No Go Gauge

[K22]

I Purchased a 223 bolt action recently and I'm suspicious the head space may be off. Some of the empty rounds were stretched a bit, so I figured I should check the head spacing. But, I do not have a No Go Gauge and was wondering if there was any other way of checking head space. I had heard you could add scotch tape to the back of a sized brass, but how much tape thickness would it take?
It is quite possible the shoulder of some of the brass was bumped back to far, but I want to make sure it is not head spacing. I hate to pay $35 for a gauge to use it one time.
Thanks