HORNADY - LOCK-N-LOAD™ HEADSPACE GAUGE KIT

Pleased with functionality and appearance. A good buy.

I love these gauges. I use them all the time for reloading and love the fact that they came with the holder to hook to the calipers.

This is a great simple tool that allows you to check if your loading dies are properly setup by measuring how much you pushed the shoulder back when resizing. I also use it to check new brass for uniformity in length.

Easy to use and gives reliable results. Knowing correct headspace gives better accuracy and less working of the brass. Using the optionally purchased anvil helps to give more consistent and quicker results.

I purchased these once I started loading the less common calibers (more specific 6.5 Grendel). When brass is .70/piece for decent brass, you want it to last a while. Since this was an auto loader, it's hard on brass. I was WAY oversizing my brass by putting it back to factory specs. I set the dies up according to manufacture recommendations, and it worked as it should. However, I noticed on the 3rd and 4th firings, the brass would start to harden (needed to be annealed) and when I full length sized them, it would leave a ring of brass around the base of the case. I knew this was killing my cases and my pocket book. I purchased this kit so I would bump the shoulders back (.003" per the recommended for auto loaders) and it works like a charm. I have been able to get 7 or 8 firings before the brass needs annealed because it's being worked so much less in the chamber. This also eliminates the need for a neck sizer as well. When shooting my bolt actions, I used to neck size as long as I could, but eventually, you have to size it back down because the shoulder expands enough to cause issues. When you use these, you can set up your FL sizer to bump the shoulder back .001" and it's very easy to chamber, and each case is the exact same, so no need to worry about variations in your load. I can't believe I waited as long as I did to purchase this tool. This should have been purchased at the beginning/learning stages of my reloading obsession and I would have been much better off!