Now you give me Heartburn of a different sort....way past age 70 thinking I knew it all "YOU ": come along and start teaching me things I never knew. Keep it up , I and my Saturday morning Breakfast Pals love discussing the new things we learned this week...Thanks from Central Texas
Hi Josh, Great video. I just put a new barrel on my Walther KK 500. To me it seems like you had to dance with 3 numbers for the install. 1. Head space 2. Shoulder depth and 3. Bolt face to barrel face clearance. I spent the time to understand what those numbers were before i removed the old barrel. This proved to be very helpful. Thanks my friend for your videos.
Good video! I checked my Lilja shank length after rechecking calibration on depth gauge. I was 1.198” two thousands off the listed 1.200”. That being the case I went with the new number and did the math. I set up for .041. It worked well with Tenex and did a .244 5shot 4 group average at 50
Strictly speaking the first two groups shot with the 0.045 heads pace was at an advantage to the others in that you fired a group to warm the barrel then immediately proceeded with those two groups. When you changed the headspace the barrel cooled but it appeared you went straight into the groups without warming the barrel again. I would also do this testing from some sort of jig / clamp to take human error out of the equation. Another aspect to try would be to measure the headspace on the rounds and sort them into different groups and then shoot groups with the same measured headspace. From my experience even Tenex has varying headspace measurements. Thoroughly enjoy your video's. Keep up the great content.
Headspace affects ALL calibers accuracy. Ive got a headspace comparator i use for 4 different calibers and matching headspace makes a WORLD of difference.
It seems like maybe the second five in the mag shot better than the first five? I’d love to see this excellent trial repeated using five shot magazines. Thanks for doing this experiment. Regards Robert ( just bought a CZ 575 😊)
Good insightful video, as always. Never a waste of time checking in here and looking over your shoulder. I'm jealous of all the trigger time you get to squeeze in. Going to have to try harder to do the same. LOL
From what I was told with the local 22 target shooters. Shim's are not a good idea to use for any headspace. I do not have expirence yet with the 22 barrels, though I have seen shims used causing accuracy issues. Barrel torque will play more affect on accuracy with a tight headspaced barrel. Talking with Manson reamers, the 22 Bentz chamber was designed to give just enough engraving on a Lapua Center X or Midas + Ammo, yet allow extraction still. Headspaced at minimum. Barrel torqued to 70-80#. Im nearly done with my RimX build to give this a shot
I try to minimize that by using 1 or the minimum amount of shims required to get it headspaced. I havent heard any complaints about using a barrel shim, like what lilja uses, but i have heard issues with guys shimming their bolts to adjust headspace.
One thing I've noticed that's often missing from these grouping videos is any consideration for shooter and target consistency. You're not going to get accurate representative group size measurements without either a very accurate shooter on the trigger or a super stable one-piece rest. You also need to make sure your target isn't bobbing around in the wind like it was in this video. Most folks are going to dial in their headspace through trial and error without taking actual measurements, so they'll need to remove as many of the other variables as possible to get accurate test results.
I'm wondering if a tighter headspace will reduce the variances in ammo, like CCI, which seems to shoot well in some guns, but not consistent enough for match quality? In other words, for ammo that varies more than match ammo. because of inconsistency of things like primer charge, brass, powder, and/or lead? Maybe do a similar video with CCI SV, or Federal. Automatch.
For accuracy, I would think you would like the head-space as tight as possible. The problem being that if the head-space is too tight, the primer may ignite when the action is closed. So, the head-space should be closed up until there is a slight closing resistance. But since rim thickness will vary, you could still get a primer ignition when the action is closed. Therefore, one should increase the head-space by one thousands. It would be safer to increase the head-space by two thousands - etc. Successful ignition of the primer is based on the hammer and anvil concept. When you have excessive head space, the rim of the cartridge may not be against the anvil when struck by the firing pin which, on occasion, may result in an imperfect ignition of the primer. So, you do not want excessive head-space.
All and all, the standard .043 inch head-space usually recommended is probably best in most cases. I like that you ran this experiment, but when the wind started blowing your target back and forth, you were just wasting ammunition.
Agree and rim thickness across brands of ammo is not the same. I run a tighter headspace with eley as its a thinner rim thickness. .043 is a good starting point. I wouldnt recommend running headspace tight enough to compress the rim on bolt close.
I'm trying to relate this to sorting ammo by rim thickness and am drawing a blank. My issue is essentially the reverse, a fixed headspace in the gun with varying headspace due to rim thickness. Especially in 10/22's, this has a marked impact on accuracy, less so in the 457 as it seems to "crunch" the cartridge into a set space and equalizes the variations in ammunition to a great extent.
In every production rifle you will get a variance in tolerance between receivers and barrels. Im just trying to get the headspace ideal for the ammo im shooting. Appreciate you watching
Awesome video. I do have a question. Do you think the groups opened up on the top targets because of a cold bore? I love the way you play with settings living up to your channel name.
A problem I run into with every Lilja Barreled 457 action is this: The barrel hits the front of the bolt guide when there aren't enough shims in place. Just something I have ran into with three Lilja barreled 457's, especially when I set headspace at 0.039 or 0.038 for Tenex or ELEY Match. You can't fit a 0.001 feeler gauge and there are rub marks on both guide and breech. Does this effect accuracy? idk. Is this interference's viber-rayshuns repeatable? Probably not. Did the thought of knowing my bolt guide rubbing the barrel breech pop up in my mind every single time my groups were over 0.6" @ 100yd? ABSOLUTELY. And now it's not and that's all that matters to ME. I can now live with an moa group at 100 because I can blame it on the wind or ammo or something besides that interference.
Thats interesting. I could set mine in without any shims and still contact the shoulder of the receiver. The IBI is such a tight fit I needed to loosen the bolt guide to even get the barrel installed.
Is Eley Match and Tennex more prone to light strikes? At.043 head space and most but not a brands of ammo now eject. Now experience failure to fire. While firing pin imprint is substantial, occasionally I get a dud and won't eject. If fires on rechamber then ejection. Over 4000 rounds on bolt. Never removed firing pin.
Very informational, thanks. What are your thoughts on shimming the bolt? Do you have any data that could compare shimming the bolt vs. shimming the barrel?
I know you did this video earlier in the year, but I'm just watching it now. I have some minor criticisms if you don't mind. First, this is the kind of test that would be best done indoors at 50 yards, if you have access to such a range. It was clear that the wind was changing on you. Also, what is the rim thickness of the ammunition you're using? Average, extreme spread, standard deviation. From what I can tell, 22LR head spaces on the rim. So the ideal situation is when the bolt closes, the gap between the breach face and barrel face equal the rim thickness. Tighter would compress the rim (I know that is obvious) and looser would allow a tiny bit of slop. This leaves me with more questions than I can ask in this format. Either way, your shooting was excellent.
I dont have access to an indoor range and am a firm believer in testing in the enviornment the rifle gets shot in and with the gear its gonna be using. But yeah more or less you want to get headspace close to rim thickness without compressing the rim but thats not always the most accurate. Rimfire has a lot of black magic to it haha
@@PursuitofAccuracy I bet it does! It's just that with the groups shot, I wouldn't be able to say with confidence that one was best by something other than chance. Small differences could be due to wind changes rather than the headspace.
@@Fudmottin on the day of testing im always looking for little to no wind. You can tell pretty quickly when its stringing vertically its not a wind issue. No test is going to be perfect. I have seen a rifoe and ammo hammer tiny groups in a test facility tunnel and shoot like pure crap at their location
@@PursuitofAccuracy Well you were the one pulling the trigger. You probably picked the best headspace to go with. I'm just saying that if you showed me those targets without any context, I may not pick the one you went with. Probably something close though as you did have trends on some of them. I'm probably over thinking things.
@@Fudmottin nah i get what your saying. A lot of it is a feel thing. Even when i lot test sometimes i pick a larger grouping lot that may be more consistent
The differences between the groups are too small to be sure which head space is the best. The test would be much better if it was done at a 50 yard indoor range to eliminate errors due to the wind. The real world is not a good place to do this test.
Well to do it "properly" you'd also want to do at least 10 5 shot groups per headspace, and start each set of 10 with a cleaned barrel and 10 fouling shots. And it could also be that different ammo likes different headspace too, so you'd have to repeat the test with as many different boxes of sorted ammo as possible.
Exactly, a controlled environment is key to any accuracy test I don't know why these fools do accuracy tests outside that is the biggest joke I've ever heard
There is a relationship between head space and rim thickness. The spec for 22lr rim thickness is .043 -.007. My CCI sv thickness varies between .040 to .043 If i sort and choose. 042 only . What headspace do i choose.
Josh in between changing the shims the barrel cooled down? Notice on the top first five they opened up and on the bottom they tightened up. So would it be wise to give it a little foreplay and shoot a few first to warm it up? Also I notice there was a little constant breeze as you did mention.
Same I tried the whole sorting thing but didn't see enough improvement in cheap ammo to do it. Its cool you can set the head space with the Lilja barrel with shims
Started at .042, shot 28 different brands & lots with no issues. Repeated at .041 Match ammo (Lapua, Eley and even Federal) shot fine, but less expensive 22lr like CCI would not extract. Would you suggest going back to .042? Bolt closes fine.
@@PursuitofAccuracy Not sure of it’s effect on accuracy yet. Your video suggests less headspace might shoot tighter groups. Retested better ammo. Groups might be tighter, but today everything shoot better (all indoor). Trouble is more difference between lots than among brands. Once I find a good one CC and Killough are out of supply. Still it would be nice to shoot less expensive and not worry about ftf.
New challenge.....more extraction issues. Perhaps you or others could offer explanation...... Head space at 0.043 and now experiencing more failures to extract (fte). Even Tennex fte 3 times in 10 rounds. What am I missing? Never missed a best before the new barrel. Lilja barrel has now seen 510 rounds but action has seen 4210 rounds. All fte now with match grade ammo were AFTER firing. No problem when cycling a clip of UNfired ammo? Note, problem started after trying 0.041 head space. Today I disassembled the 2 extractors and retainer clip to throughly clean and dry that portion of the bolt. Cycles the tennex that I mentioned for the clip but have not gotten back to the range to test fire-cycle yet. Any constructive suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance.
Good video. I know this isn't apples to apples comparison but my Savage 6.5CM shot better and better with smaller chamber headspace and did so consistently. So much to the point of me leaving it small and cycling my reloads through the rifle. My bolt won't close on some factory rounds and I am just fine with that. My loads are all I want in it anyway...
@@PursuitofAccuracy Another question... After you've settled on a headspace, how does budget target ammo run, e.g. CCI SV, in the gun? Does it still chamber and extract properly?
Help me understand. I thought the headspace for a .22 rimfire was based on the rim of the cartridge. So wouldn't it apply the the recess in the bolt. Atleast that is what I thought on my 1022 ruger.
You mentioned you would drop a link to your video on how you did your Lilja head spacing, i did a search and could not find it . Could you please tell me what is the name of that video?
Thanks for the test, very interesting. How tight of a hold do you use with this rifle? Just wondering, I have to grip mine pretty tight to get consistent groups.
my question is': seen and considered that as soon as he starts firing there is always the first distant shot, but the barrel is heated? Then do you shoot the same type of cartridges consecutively? (in jargon waxing) ...
I always fire fouling shots if im switching ammo. Most times i run 5-10 to aclimate the barrel and as long as i dont change ammo i dont fire any more fouling shots
My MTR bolt is very tight when closing and it has been ever since I got it. I assumed it was because of a match chamber. I see you working the bolt with ease and I don't have that at all. There's no way of keeping in the glass when working this bolt and I'm sure that's not right...
I just received my new Lilja barrel and man was it tight going into the receiver. I'm worried I'll have a hard time getting it out to change shims, what was the best way you found to remove the barrel? Thanks 👍
Thanks for the great videos. I have a question but don’t know if a better place to ask it. Do you ever have issues extracting fired rounds out of your Lilja? I have a Lilja fitted up on my 455 and it occasionally has issues extracting fired rounds. Thanks.
I know I'm a year late but just make sure your extractors didn't get mixed up after disassembly of the bolt if you happened to tear down for cleaning while installing your new barrel. The ejection port side ejector has a slightly sharper hook to pull the brass out and one time I had mine backwards and had all kinds of ejection issues. Not sure if this was the case with yours but lmk if you ever got it figured out please.
Would you take the bolt out and measure the depth of the recess to the bolt face firing pin hole. Then explain how you can reduce the headspace below that dimension. What your video actually shows is you have probably reached the minimum head space at about 42 thou. After than all you have achieved is forcing the bolt to lock harder against the chamber face. That gap / recess in the bolt hasn’t got any smaller. So it’s still 42 - 43 thou even thou you think you’ve shimmed it at 39. Just not possible. There’s another variable and that’s the under rim to base of cartridge measurement. Note you cannot just micrometer the rim without taking into account the radius from the case cylinder. Head space does make a difference so what you need to do is remove metal from the mating bolt edge to reduce that recess. Then you could use the shims to adjust the space. However you need some headspace gauges to measure and be very careful you don’t get crush fires.
Josh, it's been a while since this video. It seemed like there was a lot going on in it. Wind, barrel cool down while changing headspace, target moving some... Just wondering if you ever concluded on an optimum headspace? I just ordered a Lilja for my CZ. I tend to prefer SK ammo. Did you find a headspace that worked best for SK to be different than Eley? What headspace did you settle on?
I would say this was more a factor of wind then headspace. Even just having the backboard more rigid would have made a difference. Frankly, I thought tighter headspace would have been more accurate to a point. Love the premise, not so much the execution. All your videos are interesting and entertaining, thank you.
Tighter headspace doesnt necessarily equate to tighter groups and often is ammo dependant as different brands run thinner or thicker rim thickness. The target board movement, while noticeable on camera doesnt actually change much in the way of aiming point as it moves slightly in the wind, a big movement does. Since then i built a 50 yard target stand and it does not move. Thanks for the comment
Hey man. I, just getting into reloading .22. Ive been reloading for about 20 years,,,,,, but how do you measure headspace on a straight wall .22 lr bullet?
22lr headspaces off of the rim. You can get a pretty solid estimate of your rifles headspace if you measure the rim of a round, then fire the same round and measure again. Subtract the prefired measurement from the fired brass measurement. The result should be your rifles headspace.
Josh, as you were shooting, the target was actually moving die to the wind. Even if the shot was almost spot on the previous shot, the moving target essentially nullified the the ability to measure the precision.
The camera exagerates the movement and from the shooters perspective its not really moving the poi from poa. Regardless after this I made a new target stand to eliminate any movement on the target
I don’t mean this as an insult but I saw what someone said it could have been the wind… there was one where you opened up and the target was moving a lot. I think it was the third. Honestly from your video i would say there was no difference. I think either the top groups are off because the changes needed a few shots after each time similar to what you did at the beginning or something. I also wanted to mention that the savage b22 has adjustable headspace as well. I know you hate that rifle but just throwing it out there. I watched where you had extractor issues and I watched this a couple days later, you said some ammo gave you extraction issues on this rifle unless it was a certain headspace. Maybe that savage had the headspace off from the factory.
I have tested this several times and while there isnt tremendous changes the lilja on my rifle does have a preference of headspace. Im not sure about the savage but I dont know any way to adjust the headspace on the savage. The lilja comes with shims to shim the barrel tenon to change headspace. Not insulted at all. Each rifle and barrel is going to be a unique situation with rimfire. Also I dont really hate savages I just dont particurally enjoy shooting them
Seems to me that "all" you are doing is adjusting for the rim thickness from the manufacturer, so perhaps, before you fit shims, you should select, from the ammo that shoots best, identical rim thicknesses THEN add the shim ? Just asking, in no way am I picking for a fight :)
Yeah that is a great way to do it. I typically run eley so i set mine to work best for it. But your exactly right, it will be ammo specific in most cases
I may have been .001 - .002 off based on accuracy of the depth gauge etc. You can compress the rim by mechanical force of closing the bolt however. Not that I suggest running down that far but it is possible.
Great video! What was your shim combination on .045 & .044 headspace? I also have a lilja barrel on my 457 trainer and have mine set up at .040 headspace also. Im using a .004" & .002" shim combination
The lilja is more consistently accurate across all ammo i have tried. The MTR barrel can be as accurate but is a ton more picky about the ammo it will shoot
As soon as you said you were going to do the spacing off camera I turned your video completely off. That's half the right reason why we watch these videos is for eyes/hands-on experience and for people to teach us things
The issue is youtube. We have to adhere to their policies and terms of service. Wish it wasnt the case but its just the way it is right now unfortunately
@@danielhanson4326 you can't measure headspace with a caliper very well. Im using a depth gauge to set initial headspace and then using progressively less shim for the barrel 1 thou at a time. So very little measuring on my part vs some middle school addition and subtraction coming in clutch
Now you give me Heartburn of a different sort....way past age 70 thinking I knew it all "YOU ": come along and start teaching me things I never knew. Keep it up , I and my Saturday morning Breakfast Pals love discussing the new things we learned this week...Thanks from Central Texas
Awesome I appreciate it!
Hi Josh, Great video. I just put a new barrel on my Walther KK 500. To me it seems like you had to dance with 3 numbers for the install. 1. Head space 2. Shoulder depth and 3. Bolt face to barrel face clearance. I spent the time to understand what those numbers were before i removed the old barrel. This proved to be very helpful.
Thanks my friend for your videos.
Josh, thanks for taking the time to do all of this work to show how headspace affects accuracy. I appreciate it. Blessings
I like the way you tested, one variable at a time...thats what i do when i test
Great channel, interesting results
Good video! I checked my Lilja shank length after rechecking calibration on depth gauge. I was 1.198” two thousands off the listed 1.200”. That being the case I went with the new number and did the math. I set up for .041. It worked well with Tenex and did a .244 5shot 4 group average at 50
Nice
Very nice glad you secured the target board.
Thank you. I wish you had the crono on so we could watch sd and es numbers for a more detailed study.
Very interesting test, thanks Josh!
Np brother
Fiy. I used a 18 inch lothar barrel on mine didn't have the shim option but it shoots incredibly good. Great video. Impressed by your content.
Thank you
Strictly speaking the first two groups shot with the 0.045 heads pace was at an advantage to the others in that you fired a group to warm the barrel then immediately proceeded with those two groups. When you changed the headspace the barrel cooled but it appeared you went straight into the groups without warming the barrel again. I would also do this testing from some sort of jig / clamp to take human error out of the equation. Another aspect to try would be to measure the headspace on the rounds and sort them into different groups and then shoot groups with the same measured headspace. From my experience even Tenex has varying headspace measurements. Thoroughly enjoy your video's. Keep up the great content.
Thanks A.C
I agree with everything you said. I would also add that, in my experience, any wind that can move the target makes testing worthless.
You are becoming my favorite quick. I like my CZs but we only have sporter style gun matches where I’m at.
Thanks so much. That sucks brother
Thanks for the upload. I didn't even know you could change the headspace in a 22.
No problem. Its on changeable on certain barrels unless you get a gunsmith to custom fit the barrel for you
Like all your casts . Keep it up
Thanks
I got my Lilja barrel in. Thank you for this video and the instalation video, helped out a lot. Edited 😆
Awesome, glad to hear it
Headspace affects ALL calibers accuracy. Ive got a headspace comparator i use for 4 different calibers and matching headspace makes a WORLD of difference.
Thank You for telling me about them just ordered 1
Thanks for watching
Good test! Thanks!
Awesome content man, im in. Subbed. Love my CZ 457 LRP.
I really appreciate it.
It seems like maybe the second five in the mag shot better than the first five?
I’d love to see this excellent trial repeated using five shot magazines.
Thanks for doing this experiment.
Regards
Robert
( just bought a CZ 575 😊)
Good insightful video, as always. Never a waste of time checking in here and looking over your shoulder. I'm jealous of all the trigger time you get to squeeze in. Going to have to try harder to do the same. LOL
Haha yeah its definitely a lot of fun pulling the trigger. Can get expensive at times too 🤣🤣
@@PursuitofAccuracy Yeah, no doubt on the expense. That's a fine shooting rifle you have there; y'all make a great team. Really enjoy your videos!
From what I was told with the local 22 target shooters. Shim's are not a good idea to use for any headspace. I do not have expirence yet with the 22 barrels, though I have seen shims used causing accuracy issues. Barrel torque will play more affect on accuracy with a tight headspaced barrel. Talking with Manson reamers, the 22 Bentz chamber was designed to give just enough engraving on a Lapua Center X or Midas + Ammo, yet allow extraction still. Headspaced at minimum. Barrel torqued to 70-80#. Im nearly done with my RimX build to give this a shot
I try to minimize that by using 1 or the minimum amount of shims required to get it headspaced. I havent heard any complaints about using a barrel shim, like what lilja uses, but i have heard issues with guys shimming their bolts to adjust headspace.
thanx for the info. i would go with the .44 consistency is important, might add a tuner tough
One thing I've noticed that's often missing from these grouping videos is any consideration for shooter and target consistency. You're not going to get accurate representative group size measurements without either a very accurate shooter on the trigger or a super stable one-piece rest. You also need to make sure your target isn't bobbing around in the wind like it was in this video.
Most folks are going to dial in their headspace through trial and error without taking actual measurements, so they'll need to remove as many of the other variables as possible to get accurate test results.
I'm wondering if a tighter headspace will reduce the variances in ammo, like CCI, which seems to shoot well in some guns, but not consistent enough for match quality?
In other words, for ammo that varies more than match ammo. because of inconsistency of things like primer charge, brass, powder, and/or lead?
Maybe do a similar video with CCI SV, or Federal. Automatch.
Great content. I watch all your videos, two thumbs up.
Thanks
For accuracy, I would think you would like the head-space as tight as possible.
The problem being that if the head-space is too tight, the primer may ignite when the action is closed.
So, the head-space should be closed up until there is a slight closing resistance.
But since rim thickness will vary, you could still get a primer ignition when the action is closed.
Therefore, one should increase the head-space by one thousands.
It would be safer to increase the head-space by two thousands - etc.
Successful ignition of the primer is based on the hammer and anvil concept.
When you have excessive head space, the rim of the cartridge may not be against the anvil when struck by the firing pin which, on occasion, may result in an imperfect ignition of the primer.
So, you do not want excessive head-space.
All and all, the standard .043 inch head-space usually recommended is probably best in most cases.
I like that you ran this experiment, but when the wind started blowing your target back and forth, you were just wasting ammunition.
Agree and rim thickness across brands of ammo is not the same. I run a tighter headspace with eley as its a thinner rim thickness.
.043 is a good starting point.
I wouldnt recommend running headspace tight enough to compress the rim on bolt close.
Loving this content. Keep it up!! 👍🏻👍🏻
Appreciate it
Great Video Josh ? where can I get that cheek riser
I'm trying to relate this to sorting ammo by rim thickness and am drawing a blank. My issue is essentially the reverse, a fixed headspace in the gun with varying headspace due to rim thickness. Especially in 10/22's, this has a marked impact on accuracy, less so in the 457 as it seems to "crunch" the cartridge into a set space and equalizes the variations in ammunition to a great extent.
In every production rifle you will get a variance in tolerance between receivers and barrels.
Im just trying to get the headspace ideal for the ammo im shooting.
Appreciate you watching
Awesome video. I do have a question. Do you think the groups opened up on the top targets because of a cold bore? I love the way you play with settings living up to your channel name.
A problem I run into with every Lilja Barreled 457 action is this: The barrel hits the front of the bolt guide when there aren't enough shims in place. Just something I have ran into with three Lilja barreled 457's, especially when I set headspace at 0.039 or 0.038 for Tenex or ELEY Match. You can't fit a 0.001 feeler gauge and there are rub marks on both guide and breech.
Does this effect accuracy? idk.
Is this interference's viber-rayshuns repeatable? Probably not.
Did the thought of knowing my bolt guide rubbing the barrel breech pop up in my mind every single time my groups were over 0.6" @ 100yd? ABSOLUTELY. And now it's not and that's all that matters to ME. I can now live with an moa group at 100 because I can blame it on the wind or ammo or something besides that interference.
Thats interesting. I could set mine in without any shims and still contact the shoulder of the receiver.
The IBI is such a tight fit I needed to loosen the bolt guide to even get the barrel installed.
Good shooting , much fun !
Thanks
Josh what tool are you using to measure your receiver/bolt depth?
Thanks Dave
Great video. Thank you. What torque were you using on the stock to receiver each time. To keep everything consistent ?
Its been quite a while so im not 100% positive but most likely 25-30 in lbs
@@PursuitofAccuracy Thank you
Is Eley Match and Tennex more prone to light strikes? At.043 head space and most but not a brands of ammo now eject. Now experience failure to fire. While firing pin imprint is substantial, occasionally I get a dud and won't eject. If fires on rechamber then ejection. Over 4000 rounds on bolt. Never removed firing pin.
Not really more prone but it has a thinner rim thickness so if your on the edge going to eley can have more light strikes
Very informational, thanks. What are your thoughts on shimming the bolt? Do you have any data that could compare shimming the bolt vs. shimming the barrel?
Ive never used the bolt shims. The barrel shims are easier but both accomplish the same goal
Hey Josh! Have you done any action torque testing on that rifle? What are you setting the action torque to on that CZ?
It changes depending on what stock or chassis im running it in
@@PursuitofAccuracy I was curious specifically about the factory MTR wood stock.
@@WodenRenztil 25 in lbs is what im typically running on the mtr.
I know you did this video earlier in the year, but I'm just watching it now. I have some minor criticisms if you don't mind. First, this is the kind of test that would be best done indoors at 50 yards, if you have access to such a range. It was clear that the wind was changing on you. Also, what is the rim thickness of the ammunition you're using? Average, extreme spread, standard deviation. From what I can tell, 22LR head spaces on the rim. So the ideal situation is when the bolt closes, the gap between the breach face and barrel face equal the rim thickness. Tighter would compress the rim (I know that is obvious) and looser would allow a tiny bit of slop. This leaves me with more questions than I can ask in this format. Either way, your shooting was excellent.
I dont have access to an indoor range and am a firm believer in testing in the enviornment the rifle gets shot in and with the gear its gonna be using.
But yeah more or less you want to get headspace close to rim thickness without compressing the rim but thats not always the most accurate.
Rimfire has a lot of black magic to it haha
@@PursuitofAccuracy I bet it does! It's just that with the groups shot, I wouldn't be able to say with confidence that one was best by something other than chance. Small differences could be due to wind changes rather than the headspace.
@@Fudmottin on the day of testing im always looking for little to no wind. You can tell pretty quickly when its stringing vertically its not a wind issue.
No test is going to be perfect. I have seen a rifoe and ammo hammer tiny groups in a test facility tunnel and shoot like pure crap at their location
@@PursuitofAccuracy Well you were the one pulling the trigger. You probably picked the best headspace to go with. I'm just saying that if you showed me those targets without any context, I may not pick the one you went with. Probably something close though as you did have trends on some of them. I'm probably over thinking things.
@@Fudmottin nah i get what your saying. A lot of it is a feel thing. Even when i lot test sometimes i pick a larger grouping lot that may be more consistent
Have you tried headspace shims on the B14r yet? The topic came up on the fakebook B14r page today, so I was looking for more shimming info.
I havent
The differences between the groups are too small to be sure which head space is the best. The test would be much better if it was done at a 50 yard indoor range to eliminate errors due to the wind. The real world is not a good place to do this test.
Well to do it "properly" you'd also want to do at least 10 5 shot groups per headspace, and start each set of 10 with a cleaned barrel and 10 fouling shots.
And it could also be that different ammo likes different headspace too, so you'd have to repeat the test with as many different boxes of sorted ammo as possible.
True but I guess like most of us he has to live in the real world
Exactly, a controlled environment is key to any accuracy test I don't know why these fools do accuracy tests outside that is the biggest joke I've ever heard
@@LaughingMan44 isn't it funny how we have to tell the RUclipsr how to make their own videos because obviously they don't know what they're doing
@@caseykelso1 I’m impressed! You’re just one smart S. O. B. What other life lessons do you have?
There is a relationship between head space and rim thickness.
The spec for 22lr rim thickness is .043 -.007.
My CCI sv thickness varies between .040 to .043
If i sort and choose. 042 only . What headspace do i choose.
Josh in between changing the shims the barrel cooled down? Notice on the top first five they opened up and on the bottom they tightened up. So would it be wise to give it a little foreplay and shoot a few first to warm it up? Also I notice there was a little constant breeze as you did mention.
Yeah i think that could help. Overall ive seen most rifles are pretty happy in a ballpark vs a specific headspace
For comparison, What is the headspace, as it comes from the factory, with the MTR Match barrel?
It's gonna vary gun to gun by a thou or more I'm betting
Josh do you have your shim installation video available ?
Thanks Dave
I took it down because of youtube policies. I will re upload now that the smoke cleared
Josh,
What was the rim thickness of the ammo?
great content…..as an cz457 varmint mtr owner, i’m really liking your cheek rest….which one is it?
Victor titan
Good vid Josh. Wonder if sorting by rim thickness and playing with headspace would show any more improvement
I doubt sorting would improve it enough for it to be noticed testing outdoors
Thanks brother
Same I tried the whole sorting thing but didn't see enough improvement in cheap ammo to do it. Its cool you can set the head space with the Lilja barrel with shims
@@holdleftedgeandsendit9351 yeah huge benefit of that barrel for sure.
Started at .042, shot 28 different brands & lots with no issues. Repeated at .041 Match ammo (Lapua, Eley and even Federal) shot fine, but less expensive 22lr like CCI would not extract. Would you suggest going back to .042? Bolt closes fine.
Yeah wont hurt
@@PursuitofAccuracy Not sure of it’s effect on accuracy yet. Your video suggests less headspace might shoot tighter groups.
Retested better ammo. Groups might be tighter, but today everything shoot better (all indoor). Trouble is more difference between lots than among brands. Once I find a good one CC and Killough are out of supply.
Still it would be nice to shoot less expensive and not worry about ftf.
@@jwschroeder804 yeah if you cant get a solid supply of one type of ammo id leave it at .042 so it shoots everything
Starting to appear that Eley likes .041 better than .043, and Lapua okay with .042-.043. Do you See similar results??
New challenge.....more extraction issues. Perhaps you or others could offer explanation......
Head space at 0.043 and now experiencing more failures to extract (fte). Even Tennex fte 3 times in 10 rounds.
What am I missing? Never missed a best before the new barrel.
Lilja barrel has now seen 510 rounds but action has seen 4210 rounds. All fte now with match grade ammo were AFTER firing. No problem when cycling a clip of UNfired ammo? Note, problem started after trying 0.041 head space.
Today I disassembled the 2 extractors and retainer clip to throughly clean and dry that portion of the bolt. Cycles the tennex that I mentioned for the clip but have not gotten back to the range to test fire-cycle yet.
Any constructive suggestions are welcome.
Thanks in advance.
Good video. I know this isn't apples to apples comparison but my Savage 6.5CM shot better and better with smaller chamber headspace and did so consistently. So much to the point of me leaving it small and cycling my reloads through the rifle. My bolt won't close on some factory rounds and I am just fine with that. My loads are all I want in it anyway...
It’s amazing what that little amount does with accuracy. Love my mtr there lights out straight out the box
Yeah rimfires are a special kind of picky about all sorts of things
Can't find any link in the description to find out the process of changing head space size?
Yeah you'll have youtube policy to thank for that
Great content. What kind of chamber is cut in the Lilja barrel?
I havent gotten a 100% answer but eley chamber is what I have been told. It also shoots eley exceptionally so it makes sense
@@PursuitofAccuracy Another question... After you've settled on a headspace, how does budget target ammo run, e.g. CCI SV, in the gun? Does it still chamber and extract properly?
How did you get the bolt action so smooth
Shooting thousands of rounds through that action
Help me understand. I thought the headspace for a .22 rimfire was based on the rim of the cartridge. So wouldn't it apply the the recess in the bolt. Atleast that is what I thought on my 1022 ruger.
Its a combo of bolt face recess to barrel
You mentioned you would drop a link to your video on how you did your Lilja head spacing, i did a search and could not find it . Could you please tell me what is the name of that video?
I had the video but youtube went kind of nuts on those kind of videos so i deleted it before getting a channel strike
Ever do the rim thickness thingy, or bullet total weight?
I have but didnt get consistent results
I just have a few 10/22's IV built...but great video ..if I ever have money for a REAL .22 ..LOL
Lol thanks. All of em are fun
What do you think about shimming the bolt vs the barrel?
I prefer the barrel
Thanks for the test, very interesting. How tight of a hold do you use with this rifle? Just wondering, I have to grip mine pretty tight to get consistent groups.
I dont really hold it that firmly. Moderate cheek pressure and minimal firing hand pressure
@@PursuitofAccuracy Thanks for the response. I try to catch your videos ASAP.
Do you know what headspace is on the factory barrel?
What happened to your CZ/lilja how to headspace video?
RUclips was giving out channel strikes like candy so I removed it
@@PursuitofAccuracy That was the best cz headspace video
my question is': seen and considered that as soon as he starts firing there is always the first distant shot, but the barrel is heated? Then do you shoot the same type of cartridges consecutively? (in jargon waxing) ...
I always fire fouling shots if im switching ammo. Most times i run 5-10 to aclimate the barrel and as long as i dont change ammo i dont fire any more fouling shots
My MTR bolt is very tight when closing and it has been ever since I got it. I assumed it was because of a match chamber. I see you working the bolt with ease and I don't have that at all. There's no way of keeping in the glass when working this bolt and I'm sure that's not right...
Is it hard to close even on an empty chamber?
What ammo
empty chamber is fine, every ammo I've tried from norma tac, aguila, SK, eley, wolf match and bulk like fed auto match@@PursuitofAccuracy
@@PursuitofAccuracy empty is fine. Every ammo I’ve tried from Aguila and auto-match and Norma tac to SK and Eley.
I just received my new Lilja barrel and man was it tight going into the receiver. I'm worried I'll have a hard time getting it out to change shims, what was the best way you found to remove the barrel? Thanks 👍
If barrel is tight sticking it in the freezer can help.
If your struggling to get it out etc little bit of ice in the barrel shank will help
@Pursuit of Accuracy thanks for the tip 👍
Thanks for the great videos. I have a question but don’t know if a better place to ask it. Do you ever have issues extracting fired rounds out of your Lilja? I have a Lilja fitted up on my 455 and it occasionally has issues extracting fired rounds. Thanks.
I know I'm a year late but just make sure your extractors didn't get mixed up after disassembly of the bolt if you happened to tear down for cleaning while installing your new barrel. The ejection port side ejector has a slightly sharper hook to pull the brass out and one time I had mine backwards and had all kinds of ejection issues. Not sure if this was the case with yours but lmk if you ever got it figured out please.
Where did you find that cheek weld piece on the 457? Looking for something to replace my scuba suit special cut neoprene DIY
Victor titan. I bought it online
Do you have the yodave bolt spring installed?
I do not
I too live in NC and have a CZ 457MTR and just getting to the point of modification. Did you bed the action or just keep it resting on the pillars?
I havent bedded it yet
Which ammo has been your best so far through the lilja barrel. Was it eley match?
Yeah eley match.
Are the shims put in the bolt ?
Would you take the bolt out and measure the depth of the recess to the bolt face firing pin hole. Then explain how you can reduce the headspace below that dimension. What your video actually shows is you have probably reached the minimum head space at about 42 thou. After than all you have achieved is forcing the bolt to lock harder against the chamber face. That gap / recess in the bolt hasn’t got any smaller. So it’s still 42 - 43 thou even thou you think you’ve shimmed it at 39. Just not possible. There’s another variable and that’s the under rim to base of cartridge measurement. Note you cannot just micrometer the rim without taking into account the radius from the case cylinder. Head space does make a difference so what you need to do is remove metal from the mating bolt edge to reduce that recess. Then you could use the shims to adjust the space. However you need some headspace gauges to measure and be very careful you don’t get crush fires.
Bolt face recess is .034
What is the cheek rest you have on the stock. I have a 457 MTR and I would like to look into getting a cheek rest like yours.
Victor titan
Josh, it's been a while since this video. It seemed like there was a lot going on in it. Wind, barrel cool down while changing headspace, target moving some... Just wondering if you ever concluded on an optimum headspace? I just ordered a Lilja for my CZ. I tend to prefer SK ammo. Did you find a headspace that worked best for SK to be different than Eley? What headspace did you settle on?
For sk your gonna want to be around .043
I would say this was more a factor of wind then headspace. Even just having the backboard more rigid would have made a difference. Frankly, I thought tighter headspace would have been more accurate to a point. Love the premise, not so much the execution. All your videos are interesting and entertaining, thank you.
Tighter headspace doesnt necessarily equate to tighter groups and often is ammo dependant as different brands run thinner or thicker rim thickness.
The target board movement, while noticeable on camera doesnt actually change much in the way of aiming point as it moves slightly in the wind, a big movement does.
Since then i built a 50 yard target stand and it does not move.
Thanks for the comment
Wow, that was quick! Thanks for your videos
@@stevecorey57 no problem. I try and respond to all my comments. Hope you have caught some of my more recent videos
THAN is the correct word. Not "THEN"
@@kwikshooter1 good catch
Hey man. I, just getting into reloading .22. Ive been reloading for about 20 years,,,,,, but how do you measure
headspace on a straight wall .22 lr bullet?
22lr headspaces off of the rim. You can get a pretty solid estimate of your rifles headspace if you measure the rim of a round, then fire the same round and measure again. Subtract the prefired measurement from the fired brass measurement. The result should be your rifles headspace.
How do you change the head space?
Josh, as you were shooting, the target was actually moving die to the wind. Even if the shot was almost spot on the previous shot, the moving target essentially nullified the the ability to measure the precision.
I made a target board for 50 that doesnt move.
The results in the video were the same with subsequent testing since then
@@PursuitofAccuracy Great. Also, I do love watching your videos. I wish more creators did videos like yours.
Hey just curious. Do you notice a significant difference between head space on a CZ MTR barrel and a standard CZ 457 barrel
Being a production rifle your gonna see some slight differences but i dont think there is any change in tenon lenth between the two
I think the Massive movement of the target negates any information you get from changing the shims!
The camera exagerates the movement and from the shooters perspective its not really moving the poi from poa.
Regardless after this I made a new target stand to eliminate any movement on the target
I don’t mean this as an insult but I saw what someone said it could have been the wind… there was one where you opened up and the target was moving a lot. I think it was the third. Honestly from your video i would say there was no difference. I think either the top groups are off because the changes needed a few shots after each time similar to what you did at the beginning or something.
I also wanted to mention that the savage b22 has adjustable headspace as well. I know you hate that rifle but just throwing it out there. I watched where you had extractor issues and I watched this a couple days later, you said some ammo gave you extraction issues on this rifle unless it was a certain headspace. Maybe that savage had the headspace off from the factory.
I have tested this several times and while there isnt tremendous changes the lilja on my rifle does have a preference of headspace.
Im not sure about the savage but I dont know any way to adjust the headspace on the savage. The lilja comes with shims to shim the barrel tenon to change headspace.
Not insulted at all. Each rifle and barrel is going to be a unique situation with rimfire.
Also I dont really hate savages I just dont particurally enjoy shooting them
@@PursuitofAccuracy I respect that. You definitely seem to do your homework so I don’t doubt you did further testing. 👍
Seems to me that "all" you are doing is adjusting for the rim thickness from the manufacturer, so perhaps, before you fit shims, you should select, from the ammo that shoots best, identical rim thicknesses THEN add the shim ?
Just asking, in no way am I picking for a fight :)
Yeah that is a great way to do it.
I typically run eley so i set mine to work best for it. But your exactly right, it will be ammo specific in most cases
@@PursuitofAccuracy deep respect..
AFFECT is the correct word.
Thanks
Your target flapping in the breeze will open up your groups far more than a headspace change.
It looks more severe on camera than it actually is
If you accurately check the rim thickness on Lapua Center X, You will discover a .039 headspace is not possible with Center X.
I may have been .001 - .002 off based on accuracy of the depth gauge etc.
You can compress the rim by mechanical force of closing the bolt however.
Not that I suggest running down that far but it is possible.
What has been the rim thickness based off of your measurements?
Atta boy!
You are getting at least a half inch increase in your group size from the wind blowing your target around.
Long since been fixed but thanks for the comment
Great video! What was your shim combination on .045 & .044 headspace? I also have a lilja barrel on my 457 trainer and have mine set up at .040 headspace also. Im using a .004" & .002" shim combination
For mine i needed .005 and .004 for 45 and .005 and .003 for 44
Can you see a difference in accuracy between cz mtr barrel and lilja barrel?
The lilja is more consistently accurate across all ammo i have tried. The MTR barrel can be as accurate but is a ton more picky about the ammo it will shoot
GOOD SHOOTING, where we came from shooting like that was called “ Being vulgar “. SHOOT SAFE!!!!!!!
Thanks for the comment
The targets moves way too much for this test and 10 shots is not enough for the level of precision searched
As soon as you said you were going to do the spacing off camera I turned your video completely off. That's half the right reason why we watch these videos is for eyes/hands-on experience and for people to teach us things
The issue is youtube. We have to adhere to their policies and terms of service. Wish it wasnt the case but its just the way it is right now unfortunately
The moving target keeps distracting me. can't be accurate.
AFFECT.....not EFFECT.
Yeah yeah yeah, i made a spelling error, i get it lol
Worthless test in the wind!
Can't control mother nature
Yawn!. Too boring. Speed it all up and show us the results. Thanks
Maybe it's getting worse because the winds flop.In the target around what do you think
@@danielhanson4326 the target movement is exxagerated by the angle of the camera. But after doing these tests multiple times my findings stay the same
Are you sure you know how to read that caliper?Because the thickness of a dollar bill is seven thousand
@@danielhanson4326 you can't measure headspace with a caliper very well. Im using a depth gauge to set initial headspace and then using progressively less shim for the barrel 1 thou at a time. So very little measuring on my part vs some middle school addition and subtraction coming in clutch
.11 mm