Carbine Headspace Issue

[RangeHound]

First, I am not shooting the rifle until I get the headspace checked. Went to the range with a Rock-Ola got of GB. It was supposed to have been shootable condition and headspace checked.

Went to the range and the 3rd round sheared in half about 3/8" front the front of the cartridge. I pushed the remains of the case out.

Is this too much or little headspace? I'll give a report after I find a gunsmith with gauges.

[ScottR]

Which ammo were you shooting?

Scott

[ulflyer]

Are the headspace tools available? What do they cost and are they easy to use?

[shamrocks]

Check some of the on-line sporting/shooting sights like Cabela's, Midway,Brownells, etc and you should be able to find them. I have a set of Forster gages which consist of what are called Go, No-Go, and Field gage. They are easy to use and if you only want to get one gage it has to be the Field gage. In simple terms, all you do is place the gage in the chamber and gently by hand push the bolt forward and see if the bolt closes on it or not. If not, you're good to go but the bolt should never close on a field gage.

[colreed]

Might mention that if using Clymer guages, the bolt is best stripped down.

[Jim Long]

Sounds more like an case failure issue to me, could be caused by a case reloaded too many times.. Or perhaps lot of ammo made with brittle brass..

[jimb16]

Just tell me you weren't using Amerc cases. If you were, then its the ammo, not the headspace.

[RangeHound]

The ammunition is military surplus brass. I went through and checked for bulges or splits after resizing and it all looked fine. The cartridge that failed was LC but I don't remember the year.

If the consensus is that it is not headspace, I have some new ammo I could try in it to see how that performs.

[Bruce McAskill]

What did the first two cases look like after they had been fired? If they looked normal then it sounds like a bad case problem and not headspace.

[ulflyer]

Shamrock: thanks...never ocurred to me to check Brownell's. I get a C&R discount and the field ga is about $17....not counting other stuff I'll order!

[stonewall56]

Just tell me you weren't using Amerc cases. If you were, then its the ammo, not the headspace.

Oh, oh. I bought a box of Amerc ammo at the last gun show. The only other carbine ammo I found was what I think is the Chinese fake LC ammo. I was going to use it today but I'll hold off until I learn more about it. What experiences did you have with Amerc? What have you heard from others? Thanks

[jimb16]

Amerc is well known for brittle brass. Split cases and occasional separations are the norm. If you decide to shoot it, scrap the brass afterwards. Its junk.