P14 with very tight headspace

[Ridolpho]

The rifle shown was bought cheap and appeared to be someones half-baked desporterizing attempt using a Model 1917 stock. It required a lot of work to bed the Eddystone action properly and my plan was to use it as a range gun with a PH sight. Had it to the range a few days ago to see if it has any accuracy potential (bore is only fair) and after running some Remington 174 grn FMJ through it I attempted to chamber a Prvi round and found it very difficult. Got it home and found that my "Go" gauge (approx 0.0645") does go (with very slight resistance) but found strong resistance with my next size gauge (approx 0.0665"). The Rem case heads measure out at 0.0605" and smaller while the Prvi seems to be around 0.0645" with some even slightly thicker. Went back to the range and shot some (for me) excellent 5 shot groups with handloads using the Remington brass. In one of the two groups shown 4 are within 0.90".

The rifle has its original barrel and the bolt handle does have the matching number stamped on the underside in pretty near matching font. The barrel index marks are bang on. So, my question is twofold: is this tight headspace a common occurrence in P14's and should I be concerned about it? Further, is it acceptable to simply stone the bolt lugs to increase headspace if that is suggested? I've done this while fitting a few Lee Enfield bolts but they only required very minor reduction in the order of 0.002 or 0.003 inch.

With the groups I'm getting, and given that most of my brass is Remington, I'd like to leave it the way it is. Just strikes me as a bit weird that a gun of this age would have survived this long with such tight headspace. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Ridolpho

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[jamie5070]

If it were mine I would leave it be and just shoot remington brass. You could pick up another bolt and see how it works in the rifle with the other brass.

[Doco overboard]

I'd look at the extractor, take it off and then see if there is any difference in bolt lift or maybe make sure COL is okay with the suspect ammo. I would also strip the bolt completely for safety when checking it out, maybe its something minor. Is the primer strike dead center with both types of ammo? Whats the bolt face look like, just thinking out loud.

[Ridolpho]

Doco overboard: The bolt has been stripped and inspected but the extractor is a replacement as the original broke soon after I got the rifle. The bolt face shows no damage and only a trace of wear and the primer strikes are dead center. I'll measure a few rounds of the Prvi but, remember, I see the issue with the headspace gauges.

Ridolpho

[Doco overboard]

I was wondering how the stripped bolt acted with a round of the Prvi. I was thinking that if the cartridge fit into the chamber to the full depth of the rim recess and the bolt would close, even with resistance that maybe there was mechanical interference like rim to thick, extractor bumping into rear of barrel stub or bullet into the throat neck to thick etc. Maybe its head spacing on the cartridge shoulder and the rim recess too but I doubt that unless someone intended for it.. If you don't get even contact at the bolt lugs accuracy could suffer and I wouldn't do that for an ammo problem. Has the barrel been set back that you can tell? If I didn't have to beat the bolt open or shut I might select a cartridge that just worked well. A chamber cast would probably help you best and would tell a lot.

[browningautorifle]

I too think there's nothing to brainstorm here. Headspace is tight but not a dangerous thing. It shoots passable and the bore is only passable as you say. I'd keep and shoot it and leave it...

[Ridolpho]

Well, not what I expected- just before lunch removed the extractor and tested headspace again with surprising results. Faint resistance with a 0.0665 gauge and strong resistance with root of bolt handle at least a quarter inch off bottom with 0.0695 gauge. Normal, in other words. Extractor itself appeared normal but then with a penlight I could see something foreign wedged in the extractor cutout. Appears to be a BB sized piece of an old extractor that got wedged in against the exposed receiver ring threads- real, real tight. With the bolt closed it pushed against the extractor when using cases with thicker heads. Had to compare with another rifle to actually see that there was something there. Ground a sharp wedge shape on the end of a long hard punch and was able to carefully pry the thing out. Everything now fine. Thanks very much for the comments. Hope the good accuracy doesn't go away now!! Regards.

Ridolpho