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Military Firearm Restoration Corner

I Think I Really Screwed Up


mr fixit

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Guys, I'm getting very close to finishing a Yugo 24/47 custom for my 12 yo son. Just a few minutes ago, I reamed the chamber. I'm using Clymer finish reamer and Clymer go and no-go gauges.

 

I got to where the bolt handle would close about half way, and put the reamer back in and turned it (by hand) 5 revolutions. When I checked the go gauge closed, and then so did the NO-go gauge.

 

I don't have a field gauge, but I did put a piece of masking tape on the no-go gauge. With that it would not close, only half way.

 

 

Tell me what I need to do (i'm afraid I already know).

 

I don't have a lathe, so if I have to set back the barrel I either have to make a new friend who has one, or farm it out.

 

Mr Fixit

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This is going to piss the purists off but it has worked and held up well for me.

 

I did the same thing the first time I tried to chamber a barrel before I had a lathe.

 

I figured I need to move the barrel in so I slowly filed the shoulder around the Circumference until I brought it back in enough, if you bring it in a little too far you can ream it again.

 

I know this will not ,and did not, produce a blue printed shoulder but a used barrel that shoots 3" moa with factory ammo works for a hunting rifle in my eyes

 

(my barrel was an ebay special so it wasn't in contact with the inner ring if yours is you will need to file some off the face also.)

 

Now that I have a lathe I may redo it but most likely it will stay as is, too many other projects

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When you are testing the closing of the bolt, how much force are you using ? Mausers, because of the high camming force they generate, can be misleading when testing headspace. You should only use your thumb when closing the bolt handle for this test - and do NOT put full force on the bolt handle, only very moderate force (almost gentle). As for whether you have reamed too deeply, the answer is yes, with a qualification. You certainly have reamed too deeply for best accuracy, because for that, the bolt should have just closed on the GO gauge. However, the fact that your bolt now closes on the NO GO does not mean that the rifle is unsafe to fire. The NO GO gauge represents the outer limit of headspace recommended for a re-barrel. If the bolt closed on a FIELD gauge, that would indicate dangerously excessive headspace. So, you tested with a piece of tape on the NO GO....and the bolt only closes half-way ? It sounds as if you mean that the bolt really won't close on the (taped) NO GO (again, only moderate force used). Assuming the tape is not too thick, this would indicate that you are right on or just past the outer recommended limit, as represented by the NO GO gauge. So, the rifle is not unsafe to fire - but does have a bit too much headspace for best accuracy. If you handload for this rifle, you can fireform a supply of cases for it, then neck-size them ONLY...and get around most of the negatives to accuracy, as long as you are not using max. loads. If you do use max. loads in this rifle, then again, it should not be unsafe, but brass life will be shorter than in a rifle with more correct headspace. If using factory ammo for this rifle, then again, it should not be unsafe, but I doubt that you'll get accuracy as good as you would with tighter headspace. Brass life would not then be an issue, as you can imagine. Of course, whatever accuracy you get (as is) may be perfectly acceptable...that is a matter for testing.

 

I hope that this helps you. What you choose to do now is, of course, your call. Good luck.

 

** By the way, Bubbamauser, I concur with you.....I have no problems with what you did, myself. In fact, I do NOT use a lathe to re-barrel Mausers anyway - it really isn't necessary. I always get perfectly acceptable results by the means you used - careful file work. I'm glad that you brought this up. So, Mr. Fixit, the point is, if you DO wish to tighten the headspace on this rifle, it can be done easily. Simply remove the barrel and file back the breech face a couple of thousands....then do the same to the barrel shoulder. This will have the effect of shortening the chamber. To save having to remove and re-mount the barrel several times, you can even deliberately cut back the breech face more than needed - then re-ream to the correct headspace. Just be CAREFUL to be sure that you DO file the breech face SQUARE (a good machinist's square can be used for checking this). Also, be aware that it is NOT necessary to torque the barrel into the action with more than about 50 to 60 ft-lbs of force. The old method of leaving the shank a bit long, then over-torquing to get a "crush fit" (and thus bringing the barrel into perfect headspace) causes more problems than it is worth. Really, it is a completely discredited idea - though some stick to it.

 

As for accuracy of a barrel, using the "file it" method..... the last Mauser I did this way, my trusty, favorite ole' non-matching mutt of an M48 sporter, re-barreled with a pristine military "take off" barrel ( I lucked out and found a 24/47 barrel that had never been mounted on a rifle), shoots as well as ANY rifle I've ever owned. With my handloads, it will produce groups as tight as I can shoot (best so far, about 1/2", for five rounds).

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I had a thought today.

 

If you go with the file back the shoulder method.

 

Before you pull the barrel off, use the secondary shoulder of the receiver as a guide

and scribe a line on the barrel. That way you will have a reference to file to.

This way you can keep the waves to a minimum.

You might be surprised at how close you can judge it by eye when you have a reference point.

 

I was thinking of something like laying a knife blade against the shoulder and running the edge

against the barrel.

 

Best of luck with the fix!

Tinker

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Where do you live? Maybe a member with a lathe could requalify the barrel for you.

 

I'm east of the Dallas/Ftworth area Texas.

 

I am planning right now to call this a learning experience and get a new 6.5X55 barrel. Since I have to rechamber anyway, and this should/might fix the feeding problems I found with the .308.

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I'm east of the Dallas/Ftworth area Texas.

 

I am planning right now to call this a learning experience and get a new 6.5X55 barrel. Since I have to rechamber anyway, and this should/might fix the feeding problems I found with the .308.

 

Setting the barrel back would be much less expensive than a new barrel. (I think)

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