Pattern 14 head space

[Doug Rammel]

Well I brought home the final P-14 I been searching for last Saturday. The other 2 (Eddystone and Winchester) were being shot when I acquired them. So I didn't check the head space. I did check the cases the first time I shot them and there was no indication of a problem.

I have a British field gauge (.074) that I use on my Lee Enfields. I checked the new Remington and the bolt closed on the gauge. So looks like I have a head space problem with the Remington.

Just for the h*ll of it. I checked the Eddystone and Winchester. They both closed on the field gauge also. But the fired cases don't show a head space problem. No bulged cases, flattened primers , etc.

Is there a different spec on the head space of a P-14?

Your thought on this please.

Information

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[jmoore]

Does it close all the way? The locking lugs on the P'14 are of interrupted thread type, and have a leverage of about 100:1. So its not hard to misread. However, these do seem to run on the largish side, not generally a problem, but to maximize case life just fire new cases w/ the little o-ring around the base of the case as described by Edward Horton on the Lee Enfield and ammo forums. (Just search posts by Edward Horton- they won't be hard to find.)

If you haven't had problems w/ the other two there's no reason to expect the end of the world now!

[Chuckindenver]

agreed.
when checking headspace on a 17 or 14, remove the firing pin assembly, and be gentle.
a fired case is your best tell tail sign.
this week, ill be turning back a shoulder on a 17, against my better judgemet,
said rifle has some granddad value, so im gonna do it..
im still waiting on a reamer for the cone breach..if it didnt have an extractor cut already, i could just use a standard cutter.
but with that cut, i need a nice matching reamer.
said rifle had been sporterized, so the barrel has already been cut, and messed with, this rifle had a case head fail, and broke the stock as well...
ill keep you posted how it turns out..