I've seen it done that way also and it does work.
I still prefer the action wrench. When tightening the nut, the barrel will move foreward a little, so you have to have the barrel backed of just a little so that when the nut is tightened, the barrel turns to the correct HS.
It takes a few times to get it right sometimes.
Don't have the bolt closed with the HS guage in the chamber when tightening the barrel nut, if the barrel goes past where it should be, you can put too much pressure on the guage.

I like to set the HS tight on a target rifle so that there is just a very slight drag on the bolt by the HS guage when the bolt is closed on the guage.

For a hunting rifle, it's better to have it a little looser, if hunting dangerous game, you want it even looser, but not loose enough for the bolt to close on a no go guage. This is to insure that the cartridge will chamber.
If it's a little tight on a target rifle, no big deal, but on a hunting rifle, you want to be sure the cartridge will chamber with no problems.

Once the HS is set, you can use the OOL bullet guage to find the correct length to set the bullet seating depth.

John K