Which one do you think is off? I know the Sinclair is more of a traditional "v" block. Could it be the gauge itself?
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Sinclair Concentricity Gauge
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Come to think of it, I've had my lee decapper for over 15 years, I just found the spare pin it came with, never had to use it. And yes your ammo will be worse on Sinclair, about double cause Hornady holds it from ends, u can also check neck before u do anything with Sinclair, check before and after you do anything so u can find out what's causing it and what makes it better.
All these people that say, I don't have a gauge but my ammo is straight, yeah that's what I thought, found some old ammo I made last year and I had over .005 runout on over 2/3 of them, that was an eye opener and then I started changing my ways. Wanna go cheap, Redding body die and lee collet neck, runout went way down and I know ive said it before, but 8t works.
You have to have decent brass to begin with, not to say all range brass is terrible, I've had some that came out super straight but others that are terrible, my starline brass seems to be doing great, Lapua have been great but I noticed I was getting a little bulge on bullet so I'm gonna get a mandrel die to open them up a little more, I could FL size them but I'd rather not cause I noticed the runout on the case increased on the few I did FL size which was almost 0 before I did. I have found that the Forster FL die seems to keep them pretty straight though, but I'm gonna get mandrels anyways so I'll wait on the new ones I have left. For the most part the new starling and Lapua keep coming out nice, brass I've collected over the years I see what the runout on neck is after dies, if it's close to .001 or anything over I put them to the side, maybe someday primers will come back down in price and I'll load them for plinking or fouling rounds.
I could be wrong but I don't see any reason to spend a lot on a decapper, I don't see how it will improve anything, spend the money on a good die or put it toward a good press if you need one, or buy a runout gauge so you can know the truth, if I'm wrong please someone enlighten me
Well look on the bright side, if all your ammo was super straight the gauge would have been a waste of money, if you want to make better ammo buy the Hornady gauge, you'll be more proud of your ammo, kinda like getting a participation trophy. All kidding aside I love a lot of Hornady stuff but the gauge doesn't give true run-out as we know it, all companies got good stuff they make and not so good, try to only buy the good stuff.
Anyways your Sinclair is fine, Hornady gauge measures differently, you can look it up, Google it, you'll see most people say to ditch the Hornady, if you could make awesome rounds by bending them straight everyone would be doing it, no need for pricey dies or equipment, just get a 50.00 lee hand press and straighten them out afterwards, good to go. The point is now you can see what steps are helping or hurting, although it is kinda a curse though, I put every rifle round I make on that gauge!
Its funny, I have an OLD RCBS caliber, I just took out today, just to check it, its an analog dial one, back then there were made in Switzerland. I trust it better than my digital one.
My kids got me the Sinclair "eccentricity"/runout with a digital gauge, but I just got an analog 'dial" one. I like that better for this purpose.
I have the time now to check on things...
My kids got me the Sinclair "eccentricity"/runout with a digital gauge, but I just got an analog 'dial" one. I like that better for this purpose.
I have the time now to check on things...
That would be the testing I have in mind. Fired, out of chamber they come out fine. Now I will check after FL size, after Sinclair Mandrell neck expander and after bullet seat. Then I will get an idea which part contributes the most and how to prevent it.
You definitely want the analog gauge, you can watch the needle and how it moves, sometimes you'll get a quick large movement but this is an imperfection in bullet or little mark on neck not actual runout, allows you to see how round your bullets are, it'll detect little dents and inconsistencies, watching numbers flip around on a digital gauge would give me a headache, measuring shoulder go digital fast and easy, bullet length go digital, runout gauge, no, your just looking at it move on the gauge and how it moves, very easy to see .0005 movement.
