It never stops amazing me that when someone who is trying to learn how to work on their own gun that people who he believes really know would offer such crude advise.
I use cheap feeler gauges as shim stock all the time. The bolt could care less where that extra .003" came from. And if you want to get the spacing tighter than spec you can easily do so.
No go gauges are meant for production situations. It's an easy way to tell whether something is within production tolerances. Most professional gunsmiths don't bother with no go gauges on custom built rifles either, there are better ways to measure than feel. The most sensible way is to use a go gauge and a strip of plasti-gage. It will tell you exactly how much clearance you have past the go gauge.
"As long as there's lead in the air....there's still hope.."
I guess it depends on how much a guy cares about how his gun turns out.
I run .0015 headspace on my bolt 223. and I carefully check and reset until that is what I have. When I resize I hold my brass to .001 headspace.
How do you measure that close? I mean how do you set your headspace that close without using shims ? Do you have an in between gauge? Could a guy turn a new one on the lathe and then just "snug" it up?
I've done a hundred or so savage barrels and I still only use a go gauge & scotch tape & feel. Recently I headspace my 5 different 6.5 Creeds as close as I could get them by "feel" so I could use the same reloading die setting. Couldn't do it, one was .0005 off.
Not sure how he does it. There is a Forster set that comes in .001 increments. The difference between go and no is .006 in his .223 I believe. I personally try for the middle but I have a few that are on the loose end of the spectrum for use in places with things that bite back. Honestly I think the loose ones are more accurate.
I wish I could set brass up to resize to within a half a thou of headspace consistently and measure it accurately. A little too much lube, a speck of crud, etc., and I’m out.
Actually the use of some shim stock makes good dollars for cents sense for the no-go, but I'm picturing a "monkey and a football" trying to keep that little circle of shim stock in place between the go gauge and the bolt face. Although a tiny dab of Vaseline would likely hold it in the bolt face without altering the length we are trying to measure. Or better yet clamping the barrel vise in a more vertical orientation.
Funny. Not exactly sure what is “crude”. Never actually gave any advice. Simply was saying what I do. Used to use the ol’ scotch tape trick everyone knows...and ya know what? Ain’t never had a single problem with that method. But awhile back I was using feeler gages for different machining tricks and thought, “hmmm”. Went and checked, and last one I set up WON’T close with a .003” shim on the base of the “Go”. So it’s under .003” headspace. I could use a .002” shim and set it lower, but where it is quite alright.
I don’t have much in the way of “throw away money” see. I need to keep spending pretty light. Saving the cost of $30 on a “No Go” gauge may seem like nothing to some, but to me that $30 can be much better served in the form of a couple end mills or other machining tidbits.
So I fail to see what us “Crude” in that?
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