The Russian Mosin Nagant Forum

talked to a gunsmith today about having the head space checked on m44 and 91/30. he said that the mosians went through inspection russia and then in the USA. i would had to pay to check head space and he would have made money. info is not for private sales or at gun shows. gunsmith is in newberg oregon and been in biss, along time. give me feed back. web is trinityarms,net popgun

Hello Friend, get you a Okie Heaqdspace Gauge (they are a sponsor here) and you can do your own and save yourself self some money now and later on. You can even take it to gunshows etc with you aand check it on the spot. I have one myself and keep it handy ;)

You should still check head spacing as not all will pass. There are some here who never check and some who always check them. I think they ship what ever they have and i doubt they check the headspace there or here either. If you buy from a internet dealer they will tell you to have it checked out by a gunsmith before using

What the gunsmith it saying falls under the heading of bullshit. I know this from hands on experience with more than 80 refurb Mosins that have entered my own collection from various importers. Some bought direct from the importers, others purchased from major dealers like Aim, in the lot, four spectacular headspace failures ( failed to pass no go, and even the field) and six more that would pass using the field gauge but not the No/Go. These are right out of the box refurb Mosins just like the ones you are buying now. I was able to correct the problems using bolt heads I picked up on eBay, or gunbroker as well as a few I got from Numrich Arms, I swapped boltheads until I found one that would allow the rifle to pass on the No/Go gauge. Get an OKIE gauge, it's worth it's weight in gold, is dead simple to use, requires no disassembly of the bolt to use. Rimmed cartridges like the 7.62x54r, or the .303 Brit are much more forgiving of poor headspace than the rimmless like the .30-06, or 8mm Mauser, and that is all that is saving a lot of shooters out there who have not checked their rifles and relied on the old rumor that the rifles are checked by the importers. Why do you think they come with that warning that the rifle should be checked by a gunsmith before firing? To cover their ass. The Soviets were sloppy on the refurbs, they let shot out bores pass, poor headspace got through, small missing parts, loose screws, poorly fitted parts, rough bolts, and this is why we tell you to strip the weapon down and inspect everything before shooting it. The Okie headspace gauge does not require the removal of the extractor to use, removing extractors can be difficult, and sometimes they break, the gunsmith probably has a set of Forrester gauges that do require the extractors removal, and he doesn't want to get involved with it.
Shooting a rifle with poor headspace can have serious consequences, cartridge cases use the extra space to stretch, they can then fail with catastrophic consequences, this is a much more serious issue with the rimless rounds, but the danger is there with any cartridge. You do not want a receiver full of rapidly expanding gas and brass fragments. Get the gauge and check your own headspace on any milsurp you get, Mosin, Mauser, Enfield, Garand, whatever.

Jim, that's great advice. What guage do you have for the 8MM Mauser? Since Okie doesn't make them for rimless cartridges I found the Forster guage for 24 bucks at Midway USA.

Anything over 1/2" is considered excessive "head" space!

bunkysdad wrote:Jim, that's great advice. What guage do you have for the 8MM Mauser? Since Okie doesn't make them for rimless cartridges I found the Forster guage for 24 bucks at Midway USA.

My 8mm Mauser gauge is a Clymer No-Go & my 7mm Mauser gauge is a Forster Field. For the money... The Forster works just fine.

Popgun... Just order the Okie set & be done with it. Well worth the money & by far the best gauge for the 7.62x54r.

okay you got me. i will get the head space checked. better safe than sorry. thanks guys for info. popgun

Forester for the 8mm Mauser Russell, I have the full set for .30-06, 8mm Mauser, .303 Brit, and probably a few others I am forgetting. Got the Okie set for 7.62x54r and 8mm Lebel. The Okie gauge pays for itself if you plan other Mosins, well worth the investment and anybody can use it.

I have the Okie for .303 brit. He was out of stock a few years back so I have a Mosin no-go that requires me to remove the extractor. It is not hard but the Okie is a lot easier.
When thinking of the $20-30 it costs to buy a no-go ask yourself "How much is my face and eyes worth!"

Plus you will have a tool that will make your next Mosin cheaper.

Wasn't the original poster but those gauges look great, have a set on the way now!

Thanks for the advice.

Good for you ;)

I bought a set of Okie's for my Mosin's and could not be happier. Everything has passed so far and I feel very confident shooting after checking the headspace. I have seen a failure while on the line and it was modified mauser. Fortunately the shooter was not hurt but his rifle was ruined.

You guys are making me blush...

As my firearm collection grew so did my need for headspace gauges. I have all the gauges from OKIE except the Lebel but I do have one of his 8X56r. I have a set of Forester gauges for the 8mm's.

polymerase2 wrote:I have the Okie for .303 brit. He was out of stock a few years back so I have a Mosin no-go that requires me to remove the extractor. It is not hard but the Okie is a lot easier.
When thinking of the $20-30 it costs to buy a no-go ask yourself "How much is my face and eyes worth!"

Plus you will have a tool that will make your next Mosin cheaper.

That right there makes those gauges worth their weight in GOLD!