Back in the late 40's and 50's I had a gunsmith friend. When people would bring in old rifles from europe or japan to get the head space checked and he didnt have the guages for it, he would just put a little piece of masking tape on the base of a cartridge for that rifle. If the bolt closed easily, you had too much headspace, if you had to force it, it was good to go.
Using brass for go no-go guages is not a good idea (it's too soft)
