Head Space Accomplished

[Big Smitty]

I feel I got it right on my .300 Win Mag build. I was a little apprehensive at setting the headspace but it was not that tough.

Put in the go guage closed the bolt, threaded the barrel in until it stopped, tightend the barrel nut to 60 foot pounds, removed the go guage and added a piece of tape and placed the go guage back in the chamber and the bolt would not close.

I then chambered a round, removed it and added one piece of tape and tried to close the bolt, it closed but was very tight. I removed the round and added a second piece of tape and tried to chamber the round and the bolt would not close.

To satisfy myself I then did the same exact proceedure above on a factory headspaced .243 savage 110 that I have. The results were exactly the same on the .243 as on the .300 Win Mag.

If I missed anything or did anything incorrectly please let me know. I just mounted up a Leupold VariXIII and I am off to the range tomorrow morning to see how it shoots. Thanks!

[bootsmcguire]

Not that I can see. I would say good to go, thats pretty much what I did with mine except for the live ammo part.

[Uncle Jack]

I would have used a no/go gauge. Transparent tape works most of the time. Unfortunately there are no SAAMI specs for various brands of tape.

uj

[bigcatdaddy]

Smitty

Did the same as you yesterday on my 7mm-08 build. Was cake. Got a friend who goes ballistic over amatuers headspacing their rigs. I used go and no-go guages. Really nothing to it.

So, are you going to put your purtty face up there and pull the trigger? I still am giving consideration to a "remote" trigger pull from my lead-sled.

[BradB]

Setting headspace is not black magic, use some common sense and double check your work. I've been using a go gage and made some circular shims from shim stock this way I know exacly what the headspace is set at. The last couple I set I used the go gage with a .002 shim and the bolt closed with minimal resistance. With a .003 shim it would not close. :)

[Big Smitty]

Mission accomplished. I went to the range today and sighted in the .300 Win Mag with no issues. Very windy day, shooting 180 grn store bought ammo getting 1.5" groups at 100 yds. The old stock it is in has issues and needs to be refinished and bedded. I'll admit I was a bit apprehensive the first round I put down range, but I went through a box of ammo with no issues. The barreled action is good to go. Now I will go to work on the stock and dial in a load.

I also shot the 110 savage .243 I bought for $180. I did not change anything on this rifle, just added a vortex scope. I had issues with running out of scope adjustment in both windage and elevation. I bought a 20 MOA rail from EGW and it solved my issues. Got 1/2" groups at 100 yds. with wind so I am happy with this one as bought.

[nova1194]

I did it the same way on my 300wm, and the only problem I ran into was due to a crappy batch of brass, the belt height varied and the piece I used to head space it was evidently one of the shorter belts because after a few rounds I got one that wouldnt chamber, out of the bag of 50 brass, 10 or so wouldnt chamber, so I took it back apart and reset it with one of the 10 pieces the wouldnt chamber before, after that everything was fine, I marked that piece of brass and saved it incase I need to do it again later.

Mike

[calib]

when you guys have done your head spacing do you guys take the firing pin and extractor off the bolt or leave the bolt whole

[Big Smitty]

I had to buy a new bolt head and had to install the extractor and the ejector myself. When I headspaced I had only the extractor on the bolthead. I felt having the extractor installed made headspacing a little easier. After I completed the headspacing I installed the ejector. I have read that it does not matter wether the extractor or the ejector is left installed. I am no expert, just indicating how I did it. As has been indicated, what I found out is headspacing is not rocket science. Read the information in this sight as research, pay attention to detail, verify what you are doing and give it a try. It's a little scary when you pull the trigger on the first round, but I am pretty confident now.

[calib]

big smitty

[GaCop]

I've left the extractor and ejector in place on every barrel I've headspaced w/o any problems. I use the tape method too. Scotch brand tape mikes .002" and my bolts will not close with one thickness of tape on the GO gauge.

[calib]

i will have to try the that gacop i get my wrench wednesday so that is when i will be able to take off old barrel and put on the new.

[Aircraftmech76]

I don't own any belted rounds, so my process is different than yours. I set up my barrel headspace to my dies. I size a case with my Redding body die, and that's what I use for my headspace gauge. It accomplishes two tasks when doing this.

Kevin

[calib]

dont you have to fire form your brass first or can you for it in the dies?

[calib]

sorry i am asking thinking you guys know that i am doing my headspacing to a 243 ai and i have no brass formed or dies here yet

[jglover_81]

We did my 223 AI.... from what we read the shoulder has to be pushed back .004 on the AI. So yes it is best to have a piece of brass that has been fireformed and resized with your dies so the headspace is set to your dies

[drybean]

check out innovative techologives dies
no more worry about the belt

[Aircraftmech76]

dont you have to fire form your brass first or can you for it in the dies?


Think of the brass as being "fireformed" to your dies' chamber. You set the headspace up on your barrel to match that. You are going to set up the dies to match your rifle's chamber; this just sets up your rifle's chamber to match your dies. Saves a step, and everything is uniform before even firing the brass for the first time.

Kevin