MAS 36 Head space
Jeff M.
Just ordered a MAS 36 rifle (7.5 French), but haven't received it yet.
I'm pondering how to go about checking the head space when it arrives.
Are head space guages available for this cartridge? If not, what have
others done to address the head space issue? I'm thinking that I may
have to check it by shimming or taping the head of an empty case.
Anyone know the maximum SAAMI clearence is for this gun?
I'm also wondering who sells this ammo in boxer primed, reloadable
brass, or should I forget the expensive ready made stuff and just
resize a bunch of 6.5X55 and load my own right off the bat? What is
the best bullet?
Thanks in advance,
Jeff
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Knute Johnson
# Greetings everyone,
#
# Just ordered a MAS 36 rifle (7.5 French), but haven't received it yet.
# I'm pondering how to go about checking the head space when it arrives.
# Are head space guages available for this cartridge? If not, what have
# others done to address the head space issue? I'm thinking that I may
# have to check it by shimming or taping the head of an empty case.
# Anyone know the maximum SAAMI clearence is for this gun?
#
# I'm also wondering who sells this ammo in boxer primed, reloadable
# brass, or should I forget the expensive ready made stuff and just
# resize a bunch of 6.5X55 and load my own right off the bat? What is
# the best bullet?
#
# Thanks in advance,
# Jeff
Jeff:
I don't know of any headspace gauges for 7.5 MAS. The shim trick is only
moderately accurate and not particularly on a cartridge that headspaces on
the shoulder. If you use the 6.5x55 cases and fire form them you should be
good on headspace. Once in a while you will see some boxer ammo from INDEP I
think, but it is rare. You will want to use a .308 bullet and there are many
to choose from. There is loading data in the most recent Hornady Reloading
Manual. I really like the RCBS dies that I have and they make a tapered
expander ball for expanding the 6.5 x 55 case mouth. Makes it really simple.
You'll like the little rifle. Very accurate and very simple. Be cautious,
as there is no safety. If you want to take the bolt apart to clean it, take
the bolt out of the rifle by pulling the trigger, press in on the rear and
rotate the end of the bolt about 90 degrees and it will come apart.
Have fun, be careful,
knute...
Ken Marsh
I don't know if the 7.5mm French is even SAAMI standardized....
It doesn't give you a "GO" versus "NOGO" reading per se, but there's a
way to check case expansion and give you an idea. Stoney Point makes a
Cartridge Case Comparator that works with a dial caliper (like Midway's
inexpensive chinese version). It measures the distance that the case
shoulder expands (is blown forward) when fired.
Just measure a few cases before and after firing and get the average
headspace increase. It should be less than .006" or so. If it's over
.011", danger Will Robinson!
Military rifles were intended to be fired with new, annealed ammo only,
so armorers were often more tolerant of loose headspace than civilian
armorers. If you don't reload the cases and get all surplus ammo, you
can tolerate a little more space. If you do reload, you can compensate
by partial full-length resizing, that is, don't set the shoulder back to
minimum dimensions. Nonetheless you should always be on the lookout for
case head seperations.
Getting the Stoney Point gauge is nice for any reloader anyway, it
covers a lot of cartridges (practically all of them) for one reasonable
price. It really lets you know what's going on inside the chamber.
After buying the dial caliper + case headspace comparator, the RCBS Case
Master is the next tool to get. It really lets you find incipient case
head seperations before they are visible. Of course, the price of the
caliper + case comparator + the Case Master is equal or greater than a
surplus military rifle and a few boxes of surplus ammo. Ah, the true
cost of saving money. Sometimes ignorance is bliss... as long as it
doesn't blow up in your face.
Ken.
--
Consumer spending: Buying Chinese products from a minimum wage clerk at a
Mall heavily mortgaged to a British bank is going to improve our economy?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Mail: kmarsh at charm dot net | WWW: http://www.charm.net/~kmarsh |
P. Roza
"Jeff M." <ed...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:9p8fgv$3ka$1...@xring.cs.umd.edu...
# Greetings everyone,
#
# Just ordered a MAS 36 rifle (7.5 French), but haven't received it yet.
# I'm pondering how to go about checking the head space when it arrives.
# Are head space guages available for this cartridge? If not, what have
# others done to address the head space issue? I'm thinking that I may
# have to check it by shimming or taping the head of an empty case.
# Anyone know the maximum SAAMI clearence is for this gun?
#
# I'm also wondering who sells this ammo in boxer primed, reloadable
# brass, or should I forget the expensive ready made stuff and just
# resize a bunch of 6.5X55 and load my own right off the bat? What is
# the best bullet?
#
# Thanks in advance,
# Jeff
If making your own brass isn't too much trouble, then this is probably the
best way to go.
Could you post instructions, or a link to the making of 7.5 brass from
6.5x55.
Jeff M.
> ...
Try this link for resizing instructions.
http://w3.one.net/~melchar/75french/75form.html
Regards,
Jeff
akia
don't need a headspace check... they haven't been fired since a real genuine
french army armory rebuild.
this isn't the case with the century wizard .308 models
http://www.cole-distributing.com carries the portugese new non corrossive
boxer ammo
"P. Roza" wrote:
> ...