I need another Christmas gift to open.
And you certainly deserve that !
That’s one of the reasons I asked about the slotted version. One advantage is the round can be finger rotated. If one considers that useful. I load 45 acp for five different platforms. I’ve standardized the loads for the tightest chamber and shortest leads that run well with all five. I don’t plunk all the rounds during inspection. The past few load sessions have produced a handful of out of round and budged cartridges that were missed during inspection. Hence a couple of nasty stoppages with stuck slides and bolt. So now it’s time to start plunking each completed round . Yes I’ve checked the equipment and my method of work. Maybe age finally catching up or blame it on COVID.
• IMHO, the slot is to help gauge the case length. A case at Min Length would come to the bottom of the slot, while a case at Max Length would come to the end of the gauge (the slot's top). This is helpful because straight wall cases tend to shrink over repeated reloadings. A case could become so short that the firing pin can't reach the primer. On the list of
Things to Worry About, this is pertinent, but in actuality way down the list at number 8 or 9. And I have never had a case gauge that short in the 20+ years I've been
seriously loading 9mm.
• You are correct. Your main concern is going to be case conditions such as: out-of-round, case mouths peeled back, split case mouths, case budges, and improper bullet seating that warps the case. If you use plated bullets (which I love for practice, but quickly gave up on for competition) you might get some copper peeling up due to a super sharp edged case mouth... which typically warps the case mouth, or curls up "plowed" copper in front of the case mouth.
The gauge will also check to make sure your bullet is seated co-axially with the case, but this problem exists solely due to poor seating stem fit with the bullet. Once you standardize on one brand of bullet, trim your seating anvil to PRECISELY fit that bullet's ogive, this issue disappears. So personally speaking, I would rather prevent issues at the source
before it happens, rather than spend time detecting the feature
after it happens.
In an analysis of issues then, probably 90% start with
poor brass. That is to say... brass that isn't yours. AKA "range pickup" brass. We know what we are doing when we reload, but it turns out that we are typically in the minority. A lot of competitors are using worn out chambers, shoddy dies, ill-conceived processes, the wrong powder, the wrong pressure, the wrong bullets... and this is why they are leaving their brass on the ground.
They know it's no good for reloading after they shoot it. So it turns out that the case gauge is mainly to spot other people's brass !!
Enjoy !
