Home made head space gauge

[burner208]

I'm new to the forums, I have been lurking for about a week and this is my first post. I bought a 1919a4 on gunbroker about a week ago (not arrived yet) and I would like to learn alittle more about setting a gun up.

I have a very limited income so I have to trade/barter or make what I can. Is there a way to make a head space gauge for a .308 out of brass or are you better off doing the 3/4" drop method to head space the rifle?

What are some "problems" to look for when you first fire your rifle?

[bigblock]

My opinion. If your running a semi dont waste your time with a headspace gage. Read this http://www.1919a4.com/tutorials/tuto...eadspacing.php and at the bottom of the page read method # 2. I do this and look at the first spent case after fired and make sure theirs no unusual heavy ring around the spent case. Then I go to town. Some people might disagree but thats the beauty of this sight, check out all the advice and then use your best judgment. Once again, just my opinion.

[knall]

DONT use a headspace gauge. You need to set headspace WITH A LIVE ROUND, EVERY TIME you switch ammo brands, batches, dates ect.

There is a tutorial on here someplace...... somebody will send ya the link.

http://1919a4.com/forums/showthread.php?t=818

[bigbird1]

Originally Posted by burner208

I'm new to the forums, I have been lurking for about a week and this is my first post. I bought a 1919a4 on gunbroker about a week ago (not arrived yet) and I would like to learn alittle more about setting a gun up.

I have a very limited income so I have to trade/barter or make what I can. Is there a way to make a head space gauge for a .308 out of brass or are you better off doing the 3/4" drop method to head space the rifle?

What are some "problems" to look for when you first fire your rifle?

There is a short video someone made a while back, I have it on my hard drive, if you want it send me a email add and I will send it to you.

[Dave S]

Originally Posted by knall

DONT use a headspace gauge. You need to set headspace WITH A LIVE ROUND, EVERY TIME you switch ammo brands, batches, dates ect.

There is a tutorial on here someplace...... somebody will send ya the link.

http://1919a4.com/forums/showthread.php?t=818

I would urge you profusely NOT to use a live round! If you are setting the HS IN THE GUN AT THE RANGE, then by all means, keep it pointing downrange and have at it, but you are taking chances if you set headspace anywhere else by this means!

[kkkriverrats]

Originally Posted by Dave S

I would urge you profusely NOT to use a live round! If you are setting the HS IN THE GUN AT THE RANGE, then by all means, keep it pointing downrange and have at it, but you are taking chances if you set headspace anywhere else by this means!

The weapon was designed to shoot US ammo which had VERY stringent quality control. There is a method described In Dolf 1 where with the barrel and barrel extension removed from the weapon and the barrel screwed all the way into the extension slide the bolt minus the extractor for ease of handling onto the extension as far as it will go.

Wrap one hand around the bolt and with your middle finger push up on the lock while maintaining the upward pressure on the lock un screw the barrel from the extension one click at a time until the lock slides all the way up into the bolt unscrew two more clicks and there you go for US CALIBER 30 MIL-SPEC AMMO ONLY. You can further adjust the head space to suit operating conditions I would mark the head space on the barrel and extension to prevent moving anything while putting the barrel and extension back into the weapon.

I would rehead space every time any parts were swapped, like barrel, barrel extension, bolt etc

AVOID HAVING THE DRIVING SPRING ROD POINTING AT ANYTHING OR ANYBODY OR REMOVE IT WHILE HANDLING THE BOLT

This method sets the head space correctly in my weapon, but I only shoot M2 ball spec ammo and it's semi..

Everybody has their favorite method

[phillip]

Originally Posted by bigbird1

There is a short video someone made a while back, I have it on my hard drive, if you want it send me a email add and I will send it to you.

PM sent for the vid.

[bigbird1]

here is a link to video , Want2race made , should help .


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4kQN...eature=related

[Luke]

I totally disassemble(read no firing pin) the bolt and then headspace with the parts out of the gun(the video gives you the basic concept, thanks to whomever made it, throw your headspace gage away). Works perfectly every time. As I use alot of surplus ammo(costs are a factor today, read tolerances, specs unknown, all over the place), I only link the same ammo and headspace the gun to it. I've fired many pallets of ammo between my friends and I with no issues(due to incorrect headspace)! Do not hesitate to ask questions here as I am amazed at the knowledge, resourcefulness, skill levels and most importantly their patience in sharing their knowledge with the rest of us.

[TwoGunChuck]

Like Bigblock I have found the second method shown at http://www.1919a4.com/tutorials/tuto...eadspacing.php to be the most reliable, for me anyway.

However, for .30-06 I go out one more click (3 clicks instead of 2 for .30-06) otherwise my gun runs sluggishly with the crankfire adapter, though I would not recommend this as a general practice.