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Posted: 12/20/2012 3:57:09 PM EDT
| Why don't we really worry to much about head space on a AR 15????? |
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We should worry about headspace with all new rifle builds. In the AR platform, headspace is set by the way the bolt fits in the barrel extension in relation to the chamber. There are a couple of different approaches to setting a barrel's headspace, which are not necessarily important to this discussion. Assuming a chamber is cut appropriately, and that the barrel extension is then attached appropriately, a bolt that is exactly in the middle of tolerance will give a safe headspace.
But historically, the AR community has not concerned itself about headspace because, again historically, all available barrels and bolts were made by a relatively small number of producers who were also GI suppliers, so it was pretty much a given that their parts would be well within spec and thus need no testing to verify that they were safe together. But that comes from a long time ago. Today, there are so many makers of barrels and bolts that it is no longer a given that any random new barrel and any random new bolt would be close enough to the middle of the spec to be safe together. A "GO" and "NO GO" gauge could cost you around $40-$50, and it takes about 10 minutes to set up to use them to determine whether your bolt/barrel combination are safe. |
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