M96 Swedish Mauser - No Go Headspace

OldSavage

OldSavage

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I just got my rifle back from an inspection showing the headspace at a No Go. Obviously this is not a good thing, but I have put 150 or so rounds down the barrel since I bought it with little to no signs of a problem.

Any ideas out there on how to remedy this problem.
New barrel?
New bolt face/assembly?
Neck size reloads to "fire form" to chamber?
Chuck the rifle and move on?

What do you guys think? I love this little rifle, it has a nice timney trigger on it, nice walnut sporter stock, and a "cool" factor that I just don't have with any of my other rifles.


Thanks guys,

Neil
 
If it accepts a Field gauge, start worrying.
I have tried my SAAMI No Go in quite a number of Swedish Mausers. They all accepted it. The only 6.5 service rifle I ever found that rejected the No Go was one of the Danish 98s made up for target shooting.
I do not know what the specs are for gauges for Swedish service rifles. CIP? A unique Swedish military standard? It is possible that a SAAMI gauge is inappropriate.
Watch your brass, make sure there are no signs of incipient separations, don't over size. Neck sizing as John has suggested is an excellent idea.
 
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6.5 X55 Headspace

Not particularily unusual for a military rifle. They are usually set up to have some tolerance for dirty or slightly deformed brass. As stated before --- as long as it doesn't close on a Civilian Field gauge -Don't Worry.
As an example---The Civilian Field Gauge for the .303 British is .070 inch.
However the Military Gauge allowed .074 inch as a Field Gauge. Keeping in mind that they had no intention of ever reloading.
Most reloaders set up their Full Length Sizing Die so that it is touched by the shell holder at the top of the sizing stroke.
With a perfect tight head space this would be fine. But if you have .006 inch headspace Then sizing the brass full length each time will eventually lead to streched brass and case separation.
As previously stated just neck size your brass and you are OK for about 5-6 shots before you start to feel resistance when closing the bolt.Then you have to push back the shoulder at least 1.5 to 2 thous. and start neck sizing again.
Or with measuring equipment you can measure a fired case at the shoulder and compare it with a fully sized case where the shell holder has touched the sizing die. If the measure ment has shown as previously given as an example that there is a .006 inch differance. All you have to do is put a .005 feeler gauge between the shell holder and your sizing die when you are setting up to load and the brass will come out .001 inch under your chamber dimensions which will allow effortless chambering and your headspace issues have been dealt with by thoughtful reloading.
 
Thank you all for your assistance. I love that rifle and hope to have it for a long time to come.

I will try those reloading ideas and see where it gets me.

Thanks again
 
the no go guage they used was likely a sporting gun no go guage, try finding a military no go guage, it will likely pass with the military one.
 
I don't know how much longer the field gage would be than the GO for the 6.5Swede but I'll bet it's similiar to the 7x57 gages I have. The Field gage is a whopping .01 longer than the GO.....the NO GO is .004 longer than the GO....so in theory you could have another .006 after the NO GO before you're out of military spec. If you have a GO gage or a NO-GO and a dial indicator you could strip the bolt and check it.

I'd neck up some brass to 7mm and then neck it back to 6.5 to a snug fit in the chamber and fireform, and then neck size only.
 
I picked up the new 6.5 barrel from trade EX and it is fully chambered and polished
at best you need to cut the shoulder a bit to head space
on mine i simply screwed it on and brought it up tight with the wrench's and it closes with no resistance on the "go" and stops about half way down on the "no-go"
lucky I guess:D

And to think its $100.00:dancingbanana:
 
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