I do not agree with 260...if he did it wrong to start with, especially if he doesn't know he did it wrong what do you think you are going to hear from him????? Maybe another way of saying it is; if he couldn't get it right to start with then you had the wrong man...why take the chance of going back to that???? I have barreled many actions and I have to say this; there is less than zero chance any gunsmith can miss headspace and NOT KNOW IT unless he doesn't know what he is doing to start with. If this is the case then he is someone to steer clear of, he is going to get somebody hurt.
In all fairness, the rifle may be right and have perfect headspace. What I am not hearing here is that you have a case that is sized properly to check it with and/or that you have the gauges to properly assess the rifle. I am also not hearing the most important thing....that you have the tools to check and make sure you have properly sized cases. Without that, the chances you will ever have cases sized right are slim. Having cases that fit the rifle properly is not the gunsmiths problem, that is on you!!!
There is another way out of this so that you can safely shoot the rifle. It wont be SAAMI spec {if it is really not right to begin with}, but it will work fine and be safe....size and load the cases you have being sure to seat the bullet out touching well into the lands. This will allow you to safely fire form them in the chamber. Now they will fit and be long enough to be able to have zero headspace when loaded next time. Just be sure you don't size them too small, you will have to back up the size die so it is only setting the cases back .002". Either way, you need the tools to measure case length and I am not talking about trim length...I mean case headspace length.
Edit: I should add that not having the rifle headspaced to SAAMI specs means you cannot do the one thing why Ackley chambers were spaced the way they are....if it is a long chamber then you cannot take factory ammo and shoot or fire form it safely in that rifle. At least not unless you pull the bullets and reseat them touching the lands.
Last edited by msinc; 09/19/17.
