I have a really good Yugo Mauser for a couple of years now. I bought it at a Gun Show for $160.00. The bluing is good, bore is great, it has a hooded front sight, bayonet, and the numbers all match. It also has a turned down bolt; which I have heard are great to find. I have shot it many times with no problems. Yet, I have not ever checked the head space. The dealer that I bought it from assured me that it should have no problems. So far, no issues. However, yesterday I was shooting it and I was loaded some really old surplus rounds that I bought cheap. I had been firing S&B rounds with no problem. When I fired this stuff it really boomed and I felt hot flash hit my forehead (thankfully, I was wearing glasses). The rifle seems to be fine with cracks or apparent damage; but I put it back in the trunk of the car and did not shoot it again. Is this indicative of head space problems, or just a problem of really bad and old ammo?
RE: Head-space problems with Yugo Mauser?
- Thread starter DavidB2
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JWF III
Member
My guess would be that you are right in it's the ammo. With that being said, I would still get a set of gauges and check it.
Modern ammo loaded for old cartridges are usually dumbed down (slightly reduced loads), where original ammo would have been loaded more to spec for the rifle.
Look at the ballistics of the .45-70. No modern cartridge loaded for "Use in ALL Rifles" comes close to the original black powder loads. Modern loads are usually several hundred fps lower than the original loads.
Wyman
Modern ammo loaded for old cartridges are usually dumbed down (slightly reduced loads), where original ammo would have been loaded more to spec for the rifle.
Look at the ballistics of the .45-70. No modern cartridge loaded for "Use in ALL Rifles" comes close to the original black powder loads. Modern loads are usually several hundred fps lower than the original loads.
Wyman
NCsmitty
Member
What did the old fired case look like, was the primer pierced, a split neck?
I would bet that the problem was the ammo and not the rifle.
With the good luck that you have had with good factory ammo, it makes sense that the culprit was the ammo and your rifle handled the gas escape the way it was designed.
Some of the surplus ammo will be hotter than the factory stuff, and I've seen many with cracked necks and such.
NCsmitty
I would bet that the problem was the ammo and not the rifle.
With the good luck that you have had with good factory ammo, it makes sense that the culprit was the ammo and your rifle handled the gas escape the way it was designed.
Some of the surplus ammo will be hotter than the factory stuff, and I've seen many with cracked necks and such.
NCsmitty
jimmyraythomason
Member
I have discovered some cracked cases in unfired Romanian surplus ammo and since the S&B shows no distortion of the fired brass I would say the culprit is the surplus ammo.
RE: forgot to look at case
Thanks for the reply. I should have looked at the case; that would have indicated the issue. The fact that I shot an S&B round (wih no problem) just before shooting this old surplus round leads me to think the ammo is the culprit.
Thanks for the reply. I should have looked at the case; that would have indicated the issue. The fact that I shot an S&B round (wih no problem) just before shooting this old surplus round leads me to think the ammo is the culprit.
jimmyraythomason
Member
Sorry, NCsmitty I didn't mean to be a parrot. I didn't read your reply before posting mine.
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