I am putting a new Bartlein 6.5 Creedmoor barrel on my Accuracy International AE MKIII. I have everything I need except for headspace or go/no go gauges.

If this is a precision made barrel for a precision rifle is it really necessary to check headspace? I don't know that's why I'm asking. I heard you can make a gauge by putting tape on the back of a case. Will this work or am I asking for trouble?

Also the barrel threads came with a bit of red grease on them. I was told this should be left on for installation. Is this the best thing for the threads?

hmm well I'd personally would like to know my headspace is in check before I shot it. if you have already fired 6.5 creed brass you could half ass check it by using it as a "go" gauge (again assuming your last chamber was sammi spec.....) then you could put a piece of masking tape on the base of it and it should not close easily (it's soft brass so you could force it)
I personally only buy go-gauges and do the tape trick for no-go. I would recommend that as a bare minimum. it's cheap insurance.

"Cheap" is relative lol. A GO and a NO GO came to $100 US with shipping!

I am almost virtually clueless in this area,  so take what I say with a whole pile of salt,  but it seems to me that headspace is one of those critical measures of a rifle.


it also seems to me that that is a pretty expensive rifle to risk shorting headspace and causing a problem.  Not that there is a huge chance of that,  I think that using a fired case as a sort of indicator probably gets you most of the way there, but the penalty of getting it wrong, could be huge.



you can probably half ass it, but for me, my own vision or losing an AI rifle if I'm wrong,  is worth the 100 buck insurance policy.  Or take it to a smith who can check it for you after you half ass it.


Just an opinion.

Come on guy, you have an AI rifle and a Bartlein barrel, now you want to get cheap?

I was thinking the same thing as an owner of an AI rifle and multiple barrels



OP: Just buy the them as you will use them again in the future anyway.



As to the grease MHSA (Mile High Shooting) told me to just put a couple of drops of oil on the threads for my AT barrels before installation and the barrel that came installed on my rifle had nothing on it at all.

If this is a precision made barrel for a precision rifle is it really necessary to check headspace? yes

I heard you can make a gauge by putting tape on the back of a case. You are trying to measure a 0.003" difference inside a long narrow hole in a piece of steel blocked by the bolt. Do you really think you can even measure the thickness of the tape, let alone the position of the shoulder to the accuracy desired ?? (desired not required.)

Will this work or am I asking for trouble? If you have or have access to precision grinding equipment and micrometers that can read in 50s of millionths of an inch, yes, you can make your own head space gauges. Otherwise, no, you really shouldn't.

Also the barrel threads came with a bit of red grease on them. I was told this should be left on for installation. Is this the best thing for the threads? some actions want the lugs lubricated so you can read torque, others do not.

Thanks for the responses everybody. I bought the gauges. I didn't really need the NO GO as the chamber was so tight the GO wouldn't even chamber. It's my understanding that's okay.

I put some anti seize on the barrel. Hopefully that was the right thing to do.

The GO gauge must fit in the chamber with the bolt closed--or the chamber is not long enough.
The NO-GO gauge must fit in the chamber but not allow the bolt to close--or the chamber is too long.

Depends on the brass he's using. Even a .001-.002 crush is okay.

Setting up Ackleys, .04 crush is actually desirable.

My ammo fits so I thought that would be okay.