Can A Dummy Like Me Check Head-Space?
Having learned about ruptured cases and case-head separations (and the havoc they can wreak, especially in old military rifles) I'm now a bit worried: I've never had the head-space checked on my Yugo 48 Mauser, or my Yugo-refurbished German-made 98K, or my arsenal-refurbished WWII '03 Springfield. I've never had anyone check 'em with one of those "go-no-go" gauges (which, I suppose, is doing the same thing.) Should I worry about this, since I only shoot modern factory loads? And if it SHOULD be checked, is there an accurate and trustworthy way I could do it myself, considering that there don't seem to be many gunsmiths handy here in Omaha?
0
-
trstone,
Numrich has hearspace gauges for your rifles. ( I assume that your shooting 8x57 and .30-06) They sell go, no-go, and "field" gauges.
About $17.00 a piece. If the bolt closes on the field gauge, DON"T SHOOT IT. The weapon will have to have the barrel set back and re-chambered. If you do decided to "do it yourself", remove the extractor from the bolt before testing, it will give you a better feel of the fit; and don't force the bolt closed.
Taperloc.0 -
Your concern is unnecessary. Despite the stories you may have heard (mostly spread by people who want to gain some money for checking it out), it is extremely unlikely that any of the pieces you mention are at all dangerous! You can make a reasonable guage by placing a shim (the thickness of a razor blade) on the head of a new, unfired military cartridge. The bolt should close with force, or almost close. If the bolt closes with 2 such shims you may have a problem.
Slightly excess headspace acts like "freebore" and will result in lower pressures. It may also negatively affect accuracy due to irregular ignition and excess bullet jump, but safety is not a problem. Target bbls are designed with tight chambers, but military bbls are deliberately made with generous tolerances in order to assure function under dirty conditions. Relax!!
Morty
Have fun, be careful!0 -
So, King999...Could I do this same trick using non-military factory loads and crazy-gluing a sliced-off piece of feeler gauge (with just a tiny, thin smear of glue?) And if so, what thickness--or rather, WHICH---feeler gauge should I use?
Thanks for the reassurance, too---I'd wondered why the guys at the gun store didn't seem too worried about the stuff they sold me, even after I'd ask how good a shape it was in. And these are guys I've bought stuff from for several years, and have come to trust. They've warned me away from (what seemed to me) good-looking firearms that they felt were too worn, or bad/weak actions.0 -
NO NEED TO CUT UP A GOOD FEELER GUAGE, JUST USE BLACK ELECTRICIANS TAPE, IT'S ABOUT .005 PER LAYER. IF THE BOLT WILL CLOSED ON ANYTHING OVER TWO LAYERS YOU HAVE A PROBLEM. KEEP IN MIND YOU SHOULD ONLY USE EACH CARTIDGE FOR ONE TEST AS THE SHOULDER WILL BE SET BACK IF YOU FORCE THE BOLT CLOSED. 0 -
I was having a replacement bolt checked for a 91 Argentine Mauser and my gunsmith used the tape method. Is there a guide for proper headspacing of different rifles or should they all headspace about the same? He said mine should be about .006........unfortunately it was way over that. Now I'm hunting for bolts as the rifle has been sporterized and I don't think it's worth the expense of setting the barrel back and/or rechambering. 0 -
Y'all are nuts. Don't use the old "poor boy" method. Safety first. If you don't know what you are doing, DON'T. Gunsmiths charge a minium fee to cover expenses to keep customers coming back in one piece. 0 -
King's advice is dead wrong and sooner or later somebody will get hurt, maybe killed, following it. You never know what has been done to any surplus rifle that's been floating around the market for eons. Any surplus rifle should have its head spaced checked using proper guages, not bits of tape and glue. If you change bolts, it should be checked. You have no idea what the tooling was like when any two bolts were made. Change barrels, it's even more important.
Head space guages are precisely machined instruments. They actually measure nothing. Their sole purpose to to check mating machined parts for tolerances where the parts meet.
chilip, stay away from that guy. He doesn't know what he's doing. Tape compresses and measures nothing.
And no, I'm not a smithy so I won't make a dime off your head not having rifle bolts put through it. If you're going to play with surplus rifles you need a set of head space guages for every calibre/cartridge type you play with.0 -
No glue necessary. A drop of oil or grease will hold the chip in place long enough to make your test.
Morty0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
8 comments