Dustysa4, Absolutely correct in what you say. It seems that there are very few of us that actually know how to use this Hornady comparator correctly. For the life of me I don't know why people cant see what the offset on the base holders for the comparator inserts and the offset on the anvil base are actually used for. All you have to do is make sure that you are using the holding screw in the correct offset side of the comparator base and anvil. The different offsets will either align the comparator on the caliper so that the cartridge and or the projectile is centered with the blades or when used with the Hornady length gauge tool it is supposed to be used as an offset. The best instruction on how to use this comparator correctly is here, it shows how the offset is used : www.americangunreview.com/2012/06/hornady-lnl-comparator-set-review.html

Neil Harris - I've been thinking about getting the anvil for that Comparator. Somehow, I just don't trust the Comparator anywhere as much as my Precision Mics - but the Comparator is not expensive - I should really work with it more since other shooters such as yourself have had success with it (the Comparator / caliper is an awkward thing to use). I first became aware of the Precision Mic advantages when I was in High Power Competition shooting back in the 80s and early 90s. Best to ya, FC

Can of Beans - The anvil also really helps square up everything for more consistent measures... Have a great day...FC Steve

FortuneCookie45LC Yes Sir, I'm certain it would. I wasn't aware of that product but thanks for the info. I'll be getting one soon.

Firetip - Indeed, I've found that having multiple calipers is a very good thing. I keep a caliper set up for use with the Comparators and another one for my case measurements, etc. I intend to do a video on this in the future. Why keep shuttling those things off and onto my caliper? They aren't that expensive anyway. Best to ya, Steve

crossstimbers2 - Either the HC or the RCBS PM work better the more understanding the users have on their instruments. But both are much better than flying blind with FL sizer dies adjusted by hither and yon "touch the shellholder" to "1/4 turn more". Thanks for boosting the goodness of the Hornady Comparator.... Best to ya, FC Steve

FortuneCookie45LC. Agreed these tools are a significant improvement for setting FL dies exactly where they should be. If you size too fast or with not enough lube it will leave the case longer by .001 or .002. These tools will detect those tiny variations due to variations in technique. Thanks for the very useful video.

jason60chev - As you know, the outside dimensions of both cases are identical. But the military brass has more brass thickness internally resulting is slightly less case capacity. Many military chambers are on the long side of SAAMI specs so brass stretching, esp with semi / full auto, can occur. This is seldom a problem with the stronger military brass intended for one firing only. Your builder doesn't want you taking your fired and stretched brass (esp commercial weaker brass), and randomly FL sizing it back to minimum SAAMI, stretching it again...and perhaps again = case separations. What he really should be telling you is he only warrants for using military factory ammo. Even reloading military brass can be a real problem if headspace is handled in a random manner with the FL sizing dies we have. Shame as if your BM59 chamber is not over lengthed, it could be a very fine rifle to reload with any of our good commercial 308 brass including the fine Lapua. You should get more information from your builder who should be more than happy to explain why his policy plus how to help you reload for the rifle (providing he encourages that reloading). At any regard, congrats on your fine rifle... Good shootin' to ya, FC Steve

That's what I do .

David Cavallero - Both work. And either is much better than simply using our FL sizing dies without any regard to what is actually happening. Because what we are doing is assessing the headspace from our fired brass and then bumping the shoulders back a specified amount, the Hornady Comparator works as well as the Precision Mic. But the PM is handier and readier to use. It's a matter of preference since the difference in cost is negligible when amortized over many years. We can save in other areas, like collecting range brass for our handgun shooting, or buying powder and primers in bulk. Have a great day, FC Steve

more repeatable with the rcbs unit but more costly, like fortune cookie says with use and knowledge the hornady is about the same, just not as easy to get accurate results unless proficient with it.

Douglas Ball - Since I use my Precision Mics, I really don't use the Comparator. The Comparator for headspace setting is not the best way to go as it takes a great deal of practice in its use before reliability is achieved. I invested in it to see if it would serve me, but I'm not sold on it as of now... Have a great day, FC

like I said above FC they don't make them for all calibers. you got what you got. too bad the companies don't make this stuff for us only their pocket books and if you are not shooting the standard .308 and others you are screwed. Like the Hornady overall length gauge. I have to make my own cases because they don't carry wild cat cases. like the 375 JDJ or 7mm TCU

depends on which way you install it as many have mentioned same setup is used with the overall length gauge

Thats tragic to hear. I bought the mic to give me a reference and hopefully some confidence in my die setting. Can't say I'm surprised

very nice to know, am not surprised, would be interesting to know if they were more accurate years ago, and are just being produced on worn out machines but either way grateful for the info, was just speculating on purchasing some, will no longer worry about it.

Cc Wynn - Right you are, and the 30/06 can be used for 25/06 and 280 Rem also as I recall. Drat, Google has made it difficult to add annotations to the videos as we did before (if endscreens are used, annotations cannot be used), I'll have to do another video with my 6mm Rem Precision Mic and mention it there... Best Regards to ya, and thanks for posting... FC

Cc Wynn That is exactly what I do! I set my full length sizing die to just "bump the shoulder" enough so I have between one and two thousandth of head space when using the RCBS mic. If my fired brass doesn't need any bumping then I just neck size. Thanks for confirming what I have been doing for awhile!

That's why I stopped watching.

Regardless of comments on quality or not, there is no reason what so ever to change from the Hornady (or similar) comparator. The RCBS mic is really only good for accurately measuring a case for comparison to SAAMI spec. As a case to case comparator, it is honestly a big time waster more than anything (obviously this also depends on how many cases you're checking out of a lot that you might be dealing with). Sure, the regular caliper based comparators can be a little finicky at first, but once you get the hang using them right and get a rhythm going, you can accurately check a lot of cases fast. As a matter of fact, I just resized a lot of 50 pieces of brass last night and after resizing them and wiping on the wax residue, I checked all 50 in about literally 3 to 3-1/2 minutes and I guarantee you that the level of accuracy as a "before and after comparison" is no different than what you would see with the RCBS mic.

Michael Andersen - You could really benefit by having a Precision Mic for your 6.5 Creedmoor. Unlike 260 Reminton owners who can use the 308 Precision Mic readily, there is no Precision Mic for the 300 Savage. If the 6.5 Creed was chambered in a popular bolt action, there would be a strong drive for RCBS to make the 6.5 Creed Precision Mic... You will note that all the many calibers the Mic is made in are bolt guns. The 300 Savage was a lever action cartridge to begin with and never really crossed over into bolt guns. You'll have to make do with the Hornady. Your 6.5 Creedmoor is actually very near the 260 Rem. Best to ya, FC

Look into a "Sinclair".

@@dinohudson1432 true sinclair has a few calibers that hornady gets close to, and fit on the same tool

MB - Yes indeed, that is the advantage of the Comparator vs the PMics although a 30/06 PMic is good for the 280 Rem, 25/06 etc. Have a great day, FC Steve

@@FortuneCookie45LC I have used a 9mm case to head space different caliber for years. I have now bought a Hornady sett, and there is no difference. Head space is the same.

@@FortuneCookie45LC You can square the Hornady comparator gauge and body on the caliper blades. This is accomplished by reversing the set up on the body of the tool to the backside of the caliper blade. Instead of the set screw facing the user, turn it, or reverse it to the backside of caliper blade. Try it, you'll like it.

Put a go or no go gauge in the "precision" mic and see if it's anything more than a comparator with tons of backlash.

Sean Foster - OK, but you should have heard me when I first saw and pronounced the word melancholy. Have a great day, FC

I hope I didn't offend. I just wanted to help. I'm guilty of mispronouncing plenty of words and it's embarrassing when I am corrected but in the end, I appreciate it as it helps me avoid mispronouncing it in the future. Great video, by the way. 😁

Sean Foster - No offense at all - it just reminded me of when I mispronounced Exodus in the sixth grade...I was the top student in the class at the time when I did that, and this one classmate was actually beside himself with laughter...but I wasn't laughing.... Best to ya, FC