Easy way to determine headspace?

[Dark Mod]

Is there an easy way to get a solid headspace reading? What if i just loaded a round really long without any crimp and let the bolt ride home? will this provide an acurate OAL?

[joelogic]

Headspace is based on the shoulder.
Distance to the lands is what the loaded long round would tell you. But for a semi just load to max mag length.

[Black_Talon]

Headspace can also be set by the rim, the belt, or the mouth, depending on the cartridge you're talking about.

Headspace has nothing to do with the OAL of the loaded round either. Here's a small primer on headspace:

http://www.cruffler.com/trivia-October99.html

[Peter W Bush]

Headspace can also be set by the rim, the belt, or the mouth, depending on the cartridge you're talking about.

Headspace has nothing to do with the OAL of the loaded round either. Here's a small primer on headspace:

http://www.cruffler.com/trivia-October99.html

Great read

[huckberry668]

It sounds like to me 'markdodridge', you're asking about an easy way to determine how to load the bullet touching the lands? If that's your question, it's easy.

1. Full length size a case, cut a slit down the neck all the way to the shoulder to make the gauge. Deburr the cut inside and out.
2. slip a bullet in the mouth just barely. Slip the 'gauge' with the bullet in the chamber and press in hard till it doesn't go any further. It's hard using a bolt with spring loaded ejector to push the round in so use a cleaning rod for solid contact.
3. Use a cleaning rod from the muzzle and gently push the round out.
4. Measure the OAL and write it down.
5. Repeat 1-4 a few more times using the same bullet to get an average and that's your 'touching the lands' measurement.
6. Use the same bullet and seat it to the measured OAL and now you have the seating die adjusted for that particular lot of bullets.
7. From here you can load them 'jammed into the lands' or 'away from lands' by how many thousandths of an inch as you'd like.

here is a picture of the case gauge I made:

[damndave]

It sounds like to me 'markdodridge', you're asking about an easy way to determine how to load the bullet touching the lands? If that's your question, it's easy.

1. Full length size a case, cut a slit down the neck all the way to the shoulder to make the gauge. Deburr the cut inside and out.
2. slip a bullet in the mouth just barely. Slip the 'gauge' with the bullet in the chamber and press in hard till it doesn't go any further. It's hard using a bolt with spring loaded ejector to push the round in so use a cleaning rod for solid contact.
3. Use a cleaning rod from the muzzle and gently push the round out.
4. Measure the OAL and write it down.
5. Repeat 1-4 a few more times using the same bullet to get an average and that's your 'touching the lands' measurement.
6. Use the same bullet and seat it to the measured OAL and now you have the seating die adjusted for that particular lot of bullets.
7. From here you can load them 'jammed into the lands' or 'away from lands' by how many thousandths of an inch as you'd like.

here is a picture of the case gauge I made:

I use this same method, but measure the ogive. Measuring OAL is a terribly inaccurate way of measuring distance from the lands. I have had boxes of Hornady A-Max 308 bullets range from .020, but had the same OAL.

[huckberry668]

Measuring the ogive is the best way but the OP asked for 'OAL'. I figure not everyone owns a set of headspace comparator gauges. Before I bought my set, I used OAL measurement for a few years.

[bumpo628]

Here's the kit for $37:
Hornady Lock-N-Load Headspace Gage 5 Bushing Set with Comparator

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/479704/hornady-lock-n-load-headspace-gage-5-bushing-set-with-comparator

[30Cal]

It sounds like to me 'markdodridge', you're asking about an easy way to determine how to load the bullet touching the lands? If that's your question, it's easy.

1. Full length size a case, cut a slit down the neck all the way to the shoulder to make the gauge. Deburr the cut inside and out.
2. slip a bullet in the mouth just barely. Slip the 'gauge' with the bullet in the chamber and press in hard till it doesn't go any further. It's hard using a bolt with spring loaded ejector to push the round in so use a cleaning rod for solid contact.
3. Use a cleaning rod from the muzzle and gently push the round out.
4. Measure the OAL and write it down.
5. Repeat 1-4 a few more times using the same bullet to get an average and that's your 'touching the lands' measurement.
6. Use the same bullet and seat it to the measured OAL and now you have the seating die adjusted for that particular lot of bullets.
7. From here you can load them 'jammed into the lands' or 'away from lands' by how many thousandths of an inch as you'd like.

here is a picture of the case gauge I made:

That's a little more work than my method.
1. Size a case fired in your rifle
2. Seat a bullet very long.
3. Stuff it into the chamber
4. The cartridge will fall out of the chamber on its own when the bullet is clear of the lands. So you seat it deeper in small increments till it drops out on it's own. Now measure it. The seating die is now set to put the bullet right at the lands; Dialing in the desired jump is simple matter of seating it x inches deeper.

[Dark Mod]

[QUOTE=huckberry668;7541205]It sounds like to me 'markdodridge', you're asking about an easy way to determine how to load the bullet touching the lands? If that's your question, it's easy.

1. Full length size a case, cut a slit down the neck all the way to the shoulder to make the gauge. Deburr the cut inside and out.
2. slip a bullet in the mouth just barely. Slip the 'gauge' with the bullet in the chamber and press in hard till it doesn't go any further. It's hard using a bolt with spring loaded ejector to push the round in so use a cleaning rod for solid contact.
3. Use a cleaning rod from the muzzle and gently push the round out.
4. Measure the OAL and write it down.
5. Repeat 1-4 a few more times using the same bullet to get an average and that's your 'touching the lands' measurement.
6. Use the same bullet and seat it to the measured OAL and now you have the seating die adjusted for that particular lot of bullets.
7. From here you can load them 'jammed into the lands' or 'away from lands' by how many thousandths of an inch as you'd like.

here is a picture of the case gauge I made:
QUOTE]

Awesome! that is exactly what i was looking for, dont know why i assumed it was called headspace, but in the end i want to seat the bullet touching the lands.

thanks for the info!

[joelogic]

What gun are you loading for?

[Dark Mod]

Im going to start doing this for all my guns: .223, .30-30, 7.62x54r, and maybe even 9mm

[brl0301]

Just a word of caution, if you plan on loading with the bullet right at the lands, if you end up actually seating them into the lands, you will raise pressures. This isnt an issue if you arent loading max loads but if you are then you may want to measure your rounds with a comparator like shown above. Like AlliedArmory stated, the ogive placement can vary quite a bit which can cause the bullets seat into the lands on some loads and not on others.