Be careful, theirs some important male parts in that vicinity.

In all seriousness, I can understand wanting to not have your face behind the action if you are concerned.

There are different ways to fire a rifle, I have heard of folks sand bagging them and shooting them with a long string.

I think the "headspace" holocaust is way over blown, I've fired nearly 200 rifles over the last 10 years with it held right up to my face, yet I don't swim in the ocean due to sharks.

Your safety so do as you see fit.

Mike

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Charter Member Family Firearms & Finishes Fan Club

IOWA-Birth Place of John Wayne

There's more than one way to skin a cat, waiting till they are completely dead is the safest!

You know, I always kind of thought that, but I don't have enough experience to claim it outright, having only fired 15 or so different milsurps... So just in case, my typical first shot with any milsurp typically involves a barrel and bore and bolt head inspection, and then fired from the hip with my eyes closed, wearing leather gloves, a hockey mask and two ballistic-rated cups... Always gets me a few weird looks at the range...

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Il est dangereux d’avoir raison dans des choses où des hommes accrédités ont tort.
-Voltaire

It had a matching serial # when it left the factory.

The bolt has three locking lugs doubtful there would be a catastrophic failure unless you used the wrong ammo or a hand loaded round with a double charge of powder.

A rifle with bad head space will shoot shotgun patterns not groups. In other words it would be very inaccurate.

Shoot a 5 shot group and see how tight the group is and inspect the fired brass. If you get a good group (4" or less) the head space is ok and if you get fliers all over the place get a field head space gauge and inspect the muzzle crown for damage.

All else fail, a small piece of clay or anything that smuches into a small ball on the back of a piece of brass, close the bolt and see how thin the material is. Others have used a layer or two of tape.

Use a known good rifle for reference if you are worried or to see the thinness.

NO this is not recommended before all the purists and politically correct garage gunsmiths, and real gunsmiths start yelling and this gets spread to other boards out of context. It's only to GIVE an idea if you need to take it to the emergency room or not.

Caution, if you are not experienced with milsurps, cleaning, and checking them out, there is no substitute for a good gunsmith but beware they might not have head space gauges for your beloved milsurps odd caliber.

Ed

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Learn from your mistakes and move on with life
SMSgt USAF 1972-1995 Lifetime NRA, DAV, AFA, AFSA Ham Radio N5ECH

Good advise.
I would add that if the bolt is original and serial # matching , with a bore that passes the bullet test and the bore is visibly in good condition with no visible rust or debris in the grooves the risk would be very small indeed.

Just got the rifle home, I will post pictures under a new title when I get the chance after work.

It's got "dou" on the receiver, so apparently it's czech. all crests have been ground off, although it's sprinkled with the tiny nazi eagle proof stamps. I am thinking it's an RC for the following reasons, feel free to correct me:

The bolt has been "re-serialed" with an electro-pencil to match the reciever number. The reciever number has also been stamped on the left of the butt stock.

Although the sight hood is still there (could've been added by anyone I'm thinking) the cleaning rod and capture screw are gone.

its got the shellac that everyone hates, but I couldn't care less about as long as it's not chipping off...

Only thing is, I find no "x" on the receiver as I hear I am supposed to with a russian capture.

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Il est dangereux d’avoir raison dans des choses où des hommes accrédités ont tort.
-Voltaire

The RC's may have X'ed out numbers or they may not. The shellack is one indication of being a RC. It's very easy to remove and than do a blo bath to the stock.

Cleaning rods and capture screws abound on evil bay, take your time and you can get a good buy. $10 cleaning rod not $23.

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Well work for ammo

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