Spinning on another barrel & headspace 😁

The last few days I've been changing up one of my rifles.

I took one of my left hand Remington 700 short action rifles with a j-lock bolt and a "E" prefix serial number. I removed the factory 22-250 barrel and in its place I spun on a factory Remington new take-off 5R barrel in 6.5 CM that's threaded for a muzzle device. Barrel is 24" long.

I have a barrel vice that's bench mounted and my action wrench is of the external style with a cutout for the lug.

Using the "Larry Potterfield method of torquing the barrel, I've tightened up the barrel. With my wrench there's no way use a torque wrench while tightening the barrel. It's basically hand tight, then turned approximately another 1/8" or slightly more past hand tight.

I'm currently waiting on a go-guage to check headspace.

While I'm waiting, today I removed the firing pin assembly and the ejector. I also have on hand a box of Hornady 147 ELDM ammo. I measured all 20 rounds of ammo using my Hornady comparator.

With my tools, I get the majority of the ammo measuring 1.515", with one at 1.514", and the remaining measuring 1.517"-1.519".

The 1.514", and 1.515" cases allow bolt closure with little resistance. The others from 1.517"-1.519" correspondingly stiffer bolt closure.

I suspect, obviously, that my headspace is on the tight side. I'll know more after I receive the go-guage.

If the go-guage/no-go guage confirms, then I have a couple of ideas on how to ever so slightly increase headspace. I suspect it's only gonna be off by a very small amount, in the single digit numbers.

At any rate, I'm somewhat surprised it's even as close at it appears to initially be.

Wish me luck, and if you have any pointers, I'm all ears.

Just let me say this, the difference between a cartridge dimensions and a chamber dimensions is why you never set headspace with a cartridge…

What will you do when the go gauge is too tight?
I know the answer, but do you?

Cheers.

I usually set mine snug on the go guage and all has been well so far and a little on the tight side of tolerances

Thanks

Buck

I've done several Remington rifle barrel swaps and because they are not all exact I had to swap recoil lugs on a couple that were a few thousandths different.
I picked up several from a local smith and even got one thickness I needed on this site.
It can be done with attention to your headspace as you've already noticed.
Good luck!

MagnumManiac said:

Just let me say this, the difference between a cartridge dimensions and a chamber dimensions is why you never set headspace with a cartridge…

What will you do when the go gauge is too tight?
I know the answer, but do you?

Cheers.

Click to expand...

I am expecting the bolt to NOT close on the go guage. The fact that I have stiff bolt closure on the factory rounds all but guarantees it will not close on the go guage. I'm quite aware of the cartridge dimensions vs chamber dimensions (as we all know, the cartridge has to be smaller than the chamber...). I'm not attempting to set the headspace with a cartridge. I was merely curious as to how the rounds chambered in the barrel as is. Simple as that.

I will decide my course of action pending the outcome of the fitment of the go guage.

To answer your question, I know the answer too.