so, taking the 30-06 to the 'smith tomorrow to have him check the headspace...

I expect he's going to be able to close the bolt on the field reject gauge...

I love the rifle, but have no clue on whether to try to repair/correct the issue... how is this usually done, and is it effective if the gun is otherwise good?

it's a pre-war Mauser 98... FYI.

The fix is simple if the chamber has a headspace issue, but are you sure it's the chamber and not the brass you're using?
To fix the headspace is as simple as screwing the barrel off, taking off a thread and re-chambering to correct dimensions.
Cheers.

What he said.Good Luck

I had head separation on a MINIMUM load on virgin brass... sooooo yeah, thinking it has a slight problem.

not for nothing, this is what I suggested you do when you showed us the brass .. its dangerous headspace .. it may be setback and rebed.

And once again, or as usual, jeffe could be totally WRONG!

If you did not Fire Form your cases, or Neck-Up and then size them to fit the chamber, your specific rifle may give the appearance of a Headspace issue when there is no actual rifle problem.

If you can watch the GunSmith while he puts the "Go & No-Go" gauges in the chamber, it would be in your best interest to see what happens first-hand.

Unless the rifle is old and has been subjected to a lot of Over-Loads, I'll guess it is just fine as is.

Best of luck to you.

The smith should remove the striker assembly from the bolt body before checking the headspace, and at Trinidad we were also taught to remove the extractor as well, since it can often give a false reading.

To fit your 'short' brass to your longer-but-still-within-spec chamber, I suggest loading bullets backward in the cases so that the bullet bases hit the throat leade solidly when chambered. This will hold the case firmly against the bolt face during ignition and prevent any head separation while forming the case to the chamber but of course will waste some components.

If your brass is the proper length but your chamber is too long then I strongly urge you to have the barrel set back and rechambered.
Regards, Joe

Saw this on an old Mauser a while ago...

it had actually been chambered for a 1903 Springfield 30 cal ( 30/03) instead of a 30/06 as it was marked...
a gunsmith had made the suggestion evidently of using 280 brass and neck it up to 30 cal to duplicate the 03 case...

guy didn't say if he got a 30/03 die, or was just readjusting an 06 die at the reload bench..

was evidently a cheaper solution than having the barrel taken off, rethreaded and chambered...

just passing this along...as me and the fella were just talking at the range...

It may be lug setback.
Butch

COULD be lug setback... but it just doesn't seem likely to me, I know that the barrel is a military 30-06 barrel that was re-threaded and had the contour turned down, so a "loose" chamber makes some sense... however, based on everything I have seen/measured, I feel that correcting this issue, which shouldn't cost me more than a 1/2-inch of barrel length, is the actual best solution.