Homemade Modified Case for Use in Hornady OAL Gauge

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  • What do you use to determine OAL?


    • Total voters
      24

    guthook

    Grrr.
    Apr 7, 2008
    7,056
    St. Mary's
    doing a follow up with you here...im discouraged at the quality of 8x56R brass i have received...two batches from two different sources and the primer pocket is all jacked up...soft, not shaped correctly, and a bunch just flat out broken. privi brass...which is odd because i use it in other cals and does just fine. anyway, on your homemade dealy whopper...what keeps the brass from spinning? im no machinist but i watched one on tv once :)

    :lol2: Haven't thought about this in a while.

    The cuts from the circular saw shaves a good 1/8 inch out of the holder. When the screws are tightened down, it grips the shell pretty good.

    Again, this was just a quick idea. There are probably ways to do this easier and better. I was not concerned about that at the time.

    Drew up a little MSPaint thing to explain better. (It took me longer to draw this than to actually make the part.) :D

    New Bitmap Image.JPG
     

    eric_2902

    Retired Army
    Jan 13, 2010
    251
    Conowingo
    :lol2: Haven't thought about this in a while.

    The cuts from the circular saw shaves a good 1/8 inch out of the holder. When the screws are tightened down, it grips the shell pretty good.

    Again, this was just a quick idea. There are probably ways to do this easier and better. I was not concerned about that at the time.

    Drew up a little MSPaint thing to explain better. (It took me longer to draw this than to actually make the part.) :D

    View attachment 27155

    thanks, nice drawing...I get it now. really appreciate the follow up. i'm going to give it a try and see if it will work with my homemade oal gauges.
     

    Susquatch

    Member
    Sep 9, 2013
    1
    A few comments - at least one of which is VERY important to the accuracy of these instructions.

    1. The correct tap is NOT a 5/16-32. It is a 5/16-36. I devised this same method many years ago and measured the male thread on the gauge itself. it is 36 pitch, not 32. A 32 may work, but it could damage the gauge thread in time as it will not have proper thread alignment. FWIW, I have just repeated that measurement to be sure.

    2. A 9/32 drill is better than a 1/4 inch drill, and a 19/64 drill is better still for drilling the hole in the end of the brass.

    3. An easy way to hold the brass vertically in perfect alignment is to cut a 6 inch length piece of 2x2 oak and then drill it in the same drill press as you plan to use to drill out the brass with a hole through the entire piece that is the same diameter as the head of the cartridge that you are making a gauge with. Slightly smaller is better than slightly larger. Then use a table saw to cut a lengthwise slot about 3/4 of the length of the 6" piece. be careful to cut right through the centre of the drilled hole. This will create a wooden clamp that will hold the brass in perfect alignment to the drill press when clamped together with a small two inch C-Clamp across the end. A bit of powdered rosin in the surfaces of the drilled hole can be used if it slips but it is probably not required if good oak or maple is used. This method is far superior to using a vice grip and creates a tool that can be used for many many other purposes. FWIW, this wooden cartridge clamp can also be used to hold the brass while tapping the brass hole with the 5/16-36 tap.

    4. I do not think that it is a good idea to tap the brass using a drill press. Few drill presses can be set for the proper speed to tap brass, and most can exert way too much torque. Brass can easily gall and the tap can be snapped. For low volume work like this, it is much better to drill the pilot hole in the press, and then tap by hand using a good tapping fluid suitable for brass. Bacon fat works great in the absence of a better fluid. A hand tapping handle is cheap to buy but can be easily fabricated if desired. The tap can also be held with a small vice grip if necessary (taps are hardened steel and a small vice grip will not likely damage the square drive on the tap.) When tapping by hand, the tap should be turned in one turn, out 1/2 turn, in one turn, out 1/2 turn, in one turn, and so forth. A drill press does not allow this much preferrable tapping method of tapping brass.

    Cheers!!!!
     
    I make my own modified cases from once fired brass for each gun, and each headstamp. .223 is a bear to keep from spinning. .300 AAC is worse. My current approach is emery cloth folded around the case.

    Using the same bullet, I found a .005 difference in the distance to the lands between once fired Nosler and Lapua .308 Win brass. I'm not sure why, but it's repeatable.
     

    Overboost44

    6th gear
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 10, 2013
    6,619
    Kent Island
    I know this is digging up an oldie, but this is great info and will be very helpful to me. First, the search function worked great. Second, I pm'd you IndispensibleDestiny before I found this thread.

    Now, I am off to find a tap of 5/16-36 and I even have the link on ebay to that.:thumbsup:

    This person Susquatch has one post in his life on here and it was a really good one. Thanks also to the other contributors for making this easy.

    A few comments - at least one of which is VERY important to the accuracy of these instructions.

    1. The correct tap is NOT a 5/16-32. It is a 5/16-36. I devised this same method many years ago and measured the male thread on the gauge itself. it is 36 pitch, not 32. A 32 may work, but it could damage the gauge thread in time as it will not have proper thread alignment. FWIW, I have just repeated that measurement to be sure.

    2. A 9/32 drill is better than a 1/4 inch drill, and a 19/64 drill is better still for drilling the hole in the end of the brass.

    3. An easy way to hold the brass vertically in perfect alignment is to cut a 6 inch length piece of 2x2 oak and then drill it in the same drill press as you plan to use to drill out the brass with a hole through the entire piece that is the same diameter as the head of the cartridge that you are making a gauge with. Slightly smaller is better than slightly larger. Then use a table saw to cut a lengthwise slot about 3/4 of the length of the 6" piece. be careful to cut right through the centre of the drilled hole. This will create a wooden clamp that will hold the brass in perfect alignment to the drill press when clamped together with a small two inch C-Clamp across the end. A bit of powdered rosin in the surfaces of the drilled hole can be used if it slips but it is probably not required if good oak or maple is used. This method is far superior to using a vice grip and creates a tool that can be used for many many other purposes. FWIW, this wooden cartridge clamp can also be used to hold the brass while tapping the brass hole with the 5/16-36 tap.

    4. I do not think that it is a good idea to tap the brass using a drill press. Few drill presses can be set for the proper speed to tap brass, and most can exert way too much torque. Brass can easily gall and the tap can be snapped. For low volume work like this, it is much better to drill the pilot hole in the press, and then tap by hand using a good tapping fluid suitable for brass. Bacon fat works great in the absence of a better fluid. A hand tapping handle is cheap to buy but can be easily fabricated if desired. The tap can also be held with a small vice grip if necessary (taps are hardened steel and a small vice grip will not likely damage the square drive on the tap.) When tapping by hand, the tap should be turned in one turn, out 1/2 turn, in one turn, out 1/2 turn, in one turn, and so forth. A drill press does not allow this much preferrable tapping method of tapping brass.

    Cheers!!!!

    I make my own modified cases from once fired brass for each gun, and each headstamp. .223 is a bear to keep from spinning. .300 AAC is worse. My current approach is emery cloth folded around the case.

    Using the same bullet, I found a .005 difference in the distance to the lands between once fired Nosler and Lapua .308 Win brass. I'm not sure why, but it's repeatable.
     

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