Ouch, I hurt and my gun is broke

[LisaA]

WOW! Glad you are okay. I have a 1903 A3, and I better get the headspace checked!

[enfieldshooter303]

thanks guys, so far i'm ok my vision is comming back and i can hear ringing now lol

as far as head space, i have fired around 300 rounds from this rifle but it blew up now? could it be a headspace issue?

[Pa. Patriot]

...
as far as head space, i have fired around 300 rounds from this rifle but it blew up now? could it be a headspace issue?

Um... YES

As Jaybell noted, the failure was case head sep/blowout.
This is usually a result of out of battery or excessive headspace.

Assuming you pulled the trigger (gun did not go off when chambering) then this was most likely a headspace issue. And a good reminder why ALL milsurps MUST be checked. If you value your body parts.

[LisaA]

Is a GS necessary to check the headspace, or can someone like me purchase the go and no-go gauges? I have a GS, but I know he does not have any gauges.

[Pa. Patriot]

Is a GS necessary to check the headspace, or can someone like me purchase the go and no-go gauges? I have a GS, but I know he does not have any gauges.

You can check HS yourself with the proper gauges and procedure.
A GS familiar with that firearm can check other things and should have an eye for general condition and issues (stress fractures, etc).

A GS without HS gauges? Never heard of such a thing

[enfieldshooter303]

Um... YES

As Jaybell noted, the failure was case head sep/blowout.
This is a result of out of battery or excessive headspace.

Assuming you pulled the trigger (gun did not go off when chambering) then this was a headspace issue. And a good reminder why ALL milsurps MUST be checked. If you value your body parts.

i chambered a round aimed the rifle then pulled the trigger and it happened. but if it was incorrect HS wouldn't this have happened the first time i shot it? why would it wait 300 rounds later?

[LittleRedToyota]

i chambered a round aimed the rifle then pulled the trigger and it happened. but if it was incorrect HS wouldn't this have happened the first time i shot it? why would it wait 300 rounds later?

i'm no expert, but my guess would be that that particular casing was weaker in that spot than the 299 that went through it before...and the 299 that went through it before were able to contain the explosion and stay in one piece even though they were not getting proper support from the chamber--but the one that blew up was not strong enough.

[Pa. Patriot]

i chambered a round aimed the rifle then pulled the trigger and it happened. but if it was incorrect HS wouldn't this have happened the first time i shot it? why would it wait 300 rounds later?

That's not how it works.
If you have a bad rod in your engine does it blow when you start the car or 300 miles later?

Answer is it depends.

Headspace is a threshold issue. If you have borderline or slightly out of spec HS you are gambling with every round fired. One round with higher pressure or weaker case head may fail while others do not.

[LisaA]

You can check HS yourself with the proper gauges and procedure.
A GS familiar with that firearm can check other things and should have an eye for general condition and issues (stress fractures, etc).

A GS without HS gauges? Never heard of such a thing

Well, maybe he does have some gauges, but for the guns I have asked him to check, he did not have the gauges.

Which vendor would be a good source for a variety of gauges?

[enfieldshooter303]

Well, maybe he does have some gauges, but for the guns I have asked him to check, he did not have the gauges.

Which vendor would be a good source for a variety of gauges?

try brownells.com