EGW undersized resizing die and the Lee Factory Crimp Die appear to work as advertised.

Thanks again,

Tim