What does his gauge have to do with this and your confidence . The gauge is the one thing in all of this that never changes and is the one constant .
It has to do with the way I look at things, I suppose. If a gauge says "it won't fit" and half of what it says won't fit DOES FIT, that says to me the gauge isn't doing what I expect.
It would be obvious if it were the other way around, and half of what passed the gauge didn't fit. Would you trust that gauge then??
I wouldn't. I trust the gun I'm shooting it in more than the gauge. And, when there's more than one gun going to use that ammo, I test it in all the guns that will be using it.
Remember, I'm not making ammo to fit every gun in the country like an ammo company does. I'm making what works for me, and my guns. And, on those occasions when some one has asked me to reload ammo for their gun, I expect them to leave me their gun, and if they won't, they won't get ammo from me.
My point here is that any gauge or measuring device that gives you up to
"about half" false positives or false negatives is not a trustworthy device and doesn't inspire me with confidence.
No matter what the OP's reloading practices, I think that when what passes the gauge works and half of what doesn't pass the gauge ALSO works, its not the reloading practices alone. The gun also matters, too.
If the gun is "more forgiving" of dimensional tolerance than the gauge, what then is the main benefit of the gauge?