Quoted:
I have an odd question relating to warranty of one of my rifles.

I shot 500 rounds through said rifle and then started to experience failures to extract when I switched to a different brand of ammunition.  I sent in the rifle and was told that the rifle was head spaced incorrectly and that they couldn't even get it into battery.

How does a rifle go from functioning fine to having a head space problem in 500 rounds?

Sean

Quoted:
I have an odd question relating to warranty of one of my rifles.

I shot 500 rounds through said rifle and then started to experience failures to extract when I switched to a different brand of ammunition.  I sent in the rifle and was told that the rifle was head spaced incorrectly and that they couldn't even get it into battery.

How does a rifle go from functioning fine to having a head space problem in 500 rounds?

Sean

Quoted:


If it can't get into battery that would indicate the headspace was REDUCED.  Not likely from firing unless there is plenty of gunk built up on the chamber walls.

Is your new ammo 'odd' in some way?  Like a 154gr SP bullet instead of something in the 122-124 gr range?  I'm thinking if you tried a bullet with a funny ogive and if the chambering wasn't done right it might not seat the odd bullet.

Quoted:



The new ammo was Wolf Black Box instead of Wolf Military Classic (but in .223).   Both were 55 gr. FMJ.  I'd rather not say what mfg as I'm not trying to bash anyone....I just don't understand how I could fire 500 rounds no problem, change ammo, fire two rounds that both got stuck in the chamber and then find out that it won't go into battery when it gets back to the mfg.

I honestly don't understand head spacing, so I'd imagine what I really ought to do is google the concept to get a better idea.

Quoted:
I hope it is not a Lancaster!!!!!

Quoted:
I'm not sure I understand this one either.

Of course anything man made can fail, but I would have expected headspace to increase with wear, not tighten up, but even that shouldn't have occurred in 500 rounds.  The combination of two stuck cases and, suddenly tight headspace sounds like a chamber issue.  Maybe excessive fouling for some reason?  Of course if the barrel pin wasn't done properly I do suppose it is possible that the barrel set back and decrease headspace.  The MFG should be able to tell if it is a chambering issue or simply a headspace issue.  

Is that all they were able to tell you?  Are they going to fix it for you?

Good luck, and post back when you get more info and get it resolved.  I'm curious about this one.

Quoted:

Hmm a .223 AK then?  If both rounds were 55gr, I can't see were you'd have a headspace issue in 500 rounds.  Did you check to see if there was a seperation of a case's neck stuck in the chamber?  If that were the case new rounds would not be able to chamber nor the bolt go into battery with rounds.  

Another possibility would be a sqib round where the bullet was stuck near the chamber (I had one of those with a FAL once).  I'ts easy to rule out - if a cleaning rod can go down the bore so you can see it from the chamber end then it's not a stuck bullet.

Other than that please let us know what the MFG says.

To put it simply head spacing is the distance from the bolt face to some specified point on the cartridge.  For pistol cases it's usually the case mouth, For bottleneck cases (like our favorite rifles) its the shoulder (the part where the body tapers to the neck).  There is a specified range for each cartridge - below minium and the round won't chamber, above maximum and you might have case head seperation and/or a KBOOM.

There is a good discussion of this in Hatcher's Notebook (a very good book to own if you're into the technical side of firearms - especially from a historical perspective).

Quoted:


No separation of the cases. No squib....I cleared the stuck/spent cases with a cleaning rod.  

It's not an AK....but it has a similar bolt which is why I thought I'd ask here.  I'm not trying to get anything but an explanation of how this could happen.  I'm certainly not trying to publicly denounce the company but the story they gave me doesn't add up.

Sean

Quoted:


Ahh, now you tell us.

A similar bolt may be relevant, but other aspects of the rifle design could as well.  Someone may be able to shed more light on your issue if you were to tell us what rifle we're dealing with.