antsi
02-08-2013, 06:05 PM
I posted here a while back about a cracked barrel nut on my early model 110 30-06, needing to replace it and re-headspace the rifle http://www.savageshooters.com/showthread.php?20074-Newbie-with-Cracked-Barrel-Nut
One of the gracious members here walked me through the headspacing process using two references: 1) cases previously fired in the same gun, and 2) using the factory iron sights as a reference to line up on.
I hadn't gotten around to shooting the gun yet, as I had also discovered a scope mounting problem and was waiting for some replacement parts from Burris.
In the meantime, I happened to wind up with a set of go/no-go gages and before trying out my rifle I decided to check it. The way I had previously put the rifle together, I was not able to close the bolt on the go gage.
It is very possible this is how the gun was previously headspaced - one of the oddball things I had previously noticed was the fact that I was having to size my brass a bit smaller than my Dillon case gage in order to close the bolt easily on this gun. In other words, I had noticed it seemed to be a tighter-than-spec chamber.
If I set the headspace according to the go gage, the factory iron sights do not line up - they're about 45 degrees offset (ie, the barrel is "unscrewed" about 45 degrees looser).
So the question is, what do I do now?
1) set the barrel the way it was - with the sights lined up and the chamber a bit too tight. This way the brass I've already sized would presumably fit. It wouldn't be a spec 30-06, but it should work with my ammo, right?
2) set the barrel correctly according to the go/nogo gages, and live with crooked sights (would this do something odd to the barrel harmonics?)
3) something else?
One of the gracious members here walked me through the headspacing process using two references: 1) cases previously fired in the same gun, and 2) using the factory iron sights as a reference to line up on.
I hadn't gotten around to shooting the gun yet, as I had also discovered a scope mounting problem and was waiting for some replacement parts from Burris.
In the meantime, I happened to wind up with a set of go/no-go gages and before trying out my rifle I decided to check it. The way I had previously put the rifle together, I was not able to close the bolt on the go gage.
It is very possible this is how the gun was previously headspaced - one of the oddball things I had previously noticed was the fact that I was having to size my brass a bit smaller than my Dillon case gage in order to close the bolt easily on this gun. In other words, I had noticed it seemed to be a tighter-than-spec chamber.
If I set the headspace according to the go gage, the factory iron sights do not line up - they're about 45 degrees offset (ie, the barrel is "unscrewed" about 45 degrees looser).
So the question is, what do I do now?
1) set the barrel the way it was - with the sights lined up and the chamber a bit too tight. This way the brass I've already sized would presumably fit. It wouldn't be a spec 30-06, but it should work with my ammo, right?
2) set the barrel correctly according to the go/nogo gages, and live with crooked sights (would this do something odd to the barrel harmonics?)
3) something else?