For all you new Tapco bolt buyers

[magnut]

Heres a link at the headaches AK builders have had in  the past reguarding proper headspace guages on 7.62x39.  If you have someone fit this bolt they need to have the proper field guages or Euro spec guages which are hard to find.  SAMMI spec guages are not the same, which is what everyone sells.

http://www.akfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27936&page=1

This is why Tapco should have included a guage with these bolts

Through some research I am starting to believe that headspacing is not all that critical in AKs and SKSs anyways.  Ill get into it more later.  Read through the link and try to get a feel for what these guys are talking about.  The specs for commercial 7.62 and military or Euro 7.62 are not the same.

[magnut]

Here is a link for the pacific guages that Midway sells.  I am posting this becuase it has a pretty good definition of what the difference is in guages

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=548202&t=11082005

[OkieGoat]

I found the field gauge.  http://www.e-gunparts.com/product.asp?chrProductSKU=717430

It's a bit pricey.  I think I will make some calls around here to see if any gunsmiths have the field gauge.  If not, then I guess I buy one.  I don't really need it.  I bought the bolt for my bubba (it came bubba'ed).  The bolt it has in it works fine.  I was just hoping for easier mag changes.

[magnut]

Not trying to be a downer here just preparing everyone for the future headaches that may insue.  Like I said all this headspacing stuff may be overblown though.  7.62 is a low preasure round.  Still reading up on it though.

[OkieGoat]

I'm doing some reading, too.  A week or two back, I had no clue what headspace was.  Darn guns!  Always making me learn something new!!

From what I read on AKFiles.com, if you can get the right Go and No-Go gauges, you should be okay.  Finding the right type of gauges seems to be the really hard part.

[magnut]

yeah I think your absolutly right.  Then again I am not finding any reports or stories on a single SKS going kaboom.  And I have read alot of bolt switching stories from one rifle to another through the years.  Makes me wonder.

[BillyBang]

Head space is critical with an SKS.
After all, we're talking firearms here.

Don't get a field gauge.
A Field gauge is used by the military to see which rifles are to dangerous to use because of excessive headspace.

A "no go" gauge would be better.

When I did the beta field testing for Tapco, I never used a gauge at all.
I just worked the back of the bolt angle a very little bit at a time (like 0.001" at a time)
until the bolt locked all the way down on a demilled shell casing (Euro spec Chinese ammo)
and the BFD aligned the trigger bar so I could pull the trigger.

The bolt was still a bit tight after that so I simply used some emery paper laid on a steel block to lightly sand the engagement angle on the bolt until it was up & running.

BB

[OkieGoat]

Head space is critical with an SKS.
After all, we're talking firearms here.

That's my thought.  That's the main reason I'm reading and learning.  The more I know the safer I'll be.

Don't get a field gauge.
A Field gauge is used by the military to see which rifles are to dangerous to use because of excessive headspace.

A "no go" gauge would be better.

Yay!  Field gauges are more expensive.  So, just the  Euro spec no go gauge?  From everything I've read, the bolt should not close on a no go gauge.  If it does, then It goes to the gunsmith. 

When I did the beta field testing for Tapco, I never used a gauge at all.
I just worked the back of the bolt angle a very little bit at a time (like 0.001" at a time)
until the bolt locked all the way down on a demilled shell casing (Euro spec Chinese ammo)
and the BFD aligned the trigger bar so I could pull the trigger.

The bolt was still a bit tight after that so I simply used some emery paper laid on a steel block to lightly sand the engagement angle on the bolt until it was up & running.

BB

If the bolt fully closes on a demilled shell casing and the BFD (disconnector?) lines up the trigger bar, I should be good to go?

[clink619]

why cant tapco do this at factory so that the end user doesnt have to?

[OkieGoat]

Simple answer is that all rifles are different.  They make them to the largest spec so they can be milled down to the correct size.  It is possible that your new bolt will work right out of the package.  Just make sure it's checked to be safe.

[magnut]

See thats the thing.  If the bolt does not down and fully engage and fully engage it wont fire.  If it does it will.  But thats a different issue than guaging head space.  Thats why I am starting to think the headspace issue may be mute here in SKSs.  Your saying that when beta testing you just fit the bolt and did not check headspace?  If thats true I think it supports my point.  That or your extremly lucky.  I still cannot find any information on Kaboom in SKS rifles and I have been looking.  Yet the stories about switching bolts are around.  Assuming the bolt has been fitted and the rifle can be fired.

I may be totally wrong here its just a theory.  I am a little sketchy on this area in the sks.   I will get it eventually.

[huntersrain1]

Quote from BB:
When I did the beta field testing for Tapco, I never used a gauge at all.
I just worked the back of the bolt angle a very little bit at a time (like 0.001" at a time)
until the bolt locked all the way down on a demilled shell casing (Euro spec Chinese ammo)
and the BFD aligned the trigger bar so I could pull the trigger.
Quote from Magnut:
 Your saying that when beta testing you just fit the bolt and did not check headspace?  If thats true I think it supports my point. 



Magnut, BB said that he used a demilled round. Technically, that meant he was headspacing the bolt. Taking material off little by little until it locked up and allowed the hammer to drop. The round acted as his headspace gauge.

[BillyBang]

Yes, basically, you are using the demilled round as a "go gauge".
That's why it's important to take material off a little at a time.

BB

[magnut]

Now I am back to where I was last year trying to figure this out with Lollygagger.  I tried the 3m tape method that the AK builders use and all my skss still went into battery with the bolt closed.  These were factory matching bolts that have zero problems.  I quit after I got to five layers.  The AK guys told me theirs still close too but they have no problems.  Its like everyone just talks about how headspacing is so important on AKs and SKSs but its not really followed.  And no disasters?  Confusing for sure.  This issue has never really been figured out on this board or anywhere else I can find.  Its one of the reasons I was glad to see this bolt hit the market.  I spent alot of time on this last year and never felt like it was resolved.

[BillyBang]

Now I am back to where I was last year trying to figure this out with Lollygagger.  I tried the 3m tape method that the AK builders use and all my skss still went into battery with the bolt closed.  These were factory matching bolts that have zero problems.  I quit after I got to five layers.  The AK guys told me theirs still close too but they have no problems.  Its like everyone just talks about how headspacing is so important on AKs and SKSs but its not really followed.  And no disasters?  Confusing for sure.  This issue has never really been figured out on this board or anywhere else I can find.  Its one of the reasons I was glad to see this bolt hit the market.  I spent alot of time on this last year and never felt like it was resolved.

Could be the reason there have been no disasters is that most of the imported rifles have headspace that is within safe limits.

Bad headspace doesn't mean that the rifle will immediately "blow up".
It would take some out of whack headspace for that.

Headspace is a specification. Just like the settings on the engine on your car.
Your car may run with the lifters loose or the carburetor set rich or even the oil level low,
but anyone that knows what they're doing will set those things to the correct specifications.

People that work at an arsenal, can't refurbish a rifle, using miscellaneous spare parts,
then just slap them together and send the rifle out for use without knowing they are within
reasonable limits. That would be taking a big chance.

You ask if some people are just lucky?
Yes, I think they are.
They're lucky for the set of standards that most things were produced under in the last century and that for the most part, things are made pretty uniform.

I've just been one that doesn't like to take chances, especially with things that go boom.
There's a lot of pressure in that chamber and like most things, we tend to become lax on how we think about that.
So far, we haven't heard about a lot of accidents with surplus firearms, thank goodness.
I just don't want to do things in such a way that I increase my chances of being the first.

BB