Mauser headspacing; what is the scoop?

[tokguy]

Been reading a bit about how ' Mauser's don't need the headspacing checked' on a rival forum.
Mayhaps some might remember my post with the Chinese Mauser? The seller stated " Bad headspacing, dumped out the primer"
I've got a few Mauser's so I just set it aside, look at it in the spring maybe.
So my son got married, moved in with his new wife and I asked him if he wanted it as a wall hanger.
You know where this is going...
To be young and invincible again...had to try try it and only separated the case head. Bad but good; now it's got a case remnant in the chamber, out of service(which is good). I'll drop off a Chilean 308 for him and put that old Chinese gun back in the 'roughshape' cabinet.
Is a Mauser with bad headspacing that rare?
Lots of RC's with mismatched bolts, how often do they have headspacing issues?

 

[jbmauser]

The Chinese Mausers are not really a good indicator of what's normal in a M98. Many were very crudely made and most have seen a very tough life with little care. It's amazing that they still function and shoot which is a testament to the strength and reliability of the M98 action.

In a good quality M98 that is in serviceable condition, a dangerous head space issue is pretty unlikely, even with a non matching bolt. I have tested a lot of M98's in various calibers and have yet to find one that was beyond field gauge. I know others with similar results on RC's and other M98's.

I'm not going to go out and advocate that you shouldn't check the head space or that it isn't necessary but odds are it will be ok. It doesn't hurt to check though. Another thing to consider is that excessive head space can be compensated for to some degree by careful handloading. Resizing the brass to fit the individual chamber is possible.

 

[bearhunter]

Take an unfired cartridge, put a couple of thicknesses of scotch tape over the base and trim. Pull the firing pin on your bolt and chamber the cartridge from the magazine well so that it slips under the claw extractor. Try to close the bolt and lock it down on the cartridge. Careful, the plastic tape is soft and you can force the bolt to cam into place. If you have trouble closing it, the headspace should be OK.

 

[smellie]

Try a VERY light load with a cast bullet. Load through the Magazine so the round comes up UNDER the Extractor and in FRONT of the Bolt. Fire them off.

ALL you need is enough to expand the case at the FRONT of the Chamber or even, if it is really bad, enough to expand the neck.

Measure your empties; they should be longer.

NOW load them up again, sizing only HALF of the Neck, using a slightly more robust load. After these have gone through, you should be able to reload just neck-sizing and you should have no more separations.

I have done it; it works.

 

[Ganderite]

Try a VERY light load with a cast bullet. Load through the Magazine so the round comes up UNDER the Extractor and in FRONT of the Bolt. Fire them off.

ALL you need is enough to expand the case at the FRONT of the Chamber or even, if it is really bad, enough to expand the neck.

Measure your empties; they should be longer.

NOW load them up again, sizing only HALF of the Neck, using a slightly more robust load. After these have gone through, you should be able to reload just neck-sizing and you should have no more separations.

I have done it; it works.

Make START and lube the entire case. It will sit back on firing and expand at the shoulder. Now case fits the chamber without stretching at the web.

Clean lube out of chamber and carry on.

 

[diopter]

Bought a 9.3x57 Commercial Swede M96 and found out the bolt would not close when a round was chambered.
Went back to seller and exchanged bolts with other M96s until I found one exchange that closed properly on both rifles.
With over a hundred years of production in many countries and factories you can expect some variations.
Won't even mention getting into the Yugoslavs shorter bolts