Head space

[Cobra3913]

Hi Is there a way to check headspace of a Mosin Nagant M44 without a headspace tool?

[Junk Yard Dog]

No. In the old days we had no headspace gauges, or at least had no idea were to get them, pre internet. We tied the rifle to a tire, tied a string to the trigger, pointed the rifle downrange, and hid behind something solid, then pulled the string. After, the fired case is examined for stretching, bulged primers, or anything else out of the ordinary. If the rifle didn't explode after a few test rounds then we trusted it would hold up. We were mostly young and dumb at the time, buy the headspace gauge from Midway, Brownells, or off eBay, test the weapon properly, and don't put your life, and the life of bystanders on the line with guesswork. Welcome to the board.

[Cobra3913]

Hi Thank you for the great information.

[Cobra3913]

Will Checked firing pin with a caliper and did not check head space then took the Mosin Nagant M44 out to the woods and tied it down to my toolbox .Put a string on the trigger and walked back about 20 feet pulled the trigger and the rifle fired . I did have a problem getting the bolt open after firing ,then I fired again and it worked great other then the bolt gets stuck .

[steelbuttplate]

Will Checked firing pin with a caliper and did not check head space then took the Mosin Nagant M44 out to the woods and tied it down to my toolbox .Put a string on the trigger and walked back about 20 feet pulled the trigger and the rifle fired . I did have a problem getting the bolt open after firing ,then I fired again and it worked great other then the bolt gets stuck .

That is most common, you have burnt grease in your bolt lugs , when it gets hot its like glue. It has to all come out, with solvent and many patches. A tool like a dental pic works good.

[Cobra3913]

Hi Thank you for the info ,will do the the cleaning today .

[Cobra3913]

Used this ammo TULAMMO 7.62x54r 148 gr. fmj steel case non corrosive Berdan primed made in Russia

[Junk Yard Dog]

I never trusted any ammo made over there to be non corrosive. I treat all of it as corrosive no matter what they put on the box.

[Cobra3913]

Just received my Mosin nagant fire pin gauge in the mail, still trying to locate a headspace tool . Thank you for the great information

[matt167]

sadly, Okie passed away and his gauges are no longer available. Firewerks sells copies of Okie's gauges which did piss okie off as I remember. I would never buy them because they are copies... An M44 that I had bought crate fresh failed a no go test horribly because of a mismatched bolt. I bought a couple extra bolts and built one that passed

[ma96782]

I bought my set through Amazon. Anyway, they were not that expensive. And, IMHO....it was well worth the price. But, that's me. BTW, I still have 20 rifles to check. LOL.



In one instance......
I switched bolt heads between a rifle and a carbine. You know, to get the correct headspace. By doing so, I also improved my bolt opening ability with the carbine. Now, they of course....both still have acceptable headspace and I'm happier. But that was for ME. It might not work for you. Also having spare parts helps.

Aloha, Mark

PS...If you have only 1-2 rifles.
You could also.....just buy it....use it.....and sell it off to the next guy.

[qz2026]

A lot of us were fortunate enough to acquire the Okie gauges. I was also fortunate to buy an authentic Russian headspace gauge from Alex, some time ago.