Model 12 Winchester headspace

[joew]

First post, I am in the process of building up a model 12, I have a U.S. marked receiver. How do you go about headspacing them?

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[browningautorifle]

A shotgun hull will headspace on the rim of the cartridge. It's an open chamber, straight, so that's the only area to worry about. The model 12 bolt locks up above in the top so if the back of the bolt is battered you're into another in better shape. If the barrels wobble when assembled, you have to tighten the heading ring that has the threads on the barrel shank. It has a screw to unlock it. You shouldn't really have to worry about headspace though. It's not like a rifle that way. You won't separate casings...

[joew]

Jim, thank you for the reply. As long as my barrel doesn't wobble, and it feeds and extracts, I'm good to go and it will not blow up?

[browningautorifle]

That's what I think. Chuckindenver's around here and maybe he'll chip in. There's a few others too. I'm quite certain it's good. I had a model 25 that was a prison service riot, and it was so loose it would open by it's self. Sure was a fast gun to operate, but never blew up.

[jmoore]

Some brands of ammo may have rims shaped in such a way that the action won't close fully. Other than that, I've never had a problem with shotgun headspacing. (Loose barreled SxSs don't count.)

[Chuckindenver]

take it to a gunsmith, spend a couple bucks with him, and have him check it with a NO GO gauge..before its fired..
then and only then, should you fire it.