This custom rifle has a late model M70 CRF action. When the bolt is closed with no bullet in the chamber and the safety is on you can jiggle the bolt handle back and forth a little - it seems loose. With the safety off or with a bullet in the chamber it is tight. A gunsmith said it has about 5000th headspace. What do you think is going on here? Do you think it was set up this way as part of the "accurizing" or is it just another example of sloppy late model workmanship?

This question will be best answered by J. Belk or one of the other smiths that help people here, but I can tell you, Arnold Arms had a lot of problems, and so did a lot of their rifles. (especially the ones they worked on in the last few years) That would be reason enough for me to have the rifle throughly inspected by a smith whose work you trust. ol blue

on a m70 CRF, its not an issue, on an empty chamber, since headspace measurements REQUIRE something in the chamber. I've got two here that do the same thing, one pre 64 and one safari. (just checked them both). There has to be some play in this type of action, as it is not cam'locked like an m16 bolt.I'll be stopping by a gun store today to check others.
BUT
5000ths or .005 is really at the limit, imho. as a no go gauge is generally .005 longer than the go gauge.

I'ld have someone else check the headspace, or buy a set of gauges for that round, and recheck myself. Drop a nogo in (you dont have to remove the extractor for this one) and try to close the bolt. if it closes, I would walk away. Sure you could use a field reject gauge, but the nogo will tell you if it's too long.

good hunting ang be safe
jeffe

I don't believe anyone specified a caliber here, bvut it would make a difference in headspace with the particular caliber. Granted, .005" is not excessive in some, but it could make a difference in others. You should use a go/no go gauge.

Jim

The caliber is .375 h and h. I will take it to a gunsmith monday to try a go no go guage. Frankly I dont know what that is but Im sure he will have one.

I Having trouble understanding what concerns you.

What exactly do you mean by "no bullet in the chamber"? No cartridge or no bullet in a empty case?

To me 5000 th's is a 1/2 inch as to me a tenth is .0001"!

What is the result of firing the rifle?

Don
I meant no cartridge. I havent fired this rifle yet. I just bought it. The gunsmith said it doesnt look like its been fired much. Im wondering if its safe to fire and whether its going to be accurate.

I will have a gunsmith give me another reading on headspace. After reading these posts, I am starting to wonder if the one he read before may have been wrong. He said the battery was dead in his good instrument and he was using one that he seemed to have less trust in.

He pulled the bullet out of an unfired round, ground on it in his back room, then put it in the chamber and closed the bolt on it. Then he removed it and used some type of instrument to take a reading on the primer end of it. He said that wasnt the best way to get a headspace reading but it would give an approximate one.

I also wonder if something is wrong with this bolt or action - what is the fix? Should I send it off to a gunsmith to repair or just replace the entire bolt with a new one?

I intend to fire this rifle tomorrow if the gunsmith thinks its safe. I guess if its accurate and safe then there will be no need to fix anything.

I was just concerned because of my lack of knowledge and because I dont personally know anyone who knows any more than I do.

Two heads are better than one much of the time and you have so much concern now that you should wait for a gunsmith to check it.

You can make a headspace gage by puting some soft solder on a empty case just on the top of the belt. File it so that it will chamber and is not too much material. The tolerance is .227" max. on a belted chamber. I did two old M-70's like that and I measured .228" with a caliper.

Make sure the barrel and cartridges are marked with the same cartridge.