Non matching bolts & head space

Always wounder about all those R/C 98 with mis matched bolts and head space. If bolts/barrels/chambera were all withing their design spec dimensions can they be swapped and still meet head space tolerances? My son is getting into re enacting so I don't think its an issue with blanks correct

In my experience all have been good to go and given the number of RC's out there that have m/m everything i dont think it is a real problem.

Did some business with a gunsmith some while ago and he said his experience had been that most bolt m/m that he spec'ed had tighter tolerances than non m/m.

Take that for what it worth..(which is not much) . IF you have real concerns buy a set of gauges...they are not that expensive.

agalland said:

In my experience all have been good to go and given the number of RC's out there that have m/m everything i dont think it is a real problem.

Did some business with a gunsmith some while ago and he said his experience had been that most bolt m/m that he spec'ed had tighter tolerances than non m/m.

Take that for what it worth..(which is not much) . IF you have real concerns buy a set of gauges...they are not that expensive.

Click to expand...

Not worried as my K is matching, a parts rifle for reenacting shooting blanks should not be an issue as there is basically no chamber pressure.

I'm sure the Russians understood how to gauge headspace when they refurb-ed those rifles, which is why they re-numbered the bolts. If the bolt has been changed subsequent to the rebuild, then re-checking headspace is a good idea. But if the electro-penciled number matches the serial number I wouldn't have much concern about it.

I've wondered why the Russian mixed up the parts in the first place and how they re-assembled them with mismatching bolts to get a correct headspace anyway. Were the German tolerances just that good that bolts had a high liklihood of producing a good headspace after swap? Did they keep trying bolts until one provided the correct headspace? It just seems to me that it would have been easier to keep the receivers and bolts matched.

Anyone know?

I'll admit I'm guessing here, but I would expect that like most mass weapons rebuild programs, rifles were stripped, the parts cleaned and sorted, and then reassembled randomly from piles of parts. An armorer with a headspace gauge would pull a bolt out of the top of the pile and if it gauged OK in the receiver, it was serialized and moved on. Parts made to proper tolerance per a set of blueprints should generally be close enough to be able to be swapped around unless they are broken or worn out and still be in spec.