head space gauge ?

O

old as dirt

Guest
i want to do a 257 roberts ai and a 280 rem ai in savage actions but cant find any ai go- no go gauges, anybody know where they are available?
 
try a google seacrh on reamers for rent..they often have gauges also...

mike in co
 
You can use standard guages, Just remember the go is used as a no go. In other words you shouldnt be able to shut the bolt on the go guage. The chamber should be about .004 short from the Go guage.
 
Because of the different shoulder angle factory ammo will chamber...

The correct fit of any AI chamber is the bolt should close fairly hard on a factory round... if you can not feel it pretty firmly the chamber isn't tight enough on a go gauge.
 
ok if i use a reg 280 rem go gauge as a no go, it would show if i had to much headspace, but how would i tell if i didnt have enough? apparently nosler got a sammi standard that is different from the orig ackley, your not supposed to use there 280ai brass in a origanal ackley chamber because the new sammi chamber is shorter,when i ordered my barrel from shaw they hadn't heard of a change, this change was 09-10 somewhere, im wondering if a barrel mfg hadnt heard of this, how am i sure which chamber it will be?
http://gunsmithtalk.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/280-ackley-improved-alert/
 
Buy the brass your going to use. Full length size it and ream the chamber until the brass just fits with slight drag on the bolt.
 
Dude, if you don't UNDERSTAND the required parameters beyond "SAAMI spec" may I suggest you let someone else who does do the work?

This ain't about "changes made in XXXX" it's about the actual play in YOUR chamber. Just make it tight and don't fret about "SAAMI." The Olde Rule Of Thumbe about "using the no-go for your go gauge" doesn't get you much closer than guessing either, instead use a case and some feeler gauges.....shucks, if you know how to chamber with feeler gauges you can use a freaking 22-250 gauge.....or whatever you've to hand.

al
 
It may not help you on your time line, but when I need a go gage I order it from the reamer maker. You can rent go and no go gages from some of the reamer rental places, but that doesn't help if you are going to change barrels frequently.

It's hard to install a barrel on a Savage action using feeler gages.
 
old as dirt said:
ok if i use a reg 280 rem go gauge as a no go, it would show if i had to much headspace, but how would i tell if i didnt have enough? apparently nosler got a sammi standard that is different from the orig ackley, your not supposed to use there 280ai brass in a origanal ackley chamber because the new sammi chamber is shorter,when i ordered my barrel from shaw they hadn't heard of a change, this change was 09-10 somewhere, im wondering if a barrel mfg hadnt heard of this, how am i sure which chamber it will be?
http://gunsmithtalk.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/280-ackley-improved-alert/
Click to expand...
As I understand it Nosler applied to the SAAMI to have their case dimensions accepted as the SAAMI specs. The only problem was they didn't take into account the thousands upon thousands of reamers/barrels already in use that used zero headspace MINUS .004 as the safe way of fireforming brass into the AI chambering.

The result is that if you try to fireform factory brass in the .280 Nosler AI chamber you have excessive headspace. A lot of it, in fact. When we chamber for the Nosler case we had to order a special 'Go' gauge with a 40* shoulder from PT&G and we mark the barrel as a .280 NOSLER A I and go to great lengths to emphasize to the customer to never, ever, try to fireform factory ammo.

I don't think Nosler will ever make that mistake again if the rumors I've heard about it are true. They created a huge problem when they made this case.

As to knowing which chamber you have the easiest way is to ask the gunsmith. If you don't have the NOSLER chamber then buy him a steak lunch. If you do have the NOSLER chamber then take his steak money and buy Nosler brass with it.

A Nosler case will not chamber in the old .280 AI chamber.

By the way, the .280 Nosler chamber is not shorter, it is longer than the other .280 ackley chambers.
 
Last edited:
Well there ya go, spoken from the guy who knows. Just have it set up the standard old AI way and be done with it, fireform as usuall. Thanks Mickey for clearing that up. Now I will also know if it ever comes up in my shop.
 
alinwa said:
Only if you keep the nut...... and why would anyone do that?

al
Click to expand...

Al, I'll agree with you there. Set the headspace one time when the barrel's in the lathe, use a shoulder on the barrel and not have to reset the headspace with a barrel nut every time you decide to switch barrels. That's my preference as well.
 
Kiff, Manson, Clymer, JGS and others will all grind you a AI gauge in any given caliber.
I have 223AI, 22-250AI, 243AI, 6mmAI, 280AI go and no go gauges and the coresponnding reamers.
I would never consider using standard guages in place of AI gauges.
Nat Lambeth
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top