"TIGHT" Headspace

[Rooster 50]

I guess I am not getting it on the issue of setting headspace "TIGHT" What is gained by doing this. I read on a post where the poster said he was going to set up a new build that way so that he would only need to bump his shoulders back 1 thousandth of an in.

What is gained by doing this over setting "normal" headspace and still marginally sizing your brass.

Hate to sound ignorant but this doesn't make sense to me.

[Hylander]

Having a tight Headspace saves on overworking the brass "makes it last longer"
You don't acually set the headspace tight, you set it for a marginal head space
so the brass strethes very little during firing
I just setup both my .223 and 30-06 this way.
But if you are using the brass in more than one gun you need to make sure that it will chamber in
every gun you will use it in.

[jo191145]

If possible I'll actually set headspace for a crush fit on virgin brass.
Simply saves on brass stretching to fireform to your chamber thereby weakening it right from the start.
Quite possibly such tight headspacing will negate the ability to shoot factory ammo. No problem for me.
Quite possibly your shell holder will need to be stoned down to allow for shoulder bump. No problem for me.
I only use one specific lot of brass for one barrel. No mixing, matching, swapping stuff.

Sometimes particular brass is too short already to allow headspacing this tight. Usually cheap brass. You can only screw in a tube so far before you hit the bolt. Gotta maintain enough clearence between bolt and barrel at all times.
I get less unsupported brass sticking out the barrel. Adds to longevity of the webs when using stout loads. Theoretically anyway.

Brass growth/flow seems to be greatly reduced since I've begun doing this. No more trimming every 5-6 reloads.

[Rooster 50]

Mounted my "new" 6br barrel today Lothar Walther 28 in(thanks Hogwakr) Set it a little tight we will see how that works.

Thanks for the responses.

[fatrack]

Hey jo191145,

Why the importance of your statement below and why would it be bad for the bolt to touch the barrel face?

"Gotta maintain enough clearance between bolt and barrel at all times."

[jo191145]

If the bolt head contacts the barrel Savages wonderful floating bolthead no longer floats ;)


Which brings me to a question of my own. Does anyone know the Savage spec for clearence between bolt head and barrel stub?
I'm thinking its in the .015" - .020" range. Closer to .015" I suspect.
Havent had a Savage factory set up in years and never measured before modifying.