I rebarreled my stevens 200 for the first time. The old barrel was 243, the new one is in 260. I used a full length sized brass as a go gauge and two pieces of cellophane tape as the nogo gauge. Everything looks good except for a very slight bulge on the necks. I am not getting any other signs of pressure or headspace issues (ie no signs of stretched heads, flattened/cratered primers, stiff bolt lift, etc).

Using my dial calipers, I get the following measurements:

base if neck at shoulder: .295
apex of bulge: .299
top of neck: .293


My question is could this slight bulge be related to how I set the head space or is this more of an issue with the brass (RP)?

Is this even anything to worry about?

Can this be corrected by neck trimming?

Do I need to reset my headspace (hopefully not)?


In the photo below, the left case is from the old 243 barrel that I've inlcuded as a reference. The center and right case have the bulge in question.