Jeeper,
The throat is what wears out, and if you only have 1,000 rounds through it, that should be fine for a long time.
Now keep in mind the lands on a 5.56 are a lot further away than if it had been a 223 chamber.
Headspace wise if you want to get an idea of where it’s at get a Hornady headspace kit that fits on a micrometer and check factory vs. fired... your headspace will be a bit more than that shows.
Headspace wise .001-003 over a go gauge that is hard to close bolt is where a new gun starts, MOST (not all) field gauges are .010 over the go... (so that’s your safety margin for most rounds).
No-go’s are either .004, or .006 over the min. Chamber length... most people don’t know that... and Ideally rifles don’t close on those... some older guns will, but the question on safety is really how does the Field gauge - it if goes in you have a problem.
That being said - I’ve seen brass “shorten” instead of stretch so there aren’t any guarantee’s when inferring non-stretching brass means good headspace.
Last edited by Spotshooter; 08/01/20.
