Plug Gauges you can afford...

Merry Christmas,
I finally found individual plug gauges. They are about $3 each and the shipping was very quick. So for $30, I have plug gauges for two calibers...finally.
I picked 10 gauges, five each for .44 and .45 calibers, all I need for now.
I bought the "M" or minus tolerance. See enclosed material. They are in .001 increments, which is good enough for my needs.
I believe that I can "guess" the diameter within 0.0005" by feeling the amount of "looseness" of fit.
Very nice polish; excellent and I'm highly satisfied. My i.d. calipers are decent for throat measurement, if the throats are polished, and I can get within one mil, but these new gauges are super.
I don't think they are available in 1/2 mil increments, which would be nice.

Carr Lane Mfg. Co., tooling components and toggle clamps Carr Lane Mfg. Co
314-647-6200 (no dog in this race) PLUG GAGES by Carr Lane out of St. Louis, Mo.
.001" Increments
For 4-place-decimal gages see:
Plug Gages–.0001" Increments

FEATURES: Durable, precision gage pins for production gaging. Plug Gages are hardened and cold stabilized. They are precision lapped to a 10-microinch surface finish, with ends ground square. Gage diameter is electro-etched on each pin. All gages are 2" long. Applications include checking hole sizes, measuring hole locations, measuring distance between holes, and checking slot sizes.

SIZES: Available from stock in any size from .011" to 1.000" in .001" increments. Specify either P (Plus) or M (Minus) tolerance when ordering. Example: CL-.018M
(.018" pin dia, Minus tolerance)

TOLERANCES: Standard tolerances for these production gages are +.0002/-.0000 (Plus) and +.0000/-.0002 (Minus), known as "Class ZZ". In most applications, GO gages should have a Plus tolerance and NO-GO gages should have a Minus tolerance. This keeps the gage's tolerance within the workpiece's tolerance at all times, and allows for wear of the GO gage.

SPECIALS: Plug Gages are readily available in .0001" increments, as specials. For reference gaging, Plug Gages are also available with "Class X" tolerances, +.00004/-.00000 (Plus) and +.00000/-.00004 (Minus).

MATERIAL: 52100 steel, heat treated Rc 60-62.



Buy yourself a Christmas present, or talk sweetly to your wife.
Sonny

Another great source is MSC. They are $2.90 each. Shipping is extremely fast.

PLUG/PIN GAGES - CLASS ZZ MINUS and other I.D. MEASUREMENT at MSCDirect.com

I going to play dumb here, but what do you use them for????????????

Bullseye Smith said:

I going to play dumb here, but what do you use them for????????????

Click to expand...

They are used to properly measure the size of the cylinder throats, in order that you can order the correct diameter of cast bullet for your specific revolver.
Calipers are often used for i.d. measurement, but their use may make it more difficult to obtain a true reading of throat diameter. The proper diameter cast bullet, one that is just a "push-through" or one which requires a light tap to get it through the cylinder throats, is thought to be the magic size which will provide the best accuracy.
A bullet diameter which is too large or too small (or wrong hardness) may contribute, among other factors, to inaccuracy, higher than proper operating pressure, and leading in your barrel.
IMHO
Sonny

I do have one question...

How do you store them to keep them from rusting?
I'd be afraid that if I were to oil it, the oil might coat it and give it a .001 coating and make it a bit oversize- even when wiped off with a soft cloth.

Perhaps my fears aren't valid though. I think I need a set of these for .38, .44 and .45.

sonny said:

They are used to properly measure the size of the cylinder throats, in order that you can order the correct diameter of cast bullet for your specific revolver. Sonny

Click to expand...

Thanks for the explanation. Now a comment and PLEASE understand, this is not intended as criticism because I think your intended use suggests a very professional approach to reloading.

It seems to me that you will be using a standard of precision that the mold manufacturers and bullet casters won't be able to support, that the tolerances of commercial products will be such that they will overwhelm your very precise measurements. Am I out in left field? Don

Andy Griffith said:

I do have one question...

How do you store them to keep them from rusting?
I'd be afraid that if I were to oil it, the oil might coat it and give it a .001 coating and make it a bit oversize- even when wiped off with a soft cloth.

Perhaps my fears aren't valid though. I think I need a set of these for .38, .44 and .45.

Click to expand...

Andy-

Don't use oil. Buy some Birchwood Casey Barricade. It is an extremely effective rust inhibitor/preventative, and there won't be enough surface buildup to be able to even measure. Then wipe them down after each use (only the ones that you just got handled), but the stuff works so well that you may not need to do it every time.

Grizzly Industrial sells a set of 250 gauges ( in increments of .0005) for about $70. You can buy them in plus or minus sizes of.0002". The minus size is the way to go. That allows you to fit the plug closest in diameter to the actual hole size. If it were the exact same, you wouldn't be able to slide them in or out without excessive pressure.

Order part #G9794. It is the minus size for 0.251-0.500"

www.grizzly.com

I hope this helps

I have had pretty good success using soft lead oval slip sinkers and a bit of RemOil as lube pushing them through the throats and measuring. The #8 size works fine for the 44's and 45's.

Andy Griffith said:

I do have one question...

How do you store them to keep them from rusting?
I'd be afraid that if I were to oil it, the oil might coat it and give it a .001 coating and make it a bit oversize- even when wiped off with a soft cloth.

Perhaps my fears aren't valid though. I think I need a set of these for .38, .44 and .45.

Click to expand...

The gauges are made form 52100 Steel, which is a high carbon steel also containing chromium. This steel is commonly used in the production of race and ball-bearings. They do not rust easily as they are a form of stainless steel. But even stainless will rust if left in contact with water; stainless steels are only rust-resistant, not rustproof. I would still wipe them off with a rag after I used them, however.
The oil coating you might give it is nothing to worry about. I soaked one in dripping oil and the .433" (nominal) still measures .4328", like it should, with or without oil. These gauges are the "minus" or "ZZ" designation which comes in 0.0002" less than nominal, as Gun 4 un noted above.

For storage, I'll probably keep them in a CASE-GARD ammo box (LINK follows). Pick a box size which will fit your gauges for both large enough diameter and long enough for the 2" long gauges.
http://www.gunclips.net/ca60se.html
Sonny

Boxhead said:

I have had pretty good success using soft lead oval slip sinkers and a bit of RemOil as lube pushing them through the throats and measuring. The #8 size works fine for the 44's and 45's.

Click to expand...

Yes, excellent idea. Thanks for mentioning it.
I have a gun in my bench-mounted vise right now, using one of those "egg sinkers" that you buy in a fishing/sporting-goods store. I'm using it to measure barrel bore diameter.
For other readers: Use the ones that are soft lead, and that have a longitudinal hole running down the center of the sinker. Take along your caliper or mikes if you're not sure of the size. I had gotten the idea you mentioned from BeartoothBullets website which I really enjoy. Thanks for mentioning those sinkers. The proper sizes of these egg-sinkers: #7 = .530" , #8 = .470" , #9 = .369". You can take a smaller sinker and squeeze it end to end in your vise and make it fatter. I do that a lot.

I do like the gauges, however. They are really a class act.
Sonny

DonD said:

Thanks for the explanation. Now a comment and PLEASE understand, this is not intended as criticism because I think your intended use suggests a very professional approach to reloading.

It seems to me that you will be using a standard of precision that the mold manufacturers and bullet casters won't be able to support, that the tolerances of commercial products will be such that they will overwhelm your very precise measurements. Am I out in left field? Don

Click to expand...

Fair question. I believe that the "better" (read more expensive) hard-cast bullets are all run through a sizer after they come out of the mould. And, from my measurements, perhaps even the cheaper bullets that you buy for $100 per thousand.
So when you receive them, they should be darned close to what you ordered. I just miked five different boxes of bullets, over four different manufacturers, in two calibers, and found no difference greater than 0.0002". And, of course, these are lead and subject to abuse from being bumped around in the box among the other bullets. I think you can accept that they are awfully close to what you order.
I still think that the final test boils down to:
The proper diameter cast bullet, one that is just a snug "push-through" (starting the bullet from the cylinder's rear) or one which requires a light tap or several light taps to get it through the cylinder throats, is generally thought to be the magic size which will provide the best accuracy.
Sonny

Andy Griffith said:

I do have one question...

How do you store them to keep them from rusting?

Click to expand...

I bought a set of used pin gages at an auction over 15 years ago. Rust has never been a problem. I just wipe the fingerprints off them before putting them back in the box.

I picked up a set of pin gages .001-.050 off Ebay NIB for $45.00 several months ago.

sonny said:

Fair question. I believe that the "better" (read more expensive) hard-cast bullets are all run through a sizer after they come out of the mould. And, from my measurements, perhaps even the cheaper bullets that you buy for $100 per thousand.
So when you receive them, they should be darned close to what you ordered. I just miked five different boxes of bullets, over four different manufacturers, in two calibers, and found no difference greater than 0.0002". And, of course, these are lead and subject to abuse from being bumped around in the box among the other bullets. I think you can accept that they are awfully close to what you order.
I still think that the final test boils down to:
The proper diameter cast bullet, one that is just a snug "push-through" (starting the bullet from the cylinder's rear) or one which requires a light tap or several light taps to get it through the cylinder throats, is generally thought to be the magic size which will provide the best accuracy.
Sonny

Click to expand...

Whatever the outcome, I think you're doing all you can to optimize your reloading product.

My problem is that I shoot offhand almost exclusively and small differences in accuracy are overwhelmed by aiming errors. Don

I orderedthe same set as black talon. They work great but boy they are heavy. My set has something like 100 of them in a nice case but I have not found a good place to store them. I find them interesting to play with and see things like how different my Colt's are then my S&W's and how big is the lee FCD die to an RCBS sizer die. Stuff like that. Just a fun toy.

Grizzly on-line had a set of 250 pieces .251 to .500 Undersized .0002 for $63.75 plus shipping. Comes in a nice case 17 x 12 x 3

I've been interested in getting a couple of plug gauge sets for quite some time but have hesitated because of cost.

The Grizzly set is about 1/4 the cost of the others. What about quality? My grand-dad said you get what you pay for.

So for a .38 spl revolver, what would be the useful range of plug gauges that you should buy? i.e. .356 to .358?

CptCurl,
The Grizzly set is EXCELLENT, Love mine.

MarcC,
Look at the set from Grizzly, 250 pieces, .251 to .500
.0002 MINUS size, Nice case 17 x 12 x 3
Was on sale for 63.75 plus shipping. you've got things covered then.

Moonman,

Thanks!