Bought my first No.1 Mk.III over the weekend. Completely cleaned up and gorgeous looking. Ammo will be here soon and I'll get to take it to the range this weekend. Looked up about the headspacing, and I hear some people say on various forums/articles
>"IF YOU DON'T CHECK IT YOUR RIFLE AND IT'S NOT SET RIGHT, RIFLE GONNA GO KA-BOOM"
as well as
>"No serious damage will occur to your rifle, just the cartridge. The rest of them are idiots."
Anyone with actual experience? I just don't want to have to shell out $30 for a gauge if I don't have to. I don't plan on home loading, just keep buying the PPU shit.
>>29347788
I wouldn't worry about it. I never checked the headspace on my SMLE and nothing bad has happened. People on internet forums have a tendency to take everything super seriously so they can feel vicariously important. also the loudest, most obnoxious uses are usually the most visible.
With that said, if anything bad does happen, remember it was the other guy's fault, not mine.
I would check it. Enfields actually had different bolt bodies to overcome receiver stretch over time, so unless you are confident that the bolt matches the rifle and that it had been checked relatively recently it would be a good idea. Ruptured casings can be pretty dangerous. If you disregard this advice, at least wear good eye protection.
>>29347938
Are there any known ways to check it without using a gauge?
>relief hole
That's what I call my benis when I have to pee
I wouldn't worry about it.
>>29348654
Chamber casting, but that's just as expensive and not as accurate as a headspace gauge.
Sandbags and a string, at least you won't blow yourself up.
>>29348654
Micrometer, unfired cartridge, and a strip of plastigage.
>>29348733
Guy who owns my local gunstore told me about being warned against shooting modern ammo in Garands
>He listened, his friend didn't
>First shot his friend ends up with a shard of the rear sight embedded in his eyebrow
>>29348737
>>29348768
So I'd be better off just getting a gauge
Other question. Will it be extremely obvious when shooting that my head spacing is off? Like will it start splitting casings immediately, or is it one of those "Once every ten rounds" things?
Because if the worst that can happen is it splits casings, and no further damage I'd be fine with chancing it the first time around, and if it splits the casings, to then spend the money on a gauge.
>>29348892
repeatedly having split or otherwise semi-exploded cases will erode your chamber at an accelerated rate.
>>29348892
You will notice it almost immediately with the first round. Google "Incipient case head separation"
>>29348925
I get that, but like I said, at the first split casing I'm immediately putting it down and buying a gauge and doing it right.
>>29347788
First, welcome to the club.
I have an Enfield (No. 4 Mk. 1) and I worried about this at first, too. As far as I understand it, as long as the bolt matches the rifle, the headspace should be fine. If the headspace is larger than it should be, then the cases will show signs of stretching towards the case head. This is not a problem unless you're reloading the same case multiple times. You shouldn't have a catastrophic failure unless the headspace is outrageously large.
Take this with a grain of salt, though. I am in no way an expert.
so I'm kind of confused, does it matter if you don't reload? if you use a newly manufactured round every single time, will you have failures?
>>29349391
OP here and this is also a thought I had, as I don't plan on reloading.
>>29349137
Yeah everything matches on it. So no worries there. I'll take your salty words on it.
>>29349391
>>29349432
It doesn't matter as much if you're not reloading, because the case is only being stressed once. The exception would be if the headspace was fucking hugely out of spec, then you might have problems. That shouldn't be a concern as long as the bolt matches the rifle, since the rifles use different-sized boltheads to adjust for headspace and the bolthead should be sized for your rifle if it's matched.
>>29349432
You'd be better off reloading, the brass forms to the chamber.
Then just neck size until it won't chamber, then do a full case resize and neck size again until it doesn't chamber and repeat.
>>29349514
There is no way to know if the bolt head was ever matched to the action. It's not like they were serialized and many were swapped out or lost over the years.
>>29349551
That's true, but a matching bolt is a good indicator that the headspace will be okay.
So, I've been asking around to confirm-pic related is almost ready to go, and I'd like to confirm that modern .303 Brit is safe to shoot through it, since it was only ever fed surplus decades ago.
>>29349956
Even surplus .303 wasn't safe for those.
>>29347788
meh, it's your eyes and face. i like to be safe and double check when im holding something thats 60-100 years old and blowing up gunpowder in it
>>29349432
bolt can match but bolt head is not numbered and could be worn or different
>>29350156
Called a gun vice and a piece of string. I'll give her a go when I get my ammo
