First time posting here outside of the intro thread, but I've read threads for a long time. Greetings.
I've been handloading since I was 14 (>20 years now...time flies), but am trying to get serious and into PRS competition. Having my M70 rebarreled is a several month process, so like many I am getting into the Savage/Ruger user-replaceable barrel rifles. My goal is a cheap rifle for practice, so a easy to workup load (thus the hybrid ogive), user-swappable barrel are the top priorities. I got a cheap Savage Axis with an -08 bolt face and am putting a Shilen 6.5 CM barrel (26", 1:8") on it. I've got a new SS barrel nut, an action wrench, and GO/NOGO PTG gauges as well as a dummy round that mimics what I'll be shooting (in this case Lapua brass and a 147 Berger OTM Hybrid). Seating depth is capped by the magpul mag length, which is important as PRS competition will need box mags vs single loading. I will measure CBTO before starting work with increasing powder charges, and will probably just use Litz's strategy of big jumps starting at the lands to 0.15" jump in 0.05" increments. This gun will only ever fire my handloads, and I'll measure CBTO and work from that before I start load workup (probably IMR 4350 or SUPERFORMANCE,which gave great velocities and 0.25-0.33 MOA in a rifle I had made for my dad).
With all of that backstory out of the way, here's my question: How important is the GO gauge for safety? I am terrified of excessive headspace, and have the barrel fitted so that the bolt handle couldn't be forced down on the NOGO with a hammer. The bolt will just start to close on the GO gauge, but will not fully close. The rifle will easily feed and chamber my dummy round (virgin Lapua brass run through the sizing die that I'll use), which has the bullet seated at maximum magazine length. My understanding is that while this slightly below spec headspace could cause issues with 1) going into battery or 2) chambering ammo close to maximum allowable dimensions, I am effectively skirting those issues by 1) using a bolt rifle which is obviously going into battery and 2) using exactly one type of ammo which I've verified chambers without difficulty.
Every thread that I see on headspace seems to rapidly devolve into insults and corner cases, with the added problem that many revolve around ARs and highly questionable reloading practices. The discussion that I've seen on this form does a great job of avoiding those pitfalls, so I wanted to post this here both as a help to myself and for possible interest to others.
I've been handloading since I was 14 (>20 years now...time flies), but am trying to get serious and into PRS competition. Having my M70 rebarreled is a several month process, so like many I am getting into the Savage/Ruger user-replaceable barrel rifles. My goal is a cheap rifle for practice, so a easy to workup load (thus the hybrid ogive), user-swappable barrel are the top priorities. I got a cheap Savage Axis with an -08 bolt face and am putting a Shilen 6.5 CM barrel (26", 1:8") on it. I've got a new SS barrel nut, an action wrench, and GO/NOGO PTG gauges as well as a dummy round that mimics what I'll be shooting (in this case Lapua brass and a 147 Berger OTM Hybrid). Seating depth is capped by the magpul mag length, which is important as PRS competition will need box mags vs single loading. I will measure CBTO before starting work with increasing powder charges, and will probably just use Litz's strategy of big jumps starting at the lands to 0.15" jump in 0.05" increments. This gun will only ever fire my handloads, and I'll measure CBTO and work from that before I start load workup (probably IMR 4350 or SUPERFORMANCE,which gave great velocities and 0.25-0.33 MOA in a rifle I had made for my dad).
With all of that backstory out of the way, here's my question: How important is the GO gauge for safety? I am terrified of excessive headspace, and have the barrel fitted so that the bolt handle couldn't be forced down on the NOGO with a hammer. The bolt will just start to close on the GO gauge, but will not fully close. The rifle will easily feed and chamber my dummy round (virgin Lapua brass run through the sizing die that I'll use), which has the bullet seated at maximum magazine length. My understanding is that while this slightly below spec headspace could cause issues with 1) going into battery or 2) chambering ammo close to maximum allowable dimensions, I am effectively skirting those issues by 1) using a bolt rifle which is obviously going into battery and 2) using exactly one type of ammo which I've verified chambers without difficulty.
Every thread that I see on headspace seems to rapidly devolve into insults and corner cases, with the added problem that many revolve around ARs and highly questionable reloading practices. The discussion that I've seen on this form does a great job of avoiding those pitfalls, so I wanted to post this here both as a help to myself and for possible interest to others.
