Rereading one of my old Shooting Times, I read about polishing the bolt lugs so that 90 to 100% of the lug contact is made. Since the lapping process removes metal from the back of the bolt lugs, doesn't this increase the head space??

The short answer is yes. If they are already close, then it might be feasable to do it without setting the barrel back. Depending on the current headspace measurement, of course.

You'll havs arms bigger than "Ahnold" by the time you remove .001". Unless you are very blose to max headspace, lapping the lugs should not be a problem.

quote:

Originally posted by eddieharren:
You'll havs arms bigger than "Ahnold" by the time you remove .001". Unless you are very blose to max headspace, lapping the lugs should not be a problem.

Absolutely correct.....

I have done it at home on a many a rifle, and had good success.

Let's dive in here more. How do you do it, and can you do it with the barrel still attached?

BTT--Yes, let's hear the details and maybe get a few photos of the process in progress.

The reason I asked is because the article I read seemed to indicate that it was being done on a couple of new rifles, which, along with some other accracy tricks, were being measure as a before and after project. I have a factory refurbushed Mosin-nagant 991/30 that I would like to try this on. But I am not sure that doing just bolt lapping will improve the accuracy enough to be measureable. And, it is a lot of work if the bolt is only makeing contact with 20% or less of the lugs.