I’ve been looking for a GO and NO-GO gauge set for .223 Wylde that’s in stock. While doing this I stumbled on a few places that said that headspace gauges between .223 Remington, .223 Wylde and 5.56 NATO are universal.
Is there any truth to that? Can I just find a Remington or NATO set and use that on my rifles?
If not, any recommendations on where I can find some Wylde gauges?
All the same. Throats are different, but the headspace shouldn’t be.
Midwayusa carries .223 wylde gauges if you still want Wylde specific gauges.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/366434/ptg-headspace-no-go-gage-223-wylde
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/859123/ptg-headspace-go-gage-223-wylde
*edit: Looks like go gauge is out of stock, sorry
I don’t want to presume to know your level of ability or what your intended use is for these gauges… but I might suggest that you forget about them and put the money into other tools or ammo.
I almost never use a headspace gauge… and when i do it’s to check out some high mile barrel/bolt.
If you use quality parts (read: in-spec), you shouldn’t need these guages.
If you are going to build or check AR15 rifles/carbines for serviceability, headspace gauges are absolutely essential.
First and foremost it is a SAFETY issue and then an accuracy and reliability issue.
The gauges are a cheap investment compared to what most of us spend on AR15’s…
If its truly a SAFTEY issue, all you need is a good USGI FIELD gauge (Colt Field II runs 1.4736).This gauge will allow you to use an fully assembled bolt.
If thats too long for your tastes, get a CIVILIAN FIELD that runs 1.470 (Strip the bolt to use these) and call it good.
Otherwise measure your fired cases and drop the shoulder back .002 -.003 .
It is in fact a SAFETY issue, for if you were to have a rifle that exceeded your above mentioned FIELD gauge dimensions you have a situation
for which overexpansion risks breaching the brass and leaking hot, high pressure gases that can harm the shooter and damage the weapon.
Also the looseness of the fit can affect accuracy of the weapon.
How would you know this without a gauge ?
Besides the FIELD gauge which dictates maximum allowable headspace, we also should concern ourselves with the GO gauge, which dictates Minimum headspace.
If there is not enough headspace the cartridge will not fit in the chamber properly and the bolt may not lock up in battery correctly/completely.
Please at least have a GO gauge and a FIELD gauge to check your MIN/MAX dimensions. When something goes KB it is too late.
I could not send my Soldiers into harms way without knowing that they had a serviceable properly headspaced weapon YMMV.
Reputable manufacturers ensure that they have barrel extensions and reaming depths correctly set-up before the guns are even test-fired, with the right amount of slop for a gas gun to run reliably.
Somehow, I have made it since 1988 never using a headspace gauge in the AR15, to include countless builds.
I do run a dummy cartridge in my chambers to see what’s going on with the throat location, so I know where I can load my COL with, and I also look at shoulder growth compared to a virgin case after the first round has been fired.
If you’re buying from Peasant-grade suppliers, then it might make sense, but why bother buying barrels from those sources anyway when you can get a well-engineered pipe from people that are way ahead of the power curve when it comes to headspacing.
The headspace would have to be insanely off to generate the kind of case stretch at the web you’re talking about. There’s a good article where some guys took an old bolt gun, and kept increasing the headspace intentionally to see where this really starts to matter. They had to re-size cases several times before they could get the case to fail, and the failures were very minimal, with slight signs of partial separation happening before anything else.
What is more problematic is when these cheap, after-market, non-engineered, fly-by-night companies start jumping on the “AR15” parts bandwagon, with almost no understanding of quality management. The more likely problem is that you will get a barrel marked “5.56 NATO”, when the reamer was so worn, that it cut an under-sized chamber.
Then you slap in that magazine of XM193 or XM855, or a foreign made 5.56 load with soft brass and lower standards of metalurgy in the brass alloy, which are also towards the upper end of pressures already in most cases. Now you chamber these cartridges into your worn reamer special barrel, which has a really tight and short throat, no matter how the reamer started out, and that 58-60ksi 5.56 load jams the projectile into the short-throated lands.
Pressures will spike on you bigtime, and the case will fail, even with correct headspace. The headspace gauge can detect this from the start, but so can a dummy cartridge with Dykem or marker. I always check if a cartridge will fall free from a chamber after pressing the cartridge fully into the chamber. If it doesn’t, I want to know why, and will start looking at that particular barrel more closely until I’m satisfied I know why.
Here’s a great example of a case failure that I think was caused by an under-sized chamber, as well as foreign-made brass: https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?134302-Critical-Failure-Seeking-Advice/page13
Well…where to start…
First, I have never heard of a factory barrel/bolt (new) having a headspace greater than a COLT FIELD II!?
I personally don’t torque barrel extensions, drill gas ports or turn barrel profiles, and use only quality barrels and bolts from reputable manufactures, so I have never found GO/NO GO gauges helpful.
You stated…“for if you were to have a rifle that exceeded your above mentioned FIELD gauge dimensions”
I’m curious…what gauge do you use to check a chamber greater than 1.4736. I don’t know of any so please enlighten me.
Exactly. Gauges like this are a huge waste for the average guy. Too little headspace will become apparent when you can’t eject a live round… Or when a live round won’t chamber.
I was taught if you are using a well worn bolt and a new BBL/Extension or visa/versa would be be a time to use a gauge. But with new parts no need, as unless you have a pile of bolts and bbl’s to swap around there’s nothing you can do anyway. I can see if you are an Armourer for LE or such it wouldn’t hurt to check though. Quality parts = AOK
DD, Respectfully…
If a bolt closes on the above mentioned FIELD gauge the headspace is already greater than your dimension of 1.4736, which is the rejection limit, no need to check any further.
No need to enlighten you, I have read some of your posts and I know you are intelligent and capable.
LRRPF52…
In regards to the headspace being insanely off to generate a case separation, maybe so with virgin brass, however in the interests of those who reload their brass more than a few times
and work their brass a bit I thought it best to mention it.
Even top tier manufacturers will make a mistake now and then, if you don’t believe me ask IG. Why not head off any potential problems with an inexpensive insurance policy such as a set of headspace gauges ?
Come on guys, we cannot afford a couple of gauges for $60.00 ? Sure there are other ways to do it, but why bother when a gauge that is designed to do the job is available.
Headspace gauges are included in every line armorers kit, they are there for reason.