Excessive headspace

[usmc7980]

Well guys I'm still learning so go easy on me.... I bought a used Rem 700 .308 without a bolt and have since managed to find a used bolt. Now my problem is I have excessive headspace. My bolt closes on go, no-go and the field gauges. How can this be remedied? Are my only options a new barrel or cutting and re-chambering the existing barrel?

 

[RJ]

USMC7980, DO YOU HAVE A LATHE? IF SO, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TAKE THE FIRING PIN OUT OF THE BOLT, CHUCK UP THE BARREL, AND CUT THE SHOULDER BACK UNTIL THE BOLT JUST DOES CLOSE ON A GO-GAGE. BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR COUNTERBORE CLEARANCE ON THE BOLT NOSE. I SET THEM UP WITH ABOUT 5-10 THOU. HOPE THIS HELPS RJ

 

[GerryM]

First you have to find out how much extra headspace you have.
Then you can set the shoulder back and reheadspace.
You can use brass shim stock to find out.
Not a big job but you need a lathe.
Check the video out here on the site.

 

[usmc7980]

I only have hand tools so any machine work would have to be done by someone else. I mostly just ant to make sure i don't need a new barrel so it is good to know I can work with the one I have now

 

[GerryM]

Looks like we posted at the same time.

 

[usmc7980]

where is that video located?

First you have to find out how much extra headspace you have.
Then you can set the shoulder back and reheadspace.
You can use brass shim stock to find out.
Not a big job but you need a lathe.
Check the video out here on the site.

 

[GerryM]

I see your delemma'
Here's a trick.
You can also Hone the recoil lug down a bit. usually it's done on a serface grinder. This will move the barrel back a tad.
Just make sure that the bolt is not hitting the back of the barrel or shank If it hits on the very end of the shank you can hone of a tad there also. A wet stone will do it.

 

[GerryM]

The video is on the vodeo site check it out. Main page you have to scoll abit.
You will see a top smith working with the grizzly lathe.
I hope this helps. If you get into trouble bring it to a smith. Easy does it. It will all make sense after a while.
If the barrel has sight's you may have a problem.
If it's a varmint bbl then you should be good.

 

[JayIdaho]

How sure are you that it is really a factory 308 Win chamber? If unsure, I'd do a chamber cast to be sure that it had not been reamed out to an Improved or something else. A lot of folks do this incorrectly.
If you start paying someone to work on this, you could quickly dump more money into the rifle than it is worth. It should be corrected but you can treat it like a 'wildcat' and take steps to create brass that would be safe and usable in this chamber. If you know an experienced reloader that has wildcat experience, he can make a round or two that would be safe to fire in the existing chamber. From there you could get a pretty close to actual headspace by comparing fired case to headspace gages.
This is simple for someone with adequate experience but can be extremely dangerous if atttempted by someone that does not truly understand the situation.

 

[Clark]

My father paid for us kids to have a Sav99 308 back in the 1960s so we could shoot up all the ammo belts the military gave our father, the gun designer.

My youngest brother sold our 99 to a friend. I found the gun and bought it back. It seems my brother shot flares and burned out the barrel. His friend took it to 'The best gunsmith in WA state' who put a new Savage barrel on it. It had not been shot since the new barrel was installed. I put a piece of .005' thick 3M masking tape on the back of a round of Federal Gold Match ammo and chambered it. I put two pieces, and then three pieces. etc. I got up to 7 pieces. It had .035' too much headspace.

I had at least two choices:
1) Dedicated bastard brass
..a) Open up the necks of brass with 8mm or 338 expander ball
..b) Resize the brass with the die not screwed into the press as far as usual. Screw in the die slowly until the action just closes on the brass. Fix the die adjustment.
..c) Fire form in the chamber. That brass is now dedicated to that gun
2) Set the barrel back a thread. I will spare you all the lathe cuts and mill cuts are required on the breech of a Sav99 barrel.

I set the barrel back.
It is now a 2.4 moa gun, and I took it elk hunting 40 years later.

 

[GerryM]

Clark your right on that. Here's another way . If it's a 308 as he thinks. He can load a mild load and seat the bullet way out to touch the lands add .010 for a good jam and fire form the brass. then it's neck sizing the same brass each time.
They should be sized just enough in the full length die say 1/2 the neck . They should chamber ok.
The other option is what i described in my post, I have done this with some success. At one time i thought Remington was headspacing with the recoil lugs. They alway's left a generous amount of clearance between the bolt and the recess in the barrel. .010 is quite a bit . Of course they were expecting people to only use the brass once.

 

[usmc7980]

Thanks everybody. I whimped out and took it to my local smith and had it checked. It is indeed a factory 308 and in go condition. He used his gauges and everything checked out so-so. The bolt does not close all the way down on the no go so he suggested cutting 3 thousandths of the barrel to tighten the chamber. I let him do it and we will be shooting this weekend. I am thinking about either re-barreling it and making a tactical style rifle or cutting the barrel down to 18-20 inches and making a scout type rifle for the woods