The OP is not talking about headspace of a gun. He was asking about his cases being new and .007 shorter then fired. This is common with new brass or factory ammo. Yes headspace on a gun can be dangerous and I did not debate this. I just stated facts of new cases and ammo. Matt
I just had a quick look at my go gauge for the 308...the minimum headspace length on the gauge and also what any good gunsmith would set headspace at if he was rebarreling a rifle is 1.630" That is SAMMI headspace for a go gauge. New cases should be measuring with a tolerance of +.000" - .004" {1.630" to 1.626"} to meet SAMMI specs and BE SAFE TO SHOOT in a properly chambered gun. We all know that they could be a few thou longer and the bolt will still close, but that's not the issue. If in fact the OP is measuring correctly then at these measured sizes:
To quote the OP...
"With my comparitor, virgin .308WIN Lapua cases and factory ammo seem to measure at 1.616", and my fired cases measure 1.623" - so am I aiming for 1.621-1.622"?"
He has brass that is .014 under size and they are stretching in the chamber .007" to leave them still .007" under size. Pretty simple math. Further, headspace "of a gun" and headspace of the ammo really is one in the same if that ammo is being used in that gun. After all,
it is the fit of the ammo in a particular chamber that counts, no????? My point is that if 1.630" is minimum chamber size {plus possible .004" more} and he hits his "target" size of 1.621" then he still has at the very least .009" headspace when this ammo is in his chamber.
Again, blowing a shoulder out or fire forming in a properly headspaced chamber with properly sized ammo IS NOT THE SAME as firing ammo with excess headspace. So I ask again...exactly how much headspace, not brass moving when being properly fire formed, do you believe is no problem or safe????? Please tell us???
My guess, and it is probably correct, is that the OP IS NOT setting his comparator with a go gauge and I also doubt he is not measuring his cases with some sort of a pre-set device like the RCBS case mic. So he cant be as far under as he is saying, but it is still not safe. I have seen a lot of rifles and checked the chambers on them to find several mistakes, but never have I seen a factory rifle with a chamber that was not chambered deep enough or even very far off the mark at all, especially deeper than what would be safe and I'd bet that if I started measuring factory ammo I would find the same thing.
Rimless ammo that is too short at the shoulder creates an excess headspace condition {I guess if you don't get this concept then I cant help you!!!!}...having a rifle that is chambered correctly doesn't get the ammo company off the hook for a lawsuit if the gun blows up due to "short" shoulder length cases that blow the gun and hurt somebody.