Getting headspace guages without getting ripped off on custom brokerage fees/shipping

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Wildcard91

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Does anyone know where I can borrow or buy .308 WIN headspace guages in Canada?

I'm trying to install a TRW bolt into my Poly m305 and I want to lap it in so that the head space measures exactly 1.633".

Brownell's carries them, but I refuse to do business with a company in the US that does not use USPS for shipping options. Last time I bought a front sight post for my 1911 that cost only $35, I was charged an additional $30 in customs brokerage fees on top of the shipping that I already paid. It's highway robbery when total cost including shipping equates to more than 300% of the price of the product itself + HST(if bought it Canada).

I checked all my local gun stores for headspace guages and the people all looked at me as if I was asking to buy a mythical unicorn.

I figure that someone else has been in this situation before and might want to recover some of their costs for a tool(s) that they would seldom use more than once. Either that, or someone else might know where I can actually acquire these items without being gouged by those scum balls at FedEX, UPS etc.
 
I just bought mine from Brownells and it was $10.50 shipping and they hit me with $13.00 duties about 3 weeks ago. They came USPS then regular carrier - about a week and a half to be delivered
 
Id like a lot of gauges as well for 303 and 30-06 n the sort.. but ditto I get the "your looking for what?!" response and no one has it. Ive just been using a theory presented to me by a experienced firearm retailer, apparently when you use tape, clear scotch or painters or masking, w/e of those. You put two layers of tape on the primer end of the spent casing, trimming the parts that hang over the rim of the base of the cartridge, and it should be hard to close on the empty taped casing. 3 or 4 layers and it shouldnt close, or if it does it should be quite difficult. This obviously I am assuming is a looser gauging system and less confident than an actual gauge but it seems to work in determining safe to shoot or not and excessive headspace is obvious with this method.

Hope it helps.
 
"...so that the head space measures..." Headspace guages don't measure anything. They're just go/no-go guages.
"...that does not use USPS for..." The USPS doesn't send much out of the U.S., as I recall.
"...checked all my local gun stores..." Headspace guages and any other smithing tools is highly specialized stuff. Gun shops don't carry tools.
"...they hit me with..." Wasn't Brownell's. Duty, etc. is a government thing. Has nothing to do with the seller.
"...when you use tape..." Bits of tape does and tells you nothing. Masking tape will compress, for one thing. Headspace guages are precision instruments.
 
sunray said:
"...that does not use USPS for..." The USPS doesn't send much out of the U.S., as I recall."
Click to expand...

I get things through usps all the time when purchasing non-itar items from the states.

sunray said:
"...checked all my local gun stores..." Headspace guages and any other smithing tools is highly specialized stuff. Gun shops don't carry tools.
Click to expand...
This is why I am asking for help here. I assumed other people might have experience in this matter

sunray said:
"...they hit me with..." Wasn't Brownell's. Duty, etc. is a government thing. Has nothing to do with the seller.
Click to expand...

I apologize if my wording was incorrect. I'm not referring to the duty, but for the "Custom's brokerage fee" that is levied on top of the duty that the BROKER charges. This is a fee that is charged by UPS and FedEx, and is outrageous because the value of the fee levied is based on the total cost including already paid shipping and duties. There are numerous documented cases, and a class action case against this practice. Essentially they show up on your door and ask you to pay an extra amount on top of your duty levied by customs. If a seller chooses to only ship using one of these carriers, that's there prerogative, but it's my prerogative as a buyer not to do business with them until cheaper shipping options are available or go elsewhere.

http://www.thestar.com/business/2007/12/03/border_shipping_fees_spark_complaints.html
https://www.clearsmart.ca/avoid-ups-brokerage-fees/
http://trueler.com/2010/09/13/ups-brokerage-fees-total-scam-fraud-cheating-avoid-it/
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/services/cb-cd/ "Fees charged for brokerage services constitute a private business transaction between the broker and the client and are therefore not regulated by the CBSA."


sunray said:
"...so that the head space measures..." Headspace guages don't measure anything. They're just go/no-go gauges.
"...when you use tape..." Bits of tape does and tells you nothing. Masking tape will compress, for one thing. Headspace gauges are precision instruments.
Click to expand...

I agree that the tape method is crude and probably not safe. Head space gauges are available in go/no go as well as incremental values for Clymer gauges. You can indeed get an estimated measurement for head space using these gauges. For example if I insert a 1.630 Go gauge into a chamber and the bolt closes, but fails to do so with a 1.632 gauge then my head space is somewhere between 1.630 to 1.632. Alternatively if you follow Laz's method of using one gauge go gauge along with automotive feeler gauges, you can get a decent approximation to the nearest +or- 0.0005.


@Griffin - Do you remember which shipping option you asked for when you purchased your gauges from Brownells? If they do indeed ship using USPS then I might not be seeing this or it might be named something else that that I'm not registering with my brain. If $13 duty and $10 dollars shipping was all you paid on top of product, I'm more included to accept that since it doesnt have the additional $19-30 in brokerage fees on top. I'm hoping that the problem resides between the keyboard and my chair and that I've just been selecting the wrong shipping options in the past with Brownells.

@toyboy - Thanks very much for the offer, but unfortunately I'm over in Ontario. I'll follow up on the lead with Bighorn Sales and see if that gets me any closer.
 
I have a set of Clymers, and I'm in Ontario. I just offered to lend them out to someone else--see what he says--but I would happily lend them out. It's not like they see much use. I will be at Cyclone's GTA meet on the 27th...
 
A little late in the game with this thread but I wanted to let you know that I have found the customer service at Brownell's to be excellent. I had a couple of situations where I ordered small items and were charged huge fees. They will be the first to admit they have a poor system for calculating international sales. Each time I complained they refunded my shipping charges entirely with their apologies. They were very good about it. I don't have a bad word to say about their customer service. Give them a call. They will help.
 
just got my new set of .233 go no from brownells on friday... no duty charge, order was under $60

besides even when my brownell orders get hit with duty... its 5%GST... oh darn you pay that if you buy anything in canada anyways.
 
If more Canadian retailers followed Brownell,s business model we would probably lose 5% of the rants on this forum, Granted, things are getting better up here but there,s still lotsa room for improvement.
 
I've dealt with Clymer http://www.clymertool.com/

This company will ship by mail and are happy to do so.


Wildcard91 said:
Does anyone know where I can borrow or buy .308 WIN headspace guages in Canada?

I'm trying to install a TRW bolt into my Poly m305 and I want to lap it in so that the head space measures exactly 1.633".

Brownell's carries them, but I refuse to do business with a company in the US that does not use USPS for shipping options. Last time I bought a front sight post for my 1911 that cost only $35, I was charged an additional $30 in customs brokerage fees on top of the shipping that I already paid. It's highway robbery when total cost including shipping equates to more than 300% of the price of the product itself + HST(if bought it Canada).

I checked all my local gun stores for headspace guages and the people all looked at me as if I was asking to buy a mythical unicorn.

I figure that someone else has been in this situation before and might want to recover some of their costs for a tool(s) that they would seldom use more than once. Either that, or someone else might know where I can actually acquire these items without being gouged by those scum balls at FedEX, UPS etc.
Click to expand...
 
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