Norinco m14 Headspace- do I have this right?

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been doing some reading(dangerous) and want to make sure I dont experience any genital misplacement.

I want to go grab some commercial 308 brass and start reloading for this thing. Also want to see where my headspace is.



So....do I need both 308 and 7.62 headspace gauges? I know there are cases where one will fit and the other wont. From what Ive read I should get 7.62 gauges for my norinco.

BUT...since Im reloading commercial 308 cases(easier to find) I should probably get a 308 go/no go gauge, right?

So that would tell me if the chamber is a go/no go. But how do I find the headspace?
 
Easiest thing to do is shoot 3-4 and send them to barney. He will let you know what your headspace is

Btw. 308/7.62 there is only one die...

It doesn't care what is stamped on the case.

Mil brass is a little harder on the die.
 
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Reloading for any semi-automatic is a whole new game but nothing to be really afraid of if you know what you're doing and what to look for.


Reason #1 reloading for semi-automatic rifles is more dangerous: Insufficient/Exsessive Full Length Resizing. You can resize the sh*t outta your brass, but I wouldn't use it more than twice. If you only screw in your FL die just barely enough to safely chamber the round you can avoid issues like case head separation. On the other hand, if you don't resize the brass enough, you could have an out-of-battery fire and you could end up with brass shards in your eyes.


This is why I'd reccomend buying quality FL dies (not the Lee stuff and I'd avoid RCBS Short Base). Also, regardless of what Barney tells you, you'll still need to measure the brass after resizing so you know how much clearance there is inside the chamber; too much means case head separation, too little means your d*ck will fall off (or eyeballs...).

In order to measure your own headspace/reloads, buy one of these:
DSCN0060.jpg



You can actually just buy the bullet comparator and not the headspace gauges. They can still take a measurement off most shoulders, even though they're intended for bullets. I only bought the bullet comparator with 14 inserts and it's all I need to safely reload for my semis.


Hope that helps!
 
Good advice, however I have never-ever had any problems with Lee dies. I have had problems with Hornady dies however, Lee dies do not cost as much but do every bit as good a job as the more expensive dies! Don't forget the Lee factorcy crimp die- an absolute must for semi autos.
 
bazza said:
Good advice, however I have never-ever had any problems with Lee dies. I have had problems with Hornady dies however, Lee dies do not cost as much but do every bit as good a job as the more expensive dies! Don't forget the Lee factorcy crimp die- an absolute must for semi autos.
Click to expand...

that seems pretty debatable. Seems like 80% of m14forum are against crimping.


@haagendaz-- Yeah I went whole hog and picked up an RCBS precision mic to set headspace. There are a couple cool methods of checking headspace. Im gonna go with two and see if I come up with the same results. I just learned this...

Start with a brass case that hasnt been trimmed. Half seat a spent primer in the bottom. measure oal. Let the bolt ride home and plunge the primer into the shell. Measure the difference in OAL. Should be the headspace. Better explanation elsewhere....




Anyone heard anything about RCBS X dies? Seems some folks like em because it means less trimming. Hoping to get 4 loadings out of commercial winchester brass but well see....
 
To clarify, I swear by the Lee neck only die but after seeing the poor performance with my 9mm and 223 dies, I'll pass on the other products. My 223 dies were very rough and my 9mm dies are a pain in the a$$ compared to my Hornady Titanium Nitride .40 dies. The extra $20 goes a long way at the bench.


If you want to compare your headspace #s with the internet, the case-specific RCBS gauges are the way to go. Hornady's gauge uses standard diameter 'comparator' inserts to measure a certain spot on the shoulder. The spot it measures may not be the right spot the interwebz got theirs from. For a realoder using the Hornady gauge, you can still employ it effectively by measuring your fired brass and comparing that with your sized brass, but the number you get might be useless for comparison here. For 30-06, I think I used the .38 caliber bullet comparator insert.
 
Before replacing my Norc bolt with the USGI, I had noted that while the rifle was well within the NATO spec, I wanted it tighter for the commercial brass. through a series of exhaustive measurements, I noted that the casing was about .008" longer after a firing. I used a welfare method to determine this. I did not have a fancy shoulder measuring device, rather I had some very thick machining washers through which my casing should would rest just over half of the shoulder width.

This was my starting measurement point. I then compared several unfired brass (the same make as winny and Remington expand at different rates) and fired brass. I then set my resizing die with an additional .005" - which left some spacing to work with. Just wanted to resize the casings more to what the rifle was producing. To verify my findings, I also measured the resultant difference using plastigage and a disassembled bolt. the measurements were verified. I shot one set of brass 5 times with the new resized dimension. The rim was pretty chewed up and had to use a file after the fourth time to remove the extractor burrs. Did not one have a case of case-head separation.
 
Brilliant idea. I've just within tha past couple of months considered that I could thread the dies a touch out in the Rockchucker frame, to account for my (assumed to be) 'subspec' headspace.

Never tried it, but I've noticed a feeling of... extra effort close to the end of the downwards lever stroke, and I've been wondering if what I've been doing is shoving the shoulder back after firing it forward...

At least I haven't had too many case separations.
 
For my M1 and it's massive 30-06 chamer, my FL resizing die is screwed so far out that only half the neck is getting resized. If I dont crimp my 30-06 loads, the bullet is almost lose enough to pull out by hand!

Assuming you have a larger chamber as well, you shouldn't be too scared of a FL die screwed out further than recommended. But be extra sure that your sized brass slides in and out of the chamber with little assistance. If it slides in and requires a small bump on the ground to get the brass loose, that should be safe for firing. You should also be able to slowly close the bolt on it and watch it slowly lock up. If the brass slides in and out freely (new brass is always like this) then you're probably sizing the brass too much.
 
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