Tell me more about this "head spacing" issue. Any pics of what to look for?
Could someone explain how to check the headspace of a rifle?
Thanks
P
Sure. Not a problem. The link that Karush posted should be sufficient info for most rifles, as long as
you don't use those headspacing gauges on CETMEs or G3 or anyother roller delayed blowback rifle.
Due to the design of the HK/CETME rifles, normal headspace guages don't really work.
You check headspace by checking the gap between the bolthead and the boltcarrier. This is referred to as bolt gap, and the safe range for it is between .004"-.020".
Checking is a simple matter, and you just need some automotive feeler guages in the proper range.
Cock the rifle, and let the bolt slam home
on an empty chamber!!! and then pull the trigger.
Turn the rifle over, and look into where your magazine goes, and you can see the bolt head and the bolt carrier, and the gap between them.
Insert the feeler guages until you find the one that just fits in.
If your reading is less than .004" you will need to add either + sized rollers, a new locking piece or a new bolt head. If your reading is > .020" then you need to add - rollers, or make sure that you aren't using + rollers.
One little problem here though is that Century decided to make rifles that were out of spec appear to be in spec by grinding the bolt head.
No matter what your reading is, you need to check to see if your bolt head is unground. It is a simple matter of pulling the bolt carrier and bolt head out and looking at it and seeing if it has been ground.
Cetmerifles.com has photos showing how it is supposed to look.
I.G.B.