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Posted: 10/22/2014 2:54:52 PM EDT
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Are headspace gauges a must have when assembling
a brand new barrel on a brand new upper? |
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Quoted:
Are headspace gauges a must have when assembling a brand new barrel on a brand new upper? I bet there is a thread on this subject already, tacked at the top of this forum, called "Important Threads" http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_4/315921_Headspace__Torque_values__and_Barrel_Break_in.html |
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Quoted:
But your best bet is to take it to somebody that has them. I'd never pay for a service where the fee could be similar to the cost of a tool. A FIELD gauge is $30 and will tell you if your headspace is WAY too long. Still likely not any kind of a safety issue, but way out of spec. If the bolt will close and lock on ammo without any trouble, then it is highly unlikely that headspace is short. |
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WAY back in the day, when I build my first AR, the guys at McBride's in Austin smirked a bit when I asked them to check my headspace - but they did it for free. But back then (1984 - yes, I'm old), there were only a few sources of bolts and barrels, and it was a solid bet that both came from a military contract, or at least from someone who had made those parts for the government. Today...not so much. It's not like headspace gauges are horribly expensive, or really hard to find. The only glitch is that for most, you should not only remove the extractor, but the ejector as well.
As FALARAK says, a FIELD gauge will tell you if your chamber is way too deep (for a new barrel) with your bolt. I use a NO GO gauge instead - it too identifies way too deep chambers (for a new barrel), but it's a little closer to OK. I bit the bullet and bought a GO gauge as well; these measure minimum chamber depth, and you're almost never going to find a .223 or 5.56mm barrel that has a less-than minimum chamber...but having both a GO and NO GO gauge helped me avoid a problem with a 300 Blackout barrel whose chamber was WAY too shallow... I use Forster gauges for 5.56mm, and PTG for 300 Blackout (because Forster doesn't make Blackout gauges). |
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