Montana, yes, the gages have definitely become stouter. I made a Manson or I guess Clymer type that is suspended with a spring also to keep the barrel snug against the ball. It works great, but as I posted before you either need another person writing numbers down or else you have to stop, take barrels off, write numbers and continue, or use a use a recorder.
I presume this gage first started out being used horizontal, but with the deflection, not reliable no matter how careful you are.
The horizontal gage I made, a few good points were brought up, one it will not measure chamber, and who knows if the barrels are straight bored. A few thousandths, doesn't bother me, but how do you know if they are staight. The barrel on my gage rests on two ball bearings along it's length. The first one is beyond the chamber and forcing cone and the other is at 24" from front stop.
The readings are repeatable, but there is that "if" are the barrels straight.
The Hosford gage looks good, but my main concern is not the last 18", but the first 18", and since it can't be used on the rigid column safely, it has to be laid on a table or bench and now it is not easy to use. You would have to have a third hand to hold it while you do the other sides.
A question to those that have the Galazan gage, does it have a ball bearing at the top? The picture I have of one is not very clear on that. Also in measuring the chamber wall thickness, the cone has to be set fairly high, leaving most of the barrel unsupported except for your hand, is this a problem?
