How picky are you with your case gauge/ammo?

[Silverscooby27]

9 major. I will usually reject for match use anything that doesn’t easily drop in my 100 round (Hundo) shockbottle black case gauge and sit completely flush, like not even a little bit sticking out the top. Obviously, there is stuff that doesn’t even come close, but there is a fair amount that is in between. Sticks out just a tiny little bit. I have used those all in practice, and I have to say they’re all 100%, which makes me question, am I too picky? What is your practice? Stupid ammo malfunctions over things like this make the Hulk angry.

[Sprig]

You are not to picky . If my match ammo will not drop in and sit flush it goes in the practice box. Not a issue for myself as i shoot 10 times more practice ammo than match .

[Adamj]

I have the exact same experience as you. The rounds that only slightly miss the gauge get relegated to practice and always seem to work. I am still too picky to use them in the match though. 

[yigal]

I collect them in a box and give it to competitors of my category 

[Lastcat]

17 minutes ago, Sprig said:

You are not to picky . If my match ammo will not drop in and sit flush it goes in the practice box. Not a issue for myself as i shoot 10 times more practice ammo than match .

 

Yep, practice ammo. Imagine during a Stage and you get a jam. Gauge checking ammo just moved up to the next level. 

[Explosiveo]

I used to have a lot of ammo that didnt case guage. Then I switched to the Lee undersize die and full length crimp die and now I never have a round that doesnt case guage. Not over exadurating. Never. 

I still case guage because it's a extra insurance policy but in the thousands of rounds since getting those dies I have not had one fail.

[Silverscooby27]

21 minutes ago, yigal said:

I collect them in a box and give it to competitors of my category 

Or do one better and sell it to a competitor who is desperate, haha so cold.....

[Dchassejr]

When I shot 9major I would case gauge everything.  If it didn't drop out clean out of the hundo it was put off to the side, but once I started getting Spear once fired brass I just made sure I had a good tight die and didn't case gauge after that.  never had any issues.

[MemphisMechanic]

50 minutes ago, Silverscooby27 said:

Obviously, there is stuff that doesn’t even come close, but there is a fair amount that is in between. Sticks out just a tiny little bit. I have used those all in practice, and I have to say they’re all 100%, which makes me question, am I too picky?

 

For a local match, yes you’re too picky. I relegate it to practice ammo until I figure out how bad it has to be in order to cause a possible issue - all the slightly sticky ammo goes to a local match though, as I know those will run.

 

If it’s any match out of town? I’d cull anything that didn’t glide through the gauge effortlessly too. Usually I load 800, take the best 50% of it with me, and have leftover ammo for my next local match.

[oddjob]

Local match use- I normally use those for my "Barney" load.  I have a designated mag for that.  I figure at the "make ready" if it don't work I can bump down a few shooters or simply eject it & use another round.  To be honest they all drop in the barrel chamber though.

 

Out of Town Match- Gotta drop in and out of the hundo. 

Edited July 17, 2019 by oddjob

[tomjerry1]

fits gage, match, or wise practice or local

[Bravo_Victor]

Funny bc the ones that dont fit my Hundo perfectly flush will fit my single case gauge perfect. 

[Silverscooby27]

So is the Hundo too picky? 

[Silverscooby27]

And is there a difference between the black Hundo and the silver Hundo? 

[Bravo_Victor]

3 minutes ago, Silverscooby27 said:

So is the Hundo too picky? 

 

Lol sometimes it feels like that. I’ll get a case where the bottom end is slightly bulged enough to not fit the Hundo all the way, but my single gauge AND my barrel drops in perfectly fine. 

 

Im reading bc the hundo is reamed out for minimum saami spec while most barreled and gauges are reamed for maximum 

Edited July 17, 2019 by Bravo_Victor

[Hi-Power Jack]

I don't even check my reloads (9mm Major) for local matches.

 

Drop ALL of them in my chamber prior to a Major Match.  Anything

wrong with them, they go into my practice pile.      

[Yondering]

I check match ammo in the chamber of the gun it’ll be used it. Don’t care if it fits a min spec gauge or not, that’s irrelevant.

 

i don’t bother to check practice ammo at all other than a visual inspection when loading mags.

[191138sc]

21 hours ago, Sprig said:

You are not to picky . If my match ammo will not drop in and sit flush it goes in the practice box. Not a issue for myself as i shoot 10 times more practice ammo than match

Same here only I step it up a notch and chamber check every round for major matches. 

[CSEMARTIN]

I don't distinguish between local or major matches.  If the round doesn't pass the case gauge, it goes in the practice ammo bin.

 

[Sarge]

3 minutes ago, CSEMARTIN said:

I don't distinguish between local or major matches.  If the round doesn't pass the case gauge, it goes in the practice ammo bin.

 

This^^^

[TONY BARONE]

Never had to case gauge using an EGW U die and a Star Press and never had a round fail to feed in 200,000 rounds.

[rooster]

I don’t case gauge anymore, I shoot a Glock and their chamber is pretty forgiving. However I am pretty picky about my steps to load ammo. I take a 100 round 45 ammo box that I dump my 9mm cases in. Then I inspect with a light and a magnifying hood, I remove anything that I don’t like, then I flip so all headstamps are up and do the same thing. I remove any headstamps or brands I don’t want. I then add about 10 extra cases in the event something goes wrong in the reload process. Every once in s while I’ll pull a few and case gauge but they always check out fine. Also I don’t have practice ammo all my ammo is match ammo if anything is remotely wrong the round gets pulled, and components are either saved or chucked.

[Smithcity]

Case gauge everything, if it doesnt pass it isnt shot in a match. Ive found everyone has a different definition of what ammo inspection should be. I do the following:

1. Round must fall fully into to the gauge on its own weight

2. I run my finger across the primers feeling for anything high or low. Proper primer depth is ~2mil to ~6mil lower than the top of the primer pocket. If anything doesnt feel right i pull it, i inspect visually or measure with callipers, accept or reject it

3. All cases are then flipped to stand primer side down on a sheet of glass. I look for any rounds that might have high primers / i.e. wobbling or tilted that i may have missed with my i spection in 2. If amy high primers are found, round is rejected.

4. If any round did not fall out on its own weight in 3. From the case gauge, it is rejected.

5. During the loading process i measure OAL on random rounds every few hundred. I will also check powder drop for accuracy before every loading session 

 

Since adopting this process, I've had 0 malfunctions in either my pcc or CO guns.

 

Edit: it turns out 2yr old kids love loading the hundo. Let them fill it for you, then you inspect, dump it out, let them refill it. Seems to speed up the process

Edited July 18, 2019 by Smithcity

[Silverscooby27]

Make sure those kids wear gloves so they don’t absorb lead and chemicals and stuff

[Silverscooby27]

And don’t put their hands in their mouths or rub their eyes which is pretty much impossible, but I’m not here to tell you how to raise your kids.