[bashman]

Picked up an upper from PSA last week. Happy Thanksgiving!

Of course they don't come with a CH or BCG. Got a CH on the way.
Now on to the BCG.

I was watching vids on YouTube and surfin' the web, and saw/read people talking about ensuring proper headspace on bolts that were purchased seperate from the upper.
Never crossed my mind, but makes sense. I was going to use my Bushmaster BCG until I picked up another one. Not so sure that is a good idea now.

So how easy is it to check and adjust headspace yourself? Should I seek out a smith to perform the work for me?

 

[chrishf12]

Go/No-go gauges would be the best way to check. PSA states that headspace is checked at the factory.

Problems will occur if the thickness of the bolt face or bolt lugs in your current BCG are different from the PSA bolt used at the factory. You can check one way by shooting a single round and if the headspace is not correct there will be bulgeing on a brass casing.

If you do not have an overly worn out BCG, you should be fine as long as it is in spec. I have dropped my Spikes BCG into 2 different PSA uppers and a BCM straight from the factory and all has been well.

 

[jb2sea]

bashman, same here. Just ordered the PSA upper and need to decide on a BCG while I'm waiting to get it. Time to do some research myself. How much quality difference is there between the $120 BCG and the $200 BCG?

 

[JavaTee]

Del-Ton has Go, No Go, and field headspace gauges for $27.50 ea. I just purchased a field gauge for my own 'cya'.

Later, T.J.

 

[DGraham]

if it's all milled within spec it shouldn't be an issue regardless.

 

[613jmm]

Del-Ton has Go, No Go, and field headspace gauges for $27.50 ea. I just purchased a field gauge for my own 'cya'.

Later, T.J.

That is an outrageous price. You should be able to get headspace gages for about $17 through Brownell's or Midway.

 

[613jmm]

If you really want to be cautious, just the get the field gage. Go and No-Go gages are really for people that are building barrels, and used to ensure the barrel has been reamed correctly.

Make sure you get a 5.56 specific field gage, not the 223 one. As long as your bolt won't close on the field gage, your rifle should be safe to fire.

Before purchasing my gages, I read a lot of people claiming it was not necessary to check because ARs rarely fail the check. But I decided to get the gages anyway. Using them, I found two out of four brand new barrels which were out of spec and the manufacturer replaced them without hesitation, and I also found a bad bolt combination on a used FN surplus upper I picked up. I put a new bolt on that one and it checked good. The new barrels were on the short side, so I don't think they would have failed, but I think I would have experienced reliability problems with them. The used one was pretty far gone with the used BCG I had for it. It went in so easy, I am sure that rifle would display pressure problems if it was fired that way.

 

[NCHornet]

Do you know how to check your BCG? Remove from rifle, pull the bolt out to it's furthest point, then turn upside down so the bolt face is on a flat service and stand it upright. The the carrier doesn't slide down you are GTG. If it does slide down you can replace the gas rings and see if that helps you out. I highly recommend getting a spare BCG or at the lest a spare bolt. BCM makes one of the finest BCG's out there. But they sell out quick, so when you see them in stock jump on it. They never last more than a day or so. I also recommend trying one of their Gunfighter charging handles. I am not connected with BCM in any way, I just like their flavor of KoolAid.

 

[slosolo2]

NCHornet, I bought a Bravo Company BCG last week. It was in stock for less than 15 mins. On the happy side it delivered almost as quick.