Excessive Headspace

[eth727]

How would one remedy excessive headspace on a milsurp rifle "ie" arisaka,Mauser bolt actions?

[19K]

Buy a new one?

[81turbota]

Depends on the rifle. Some are much easier than others and do not require a gunsmith, just gauges.

Mosin-change bolt head
Enfield-change bolt head

[SMarquez]

A crap shoot but you could buy bolt bodies and head space gauges and see if you can luck into one with proper head spacing. Sell the other bolts that don't head space. 98 Mauser bolts seem to go for $50-$80 on Ebay.

[louie]

First like the poster above said is try and find another bolt. Gunsmithing is fine to return the barrel, but will be expensive. If at a gunshow, try a few bolts, without extractor or collar to see how they headspace. You are good to go on a field gauge. The gauges you can get online for checking headspace.

[corerftech]

Set the barrel back a turn, run reamer in to reset, screw barrel back on.
What cartridge, caliber, rifle specifically, I can handle the job if needed and I have the reamers/gauges in inventory.

[Syntax Error]

For one piece bolt head designs (Mauser, Arisaka, Springfield), the barrel would have to be screwed in a little more if possible. For guns with removable and replaceable bolt heads (Enfield, Mosin), then swapping bolt heads until it headspaces is usually the fix.

[glock 357]

Isnt there a channel of some sort on the mauser barrel where the bolt connects to the chamber part of the barrel?

[Milsurp Collector]

Unless the bolt closes on a Field gauge I wouldn't do anything about it.

[6mmintl]

98 Mauser barrels seat on inside receiver ridge/recess, removing barrel and cutting a step the amount needed to correct head space (Typ .003"-.009" measured with gauges) is all that's needed.

Mismatched bolts can have larger/longer headspace corrected by the above procedure. If bolt is matching then a closer look at the bug lugs in receiver will need to be inspected to see if there is bolt lug setback (crushing of lug seats due to overload/high pressure cartridge), if there is setback (clicking during opening/closing) you should reject/scrap receiver, because if will get worse/dangerous.

You will have to readjust front and rear sights by unsoldering and re-soldering .

[louie]

Remember usually you can't screw in the barrel any tighter. I used to rebarrel many Mausers in the day, and these were put in by the factory at tight tolerances. They then fitted a bolt to it, and numbered the bolt. This is why you should always check headspace on miss matched bolts to rifle. Even if you can tighten it, now you must realign the sight too since it will now be canted. I don't ever recall putting on a surplus Mauser barrel where the sight base came out perfectly aligned, they always come out on the side or underneath etc. As Milsurp Collector said above, good to go on a field gauge, it is safe to shoot.

[Crunch130]

If the cause is not lug setback or some other structural problem, you can correct for long headspace by hand loading for bolt action rifles.

Fire standard ammo in the rifle. Set up your resizing die for about 1/2 a turn long rather than standard resizing. Resize 1 case. See if the bolt closes or doesn't smash the case when it does. Tighten the die a little. Repeat.

Fine tune the resizing die setting until the bolt "just" closes without binding or crushing the case shoulder. Voila! You can now make custom-resized brass for that rifle that does not have excess headspace.

Regards,
Crunch

[eth727]

I just won a arisaka and a k98 and both have mismatched bolts. I have a no/go gauge waiting for the k98 but nothing for the arisaka. I have brand new reloads for both rifles.

[Milsurp Collector]

I have a no/go gauge waiting for the k98 but nothing for the arisaka.

As I said earlier, if you just want to make sure an old milsurp rifle does not have excessive headspace, use a FIELD gauge, not a no-go gauge.

http://www.forsterproducts.com/store.asp?pid=26986

No-go gauges are useful when setting up a new barrel or when selecting from multiple bolts to find the one with the minimum but still acceptable headspace (farthest from closing on the no-go gauge while still closing on the go gauge), but for just checking to make sure that headspace is not excessive, use a FIELD gauge. If it doesn't close on a FIELD gauge the headspace is acceptable even if it closes on the no-go gauge.

[kendog4570]

How would one remedy excessive headspace on a milsurp rifle "ie" arisaka,Mauser bolt actions?

I depends on what is causing the excessive head space condition.