Swapped the bolt heads on my 91/30's

[Showcase]

So I have a few questions regarding what I did. I have a 1944 pu sniper, and a plain 1942 91/30. Feeding ammo into the sniper was an issue, trying the close the bolt, the extractor seemed to be indented a bit and would catch the rim of the cartridge slightly, and cause it to have to be slapped down to close the bolt. The bolt on the 1942 would feed and lock the bolt down on a cartridge with almost no resistance. I decided to swap the bolt heads on the rifles so the pu's bolt has the 1942's bolt head and extractor. It feeds excellent now, and to my suprise, the bolt head and extractor from the pu work flawless inside the 1942. I've been hearing that doing this swap may cause problems, like headspace. Is this somthing I should be worried about? How can I test it? Any input will be greatly appreciated! Thank you for your time

 

[marc_j]

You can buy headspace gauges on EBAY. The set of 3 (G, NG, F) is about 50 bucks or you can just buy NG for 20. Not sure it's worth it though. I haven't seen or heard of one failing NG/F; all of mine were good and all the swaps I have done were good also.
All Mosins that I have seen that are available for sale in Canada are mix-and-match so your swapping isn't anything radical.
From your description I would look closely at the extractor on the '44. On several of mine the extractor was fitted improperly and the tip was interfering with the chamber cut out. There will be a burr or shiny surface if this is happening. Nothing a file an a little patience can't fix.

 

[ricohman]

I bought a bolt head (still coming) but I wish I would have done this first. I have an M38 that has trouble with the bolt hanging up when you try to close it. I swapped the bolt head with one of my other Mosins and they both worked fine.
And I've read many times headspace isn't really an issue with these rifles.

 

[Strato50]

I bought a Field Gauge on E Bay to check the head space in my Mosin's however from what I have read and as Ricohman mentioned headspace is usually not a problem with Mosins.... but still it gives me a little piece of mind.