Gunsmithing Changed barrel, now headspace issues.

[317millhand]

Today I finally received my new barrel for the 6.5x47. My rifle is setup with a barrel nut and I've had the barrel off before without issue. I have a set of PTG go and no go gauges. I cannot find the spot with this new barrel were the bolt will close with the go gauge easily and not close with the no go. It either won't close on both gauges or it closes on both.

Put my old barrel back on and it sets easily as it should.

Thoughts???

 

[hunter223]

Try just using the go gauge, get it to where it just closes easily, then take a piece of cellophane tape and trim it to fit the back of the go gauge. The tape should be .002" thick. Perhaps the gauges were cut incorrectly?

 

[317millhand]

I will try that, But the gauges work as they should with the other barrel. When I set it where it just starts to close easy, it closes just as easy on the no go gauge

 

[WarbirdWeaponry]

New here but I've been lurking for a while now.

You issue is most likely due to the case protrusion being incorrect. It sounds like the resistance you feel when it "closes" on both gauges is actually the bolt hitting the tenon. Pull the barrel and compare the go gauge protrusion between it and your old barrel.

 

[317millhand]

The protrusion with the go gauge of the old barrel is .144

New barrel is .122

 

[WarbirdWeaponry]

What is the depth of the recess in the bolt face? It looks like you need to have some material removed from the breech face, the barrel was chambered too deep for your setup.

 

[317millhand]

Thanks to all that responded. It appears that the chamber is in fact cut too deep. I've never ran into that before l, so I've learned something good today. I'm gonna have to send the barrel back.

 

[hunter223]

Did you measure the difference in case protrusion from the "good" barrel to this one? Whoops just saw the post regarding my question. If you have a depth mic, throw it on and see how much difference there is

 

[cwinston]

Quick test for you.

Put the bolt in without gauges in the chamber. Screw the barrel in till it stops and you can just work the bolt with the chamber empty. Then insert the GO gauge. If you now can't close the bolt it's a matter of backing the barrel out to find the sweet spot and you most likely don't need the help of a smith.

But if you can still close the bolt on the go gauge try the NO GO. If it also closes, you will likely need the help of a smith to correct something. Possibly a deep chamber or bolt recess / protrusion problems.

 

[317millhand]

That's what I ended up doing. Chamber is too deep. It was ordered as a savage/mausingfield prefit. But apparently the Mausingfield is a little different and needs set with more protrusion than a savage due to the bolt. We must have got our wires crossed during ordering and it came setup for a savage.

 

[cwinston]

Sorry your having problems, but glad you figured it out.

 

[nfoley]

That is interesting - I was having a similar problem trying to headspace two different barrels (savage prefits) for my Mausingfield. LRI looked at it and said they needed to have about 0.010 of material from the breech end of the barrel. There was contact between the barrel and extractor before the headspace gauge would contact.

 

[ugsly308]

Had the same thing happen when I tried to swap out a savage barrel. No biggie, just needs to be thrown in a lathe and indicated in and buzz the difference off.

 

[317millhand]

It's only "no biggie" if you have a lathe. If not, it's unusable.

 

[ugsly308]

Correct, I bought a lathe quite some time ago. It has been a very handy tool to have.