I went to the gunsmith yesterday. Here is my story.
I called the nearest Gander Mountain and talked to one of their gunsmiths. Yes, they did have a GO gauge for a 30 luger and they could look at it while I wait. It's a 40 mile drive for me, but they have what I need, so I head off.
I stripped the pistol to just the barrell/reciever and bolt slide before I got there to avoid having to check it in. I also removed the extractor and firing pin.
I handed it over the guy at the desk after telling him what I needed. About ten minutes went by and a really nice guy named Tim called me back to the window.
"We don't have any headspace gauges for this."
Grrr. I explained that I called beforehand and someone assured me that they did have the gauges, but it didn't matter. They didn't have them. That's life.
So, I told him my whole story and handed over the gauges that I had rented. I wanted them to have their own gauges for independent verification, but what can you do?
After about ten minutes, he called me back over.
He said that the gauges were the correct ones and that they was nothing in the breech or barrel preventing them from seating fully. That was kind of good news because it meant that I wasn't just being an idiot.
He said that it was very close and it may need "a couple of thousandths" reamed out.
Here are his three theories on why it failed the GO gauge:
1) It was always like this. Perhaps it came from the factory with a minimum of headspace.
2) Maybe the pistol is at the minimum of headspace and the gauge is at the max tolerance for minimum headspace. For a GO gauge the manufacturer would want to be a bit longer than a bit shorter. Gauges for rimless cartridges are hard to measure because it has to be from the "datum" line which is half-way down the neck.
3) Maybe it had headspace problems in the past and a _very_ skilled gunsmith milled down the collar but didn't ream it quite enough. There wasn't any obvious signs that this had happened, but a good gunsmith could do it.
He said that they didn't have any ammo to try with it but if it fully closed on a round and the bullet didn't show any signs of being forced in, he'd fire it. He'd be happy to order the reamers and do that work, but he didn't think that it was necessary.
I reached for my wallet and asked how much I owed him. "No charge. I couldn't fix your problem. Next time bring me something that I can fix." Did I mention that he was a great guy?
I should be getting some ammo today or tomorrow so I'll see how that goes.
Rob
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