case slowly and the gauge is pushed back into the case-neck as its head hits the end of the chamber. Measure the overall length and repeat the exercise to ensure the reading is correct and you now know at what case length you’ll run out of chamber room. Add a few thou’ on as a safety margin and any case growth during firing too of course.


In my rifle’s case, Norman Clark had chambered it commendably tightly, the overall length only 1.567 inches, so SAAMI’s 1.560 inch maximum is absolutely right for me. However, factory rifles are often sloppy in this regard and if you do this one-off check you can often run your cases at much greater lengths than the manuals say, not only reducing your workload but potentially


improving accuracy slightly through making the case a neater fit in the chamber. Incidentally, a tip about using these gauges. Sinclair’s instructions say you should drill a hole through the primer pocket and use a rod to eject the gauge from the case after use, but I found that a hammer-type kinetic bullet puller did this job effectively enough.


Talking case-trimming - the cases do grow on each firing with near maximum loads, despite their limited body taper, so it’s important to check their lengths each time you load them up. As always, if you full-length size, this should be done after sizing, as this step often adds two or three thou’ to the fired case-length, even with minimum shoulder setback. (I’m told DX and


Magnum primers should be used in this cartridge


60


Target Shooter


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