ENCO pin gauges...Cool!!

[FN in MT]

Read the Mike Venturino article in the last HANDLOADER mag about using pin gauges to measure revolver throats. So spent the seventy bucks on the gauges. Two days later a HEAVY box arrives via the brown truck. The gauges originally started out in China. hence the reasonable price.

The gauges from .251" to .500" are individually wrapped in thin Chinese rice paper soaked in some UNKNOWN oil or grease of some sort. Whatever it is it did make me itch !?!? I miked and measured with my dial calipers and the several I checked seemed to be nuts ON.

Anyway there were a few "Ah HAA" !! moments. An older S&W 25-2 .45 acp/.45 AR revolver which has NEVER really shot well, had four throats that were .455" and two at .456". Ah HAA!!! No wonder my .4515 185 gr FMJ tgt loads never shot very well! But it DID shoot 250 gr .455" .45 Colt slugs pretty well in the Auto Rim loads. Need to slug it's barrel and see where that's at.

My three S&W .45 Colts one a 5" 25-7 , another a 4" 625-3 and the other a PC 625 Light Weight Hunter in 6".......ALL shoot very well. All three measured a very consistent 451".

My Freedom Arms M-83 6" is the Champion in the accuracy Dept. It's five holes all measured .452". Same for the six holes on my USFA SAA .452".

An interesting hour down in the loading room. Now I know what size STAR dies I need to order for the .45's.

The JOYS of being borderline OCD and Anal Compulsive.:-P

FN in MT

[crabo]

What's the part number?

[MtGun44]

I think if you will check, I and numerous others have recommended this
source and these pins for many months here. If you use the search
function, I think I posted a link to the pins a while back.

I'm not sure the Mike didn't get the info from this site. He reads this
stuff sometimes, so maybe he'll weigh in on this.

Bill

[nicholst55]

I had a similar experience when I gaged the throats on my M25-5 S&W; four went .456' and two went .457"! No wonder it 'shotguns' .452" cast boolits! It shoots .454" boolits a bit better, but not enough to write home about.

If only it would chamber .458" boolits, I'd be in business!

[crabo]

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PARTPG=INLMKD&PMPXNO=22486126&PMAKA=SA616-8131

On sale also

[xr650]

You can use pin gages when you open up a size die also.

[Tom Herman]

Thanks for bringing this to the attention of those that don't know about it. I read the article and leapt to the computer and immediately bought a set of gauges.
They have already paid for themselves. The Rugers are *****'ed with inconsistent throats running .451-.452, while my older .45 LC's run up to .455".
The Webley Mark VI throats run about .449", which doesn't help much when I run the .455" rounds through it.
My S & W model 624 throats at .432" but is consistent.
I wonder what kind of a rush Enco had on the gauges. I can only imagine they got swamped with orders.

Happy Shootin'! -Tom

[fourarmed]

Just goes to show that we are getting a lot of new members here, and there is so much stuff discussed that important threads disappear quickly in the mists of time. I hesitate to suggest another sticky, since there are getting to be enough of them that they get overlooked, too. The pin gauges are definitely one of the most important, IMO. Another use where they are much better than a caliper: measuring expanded and sized case mouths.

[45nut]

I have transferred or copied dozens of threads into our "Classics & Stickies" section, it is a continuing process and one I am happy to do.

[AZ-Stew]

Another tool, one that requires a micrometer and bit more skill to use, is the "small hole gage set" ( http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=615-6250&PMPXNO=949268&PARTPG=INLMK3 ) available from Enco (and others). It's considerably less expensive than the pin gages, and requires less storage space.

There are four tools in the set, to cover the range from .125-.500. The appropriate gage is inserted into the hole, then expanded via a thumb screw to fill the hole. The tool is then removed and measured using a micrometer. Since the measuring surface is spherical, it gives a more accurate reading than a caliper.

I'm not saying this is a better tool than the plug gage set, just less expensive and requiring less storage space.

Regards,

Stew