Swedish Mauser

[300 H&H]

I recently recieved a 6.5x55 Swede from my brother in law. He has shot it quite a bit, and upon examining it closely I discovered the bolt ser# does not match the reciever ser#. The fired casings he shot look just fine, no primer set back, although I have not yet miked a case head as I am not sure what it will tell me about headspace. What does anyone here know about how I might find out, short of head space guages if this rifle is safe or not? My brother in law never noticed the bolt being mis- matched, and thought it shot very well, and has had no problems. What do you think? Best reguards Kirk

[Bindernut]

I've had one M96 "parts" rifle. It's chamber was a hair on the large side but was acceptable enough for a cheap shooter.
My current M38 beater (which is numbers matching) is just outside the range of the no-go gauge, but it works good and is still very accurate if I back off the die after fire-forming the cases with a light load. Haven't had a case life problem with it...just have to keep it's ammo separate from the rounds for my other Swede.

Kinda hard to check it without a set of gauges though. I got lucky and found a local smith that was also a Swede fan and had a set of gauges.

[300 H&H]

Binder,

What would you think about sizing a case and making a theaded plug that would be soldered into the case mouth, drilled and tapped for a cleaning rod. Chamber the case, screw in the cleaning rod and measure the amount of "play" as you move the rod in and out. I know this is a bit crude, just brain storming and wanting to avoid the go no go gauges. I realize that a sized casing would be a bit loose in a kown "Good" head spaced rifle but I do not know how much. I guess there in lies the problem....... Thanks Kirk

[22WRF]

my brother in law. He has shot it quite a bit

There is your answer.

Cases look good, not worry just because you have don't have matching numbers.

[Dutchman]

I only had one mauser that had a matching bolt. They all pretty much went bang. I never had a problem with functioning on any of them.

[Bindernut]

Originally Posted by 300 H&H

Binder,

What would you think about sizing a case and making a theaded plug that would be soldered into the case mouth, drilled and tapped for a cleaning rod. Chamber the case, screw in the cleaning rod and measure the amount of "play" as you move the rod in and out. I know this is a bit crude, just brain storming and wanting to avoid the go no go gauges. I realize that a sized casing would be a bit loose in a kown "Good" head spaced rifle but I do not know how much. I guess there in lies the problem....... Thanks Kirk

That one might work. Remember to pull the extractor off when ya do the fore/aft measurement though...it might throw a little interference if headspacing has more play than the thickness of the case rim in the extractor slot.
You could also thread through the head of the case (like a StoneyPoint case), run a screw from the inside out and tighten it from the muzzle with a loooong screwdriver. This would push against the bolt face, holding the case up against the front of the chamber. Remove the case without turning the screw and measure the length to the datum line from the end of the screw instead of just the cartridge base.

I'm kinda of the opinion that 22WRF has...if it's already been a known good shooter, then it should be okay. Just keep an eyeball out for the usual excessive headspace signs...backed off primers or head separation. Sounds like you already are though.

[swanshot]

http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirearm...rum/view/id/82
Try asking here. They'll give you chapter and verse. But seriously, I gather that mixing and matching parts during arsenal refurbishment was not unusual. I have two and they are very good shooters, so don't worry about it if the performance suggests no problems.

[polishshooter]

I would agree, the proof is in the pudding...if it has "many" rounds through it already, I wouldn't be worried as long as I regularly checked all fired cases for any signs of excessive pressure. And having a "matching" bolt is no guarantee you will not have headspace issues either...

Yes it could be developing enough throat erosion to be DEVELOPING excessive headspace, but it is a slow process.

But with a rimless cartridge, whether or NOT the bolt "matches," the ONLY thing that will allow you to sleep the "sleep of the just" each night is a gauge....Brownells have them and they are not that expensive, and all you need is a "field gauge" to be safe, instead of the more precise "Go and No-Go" ones.

Which is one of the reasons I prefer rimmed cartridges in old milsurps than rimless...RARELY do you have headspace problems, and the "Polish Headspace Test" works well...

All you need then (rimmed cases only!) is a magnifying glass, an old mounted tire, bungee cords and a string long enough to fire the rifle from far enough away any shrapnel won't hit you if it blows...

Fire a round from a safe distance with the string tied to the trigger, with the rifle secured to the tire, if the gun doesn't blowcheck the last 1/4" of the case or so carefully with the glass to see if any stretching or cracks are visible, then check the primer, if nothing unusual found, repeat 2 more times, if still no problems noted, it "passed" the field headspace test....

[Contenderizer]

I agree with 22 WRF, if your brother-in-law isn't cross eyed by now, you are probably good to go.

I have seen gunsmiths use thin sheets of copper to test for headspace, placing same on the base of the bullet and then attempting to close the bolt. If you know the thickness of the copper sheets, you can determine "about" how much headspace you have. Compare same to a gun you know to be good, and you are off to the range.