Headspace before beginning a build
06-07-2015, 09:50 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 34
Headspace before beginning a build
I recently got my BCG/charger installed, and came across something called headspace on the web. I'm new to ARs, and was just wondering if headspace problems are prominent. My BCG is WMD NiB, and I was wondering if I could slap any barrel I like on it safely or if there's anything I should check before ordering a barre
06-08-2015, 07:27 AM
#2
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Allegan, MI
Posts: 8,019
We're still waiting for you to come back on the other thread you started last week about buying a scope with turrets that screwed right out of the scope! It would seem that with that and now two more questions you have asked that you are pretty new to most everything concerning firearms. Therefore, it would certainly be nice and courteous if you would go back and complete the scope thread you started before moving on to others. Anyway, if you don't know what headspace is, you certainly don't have any business building a firearm and/or "slapping any barrel on a gun" that you like! Just sayin!
06-08-2015, 03:26 PM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,905
So... How cheap are you? What's your life worth to you?
It's exceedingly rare for reputable manufacturers to produce AR bolts and/or headspaced barrel/Extension assemblies that do not headspace properly. Maybe you're the unlucky one that gets screwed, but thousands of AR's get built every year by guys that don't ever check their headspace.
BUT... It's a cheap tool, available on Ebay used, available to rent, easy to resell... OR, it's a very cheap trip to a gunsmith to have them check your headspace once you've built it. All you need is the bolt and barrel/extension assy, nothing else even needs to be assembled.
Frankly, it's $15 to have headspace checked at my local smith, the gauges are $30-40 each, and it's about $20 to rent them. Better safe than sorry, as they say. It'll cost a lot more than $40 to replace your hand if the headspace is wrong.
It's exceedingly rare for reputable manufacturers to produce AR bolts and/or headspaced barrel/Extension assemblies that do not headspace properly. Maybe you're the unlucky one that gets screwed, but thousands of AR's get built every year by guys that don't ever check their headspace.
BUT... It's a cheap tool, available on Ebay used, available to rent, easy to resell... OR, it's a very cheap trip to a gunsmith to have them check your headspace once you've built it. All you need is the bolt and barrel/extension assy, nothing else even needs to be assembled.
Frankly, it's $15 to have headspace checked at my local smith, the gauges are $30-40 each, and it's about $20 to rent them. Better safe than sorry, as they say. It'll cost a lot more than $40 to replace your hand if the headspace is wrong.
06-10-2015, 06:03 PM
#4
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 34
So... How cheap are you? What's your life worth to you?
It's exceedingly rare for reputable manufacturers to produce AR bolts and/or headspaced barrel/Extension assemblies that do not headspace properly. Maybe you're the unlucky one that gets screwed, but thousands of AR's get built every year by guys that don't ever check their headspace.
BUT... It's a cheap tool, available on Ebay used, available to rent, easy to resell... OR, it's a very cheap trip to a gunsmith to have them check your headspace once you've built it. All you need is the bolt and barrel/extension assy, nothing else even needs to be assembled.
Frankly, it's $15 to have headspace checked at my local smith, the gauges are $30-40 each, and it's about $20 to rent them. Better safe than sorry, as they say. It'll cost a lot more than $40 to replace your hand if the headspace is wrong.
It's exceedingly rare for reputable manufacturers to produce AR bolts and/or headspaced barrel/Extension assemblies that do not headspace properly. Maybe you're the unlucky one that gets screwed, but thousands of AR's get built every year by guys that don't ever check their headspace.
BUT... It's a cheap tool, available on Ebay used, available to rent, easy to resell... OR, it's a very cheap trip to a gunsmith to have them check your headspace once you've built it. All you need is the bolt and barrel/extension assy, nothing else even needs to be assembled.
Frankly, it's $15 to have headspace checked at my local smith, the gauges are $30-40 each, and it's about $20 to rent them. Better safe than sorry, as they say. It'll cost a lot more than $40 to replace your hand if the headspace is wrong.
06-10-2015, 07:45 PM
#6
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location:
Posts: 5,130
06-10-2015, 07:53 PM
#7
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Allegan, MI
Posts: 8,019
