450Bushmaster.net

Threw together a cartridge overall length gage or as i call it comparator.
Works really good. Still a work in progress, prototype Actually. Instead of using a knob to lock your finding in place it Utilizes a collet.
Have found this to be very precise and repeatable over and over. Will drill and tap casings for all of my rifles. I was surprised at how much jump there is on 250 grain factory bullets in the 450 bushmaster. I cant remember the exact number. But .2 in my chamber rings a bell.
I'm making 10 of them up over the next week or so. Theres been an active interest for this tool with some of my reloading peers. They will surely critique me, most have been machinist for decades. I have some muzzle breaks ive made as well that need testing.
Will see how it goes. Still have a few things to do to the prototype.
Fun stuff...

pic of gage. Its in my avatar as well.

comparator

Slayer wrote:comparator

Ooh ooh, nice interpretation!
Nice tools in the background as well. I swear, everyone's got one of those articulating magnifiers with the alligator clips. Quite useful for aerial soldering wires and axial lead components.

All i did to improve my Stoney Point was to replace the plastic rod up the center with a brass rod.

Hoot

Good idea replacing the rod Hoot! My stony point gage ran away from home with my friend. Never to come back.. its ok as I got to overkill the new tool. Haha!
That alligator clips and magnifier are handy. I mess around building jewelry and just general soldering quite a bit with it.
Handy on the surface plate for eyeballing too.
Thank you on the tools! And the compliment! Be lost without them.. no idea how I got by without the lathe and bench mill years ago.
Also one will aquire many new friends that need things made.
Thats not necessarily a bad thing. Fun stuff to play with..

I milled a flat down one side of that brass rod, for the thumbscrew to bear down upon. Not all the way to the end in order to keep the rod from coming all the way out.
if you want it out, you have to unscrew the thumbscrew further than you normally would in use.

Hoot

Thats a good improvement Hoot. I was thinking of doing the same on the brass tube so when the guys measure with calipers the jaw is closer to the center of the casing
On the very bottom. Also have made a part for the jaw on the bullet end that measures to the O give. A bit theoretical with the location. But you can call that standard for the gun thats being reloaded.
I set mine on the surface plate and use the height gage, need to make a collar to snug the neck against the bullet so the rod and tube can come of after finding the lands. Its a tight fit so it doesnt move presently. But... Still could if bumped.