124-HST Case Length Issue

[Sauer Koch]

It's interesting to me that the difference in OAL seems to be matched by a difference in length of the extractor groove.

Well, I just took a pic with that in mind, and spent a few minutes looking at the grooves on both, and at one point, I thought I could see a difference, but in the end, I cant say that I do. I can definitively see the OAL difference, but nothing with the extractor groove, but that doesn't necessarily mean something couldn't be off there?
If someone had shown me these two rounds and asked if I thought the case length would result in what I saw happen, i'd have said no, simply because it was so minute, but I guess that's just ignorance on my part as to how well made these modern pistols really are...

No doubt, this has been a great learning experience!

[Mike C]

Good reminder to plunk test carry ammo in your carry gun.

[OlongJohnson]

Even more safety...

The Wilson Pistol Max (Cartridge) Gage is designed to check loaded pistol cartridges and is set to maximum SAAMI spec dimensions. This gage will measure Max Case Length, Max Cartridge dimensions and Max Loaded Round Length. But, more importantly it will help you to determine what is going on with your loaded ammunition. It can help to solve many issues associated with loading pistol ammunition. Such as, bowing of cases during sizing, oblong rounds, bulge on case or crimp just to name a few. The Pistol Max Gage is a must if you are loading your own ammunition for your handguns or if you need to check purchased factory ammunition.

A little more simply, if it goes in this gauge, it's inside the high limits of SAAMI spec (could still be undersize). Which means it should go in any chamber that is compatible with SAAMI spec ammo, even if it's cut exactly to SAAMI minimum chamber specs. Your carry gun is probably a little bigger than SAAMI minimum chamber specs, so using the gauge gives you a little more margin of safety. If ammo doesn't go in the gauge, it's out of spec, period.

[Sauer Koch]

Even more safety...




A little more simply, if it goes in this gauge, it's inside the high limits of SAAMI spec (could still be undersize). Which means it should go in any chamber that is compatible with SAAMI spec ammo, even if it's cut exactly to SAAMI minimum chamber specs. Your carry gun is probably a little bigger than SAAMI minimum chamber specs, so using the gauge gives you a little more margin of safety. If ammo doesn't go in the gauge, it's out of spec, period.

I plan to buy one, thanks!

[OlongJohnson]

Amazon has it.

[Balisong]

Even more safety...




A little more simply, if it goes in this gauge, it's inside the high limits of SAAMI spec (could still be undersize). Which means it should go in any chamber that is compatible with SAAMI spec ammo, even if it's cut exactly to SAAMI minimum chamber specs. Your carry gun is probably a little bigger than SAAMI minimum chamber specs, so using the gauge gives you a little more margin of safety. If ammo doesn't go in the gauge, it's out of spec, period.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, and thanks to Sauer Koch for bringing up the subject.
I was vaguely aware of such devices for reloaders, but since I don't reload yet I hadn't looked into them. Never crossed my mind they'd be good for checking carry ammo also. Should someone use this in addition to a plunk test, or is just one or the other good enough would you think?

[olstyn]

I plan to buy one, thanks!

YMMV, but it's cheaper to just figure out which of your guns has the tightest chamber and use that barrel as a gauge.

[OlongJohnson]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, and thanks to Sauer Koch for bringing up the subject.
I was vaguely aware of such devices for reloaders, but since I don't reload yet I hadn't looked into them. Never crossed my mind they'd be good for checking carry ammo also. Should someone use this in addition to a plunk test, or is just one or the other good enough would you think?

The case gauge can be expected to reject more parts than the plunk test, so one would expect it to be determining in any comparative ammo sorting strategy. However, doing the plunk test with ammo that passed the case gauge might identify issues such as this before they become problems: https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?39118-Kaboom!

YMMV, but it's cheaper to just figure out which of your guns has the tightest chamber and use that barrel as a gauge.

I am not coming up with any reliable way to do that without buying several pin gauges and other measuring tools, which will come close to or greatly exceed the cost of a quality case gauge.

BTW, I specifically linked the Wilson gauge because it is spec'ed the way it is. Not all of them are made to that exact spec; if you want or are considering something different, do your research.

[olstyn]

I am not coming up with any reliable way to do that without buying several pin gauges and other measuring tools, which will come close to or greatly exceed the cost of a quality case gauge.

Admittedly I'm coming at it from the perspective of someone who reloads, and uses the barrel of the intended gun(s) as the gauge. (I gauge every round that comes off of my press.) I was loading for just my Walther P99c for a long time, then bought a full size P99 and found that a few rounds that would pass the plunk test in the P99c's barrel would fail in the P99's barrel, indicating that the full size gun's chamber was just a touch tighter, so now I use that one for all of my ammo QA because I know that as the tighter of the two barrels, if it passes in the full size, it'll work in the compact as well.

I can see where if you don't have similar experience due to reloading, it would not be as easy to tell which chamber is tightest without specialized tools.

[Balisong]

I always thought of the plunk test as checking for ammo specific issues. Never crossed my mind that it could also potentially identify chamber crud problems. Good stuff, always learning stuff on this forum. Thanks again to the folks participating in this thread and sharing their experiences.