Setting headspace

[glowie]

Rifle is a savage ultralight 6.5 creedmoor
I have various factory once fired brass.
The once fired brass will still fit in the chamber and the bolt still closes easily. I was trying to set up full length die using this brass today.
Question would it be better to reload this brass with out full length sizing allowing the brass to expand to the chamber more. I have shot some reloads in this Rifle after bumping shoulder back 0.0015".
Thanks for the help

 

[Bill K]

If that brass was fired in that rifle/barrel, jut reload and fire it. Are you fitting a new barrel ( maybe pre-fit) to the savage action of is already on and therefore setting headspace ?
If that is the case, then use a go/no go gauge and set the headspace.

 

[dgeesaman]

Yes I’d resize for a while without any shoulder bump until the brass no longer ejects loosely. Then you have the sample piece you want to adjust to bump .0015”.

Bumping .0015” now just means you’ll never find the chamber headspace.*

* when I’m impatient I’ll take resized brass and add tiny squares of scotch tape to the base of the case until it’s a firm fit to the chamber. Then I can measure that to know how much further it needs to grow. Won’t let me set the die though - that can’t happen until the brass is actually long enough.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Yes, set die to full length size or neck size. No bump, careful measurement is needed as you can see base to datum lengthening when the brass shoulders don't make contact with the die body, suddenly you have brass/rounds that are hard to close the bolt on. As stated , use tape, or spent primer method to determine how much headspace is present and strip the bolt for the real feel.

 

[SSL]

Others may (will) disagree, but I always wait to full-length size new brass until I start to feel a bit of resistance when closing the bolt on a loaded round. Then, after shooting those loads, I slowly adjust my sizing die to just "kiss" the shoulder enough for easy chambering. Once that setting is found, I lock the die down and consider that setting correct for that particular rifle, regardless of brass used.

 

[danny]

Rifle is a savage ultralight 6.5 creedmoor
I have various factory once fired brass.
The once fired brass will still fit in the chamber and the bolt still closes easily. I was trying to set up full length die using this brass today.
Question would it be better to reload this brass with out full length sizing allowing the brass to expand to the chamber more. I have shot some reloads in this Rifle after bumping shoulder back 0.0015".
Thanks for the help

On a Savage with a barrel nut; get some headspace gauges, check the headspace and reset the barrel if needs to be adjusted. Headspace gauges are a good thing to have.

Danny

 

[glowie]

On a Savage with a barrel nut; get some headspace gauges, check the headspace and reset the barrel if needs to be adjusted. Headspace gauges are a good thing to have.

Danny

I have them. I just changed the bolt body from the spiral style to a regular savage bolt body and checked the headspace. I just may be over thinking this try to get the most out of this rifle. It does shoot pretty good for a hunting rifle

 

[danny]

I have them. I just changed the bolt body from the spiral style to a regular savage bolt body and checked the headspace. I just may be over thinking this try to get the most out of this rifle. It does shoot pretty good for a hunting rifle

Sometimes it is just better to do more shooting.

Danny

 

[LCazador]

I have them. I just changed the bolt body from the spiral style to a regular savage bolt body and checked the headspace. I just may be over thinking this try to get the most out of this rifle. It does shoot pretty good for a hunting rifle

So if that brass was fire formed with the spiral style bolt you would now fire form to the regular bolt and then work up loads for the regular bolt. If brass goes in freely just resize neck and shoot.

 

[std7mag]

The bolt should, theoretically, be the same length.
But why take the chance?
Headspace gauges are cheap.
Ditto the barrel nut wrench & barrel vise.
Also, if it is off, Savage is easy to set it right.

 

[glowie]

Yes I kept the same bolt I just changed the body from spiral to smooth. I did recheck with go/no go gauges after and it functioned as expected. I normally full length size after every firing and just bumped shoulder . 2 thousandths and moved on. I decided I would try setting the bump with the chamber. When the bolt closed easy on a once fired piece I would make a small full length bump of the shoulder. It was just the once fired fit and bolt closed fine

 

[KMW 1954]

So to be clear, sounds more like you are looking for advice on setting the shoulder length of the brass and not the head space of of the bolt head.

If this it truly the case then get yourself a case comparator such as the Hornady and measure the fired cases before doing anything. In this case I would Full length size to the longest measured case and then shoot again and repeat. The second firing should give a truer indication of what the length of your chamber is.

That is the procedure I use with any barrel/action change. By the second firing I have a pretty well fire formed case. In my bolt rifles I then bump back .001"

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Since you stated it is a hunting rifle, you don't need or want close fit (tolerance) brass. Or bullets seated into the lands. My hunting rds are safe and functional in all weather, than accurate.

 

[CharlieNC]

In a fired case partially insert a primer, chamber it, then finish seating the primer by closing the bolt. Then measure using your comparator to obtain the zero headspace dimension to use for bumping reference.