TL3/shouldered pre-fit issue

[Prophet1776]

Bought a zermatt action that had a carbon prefit 308 barrel on it. Went to the range MV was decent for a 16” barrel but the grouping was trash. I was also having issues with lite strikes on AB39 and my A tips. Put my foster go gauge in that went smooth. Put the “no go” gauge in and that closed smoothly as well. I used my Zermatt action wrench to pull the barrel off and reinstalled it to 70 foot lbs. checked the head space again and it closed smoothly on the no go gauge? I took the extractor off the bolt to seat the gauges. It does not close on the field gauge. I’m not new to PRS but I am new to building my rifles and to reloading. Would this cause the accuracy And lite strike issues? If so how can I fix this? Any help is appreciated.

 

[giumau1]

Origin/TL3 mismatch?

 

[cwinner]

It sure could cause light strikes...... you could measure a fired case against the no go gauge to see how much out of spec it is..... its good it won't close in a field gauge so it's not likely to rupture a case but it will stretch the brass a bit more than it should.

Don't know if this is factory or reloads from a previous barrel but once the brass is fire formed the light strikes should go away....

Post up your measurement, I think a filled gauge is usually quite a bit longer than the no go.

 

[JBoomhauer]

Origin/TL3 mismatch?

I would hope not.

Bolt wouldn’t close with a TL3 and an origin barrel.

Origin with a TL3 barrel and standard recoil lug would be .230 bolt face to barrel face instead of .130 and should be fairly obvious.

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

Take the Go gauge and add 2 layers of scotch tape the back of it and cut the tape so it is flush around the back of the gauge and doesn't stick out. Then see if it closes. If it does close like that without resistance, call Ray at Zermatt. He will want you to send in the whole BA and check it out for you. If you do, send your trigger and he will time it for you while it's there. Super good guy and top notch CS

It's probably just the gauge at one end of the tolerance and the headspace at the other, but if it closes with 2 pieces of tape on a Go (+.004") then I'd call Ray and discuss it with him.

 

[Oryx]

Was the barreled action purchased from a vendor or PX? Have you contacted the company that chambered and machined the blank? Definitely seems to be out of spec if torqued down and still closes on the no go

 

[nn8734]

Bought a zermatt action that had a proof carbon prefit 308 barrel on it. Went to the range MV was decent for a 16” barrel but the grouping was trash. I was also having issues with lite strikes on AB39 and my A tips. Put my foster go gauge in that went smooth. Put the “no go” gauge in and that closed smoothly as well. I used my Zermatt action wrench to pull the barrel off and reinstalled it to 70 foot lbs. checked the head space again and it closed smoothly on the no go gauge? I took the extractor off the bolt to seat the gauges. It does not close on the field gauge. I’m not new to PRS but I am new to building my rifles and to reloading. Would this cause the accuracy And lite strike issues? If so how can I fix this? Any help is appreciated.

Do you have a Hornady headspace comparator tool kit or similar tool and dial calipers? If so, use bushing D400 measure the case head to shoulder datum of your fired brass (remove spent primer first) and post the number. If not and you plan on reloading then that tool or something similar is a must have.

If it’s closing on the “no-go” but not closing on the field gauge, I suspect your chamber’s headspace is prob 1.636-1.640 which is on the higher side of saami 308 win / 7.62 nato.

ETA: Here’s the tool im referring to:

 

[Prophet1776]

Take the Go gauge and add 2 layers of scotch tape the back of it and cut the tape so it is flush around the back of the gauge and doesn't stick out. Then see if it closes. If it does close like that without resistance, call Ray at Zermatt. He will want you to send in the whole BA and check it out for you. If you do, send your trigger and he will time it for you while it's there. Super good guy and top notch CS

It's probably just the gauge at one end of the tolerance and the headspace at the other, but if it closes with 2 pieces of tape on a Go (+.004") then I'd call Ray and discuss it with him.

I appreciate it brother. I will try out

 

[Prophet1776]

Do you have a Hornady headspace comparator tool kit or similar tool and dial calipers? If so, use bushing D400 measure the case head to shoulder datum of your fired brass (remove spent primer first) and post the number. If not and you plan on reloading then that tool or something similar is a must have.

If it’s closing on the “no-go” but not closing on the field gauge, I suspect your chamber’s headspace is prob 1.636-1.640 which is on the higher side of saami 308 win / 7.62 nato.

ETA: Here’s the tool im referring to:
View attachment 8063748

I’ll have to get of those comparator. I appreciate it

 

[nn8734]

I’ll have to get of those comparator. I appreciate it

Yep, for sure. If you’re within saami (1.630-1.640) your rifle’s fine though many prefer a minimum headspace chamber on a precision rifle.

If you shoot a lot of .308 across multiple rifles and fairly regularly acquire new 308s it may be worth investing in a headspace gauge set like shown below, especially if you cant get reamer prints for any of the rifles…

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

I’ll have to get of those comparator. I appreciate it

Yeah it's a must have imo. But, if you haven't shot it then you won't have any brass to measure for that chamber. See how the tape does and if need be call Ray. He's awesome to deal with and a real expert. @Zermatt Arms

 

[nn8734]

Yeah it's a must have imo. But, if you haven't shot it then you won't have any brass to measure for that chamber. See how the tape does and if need be call Ray. He's awesome to deal with and a real expert. @Zermatt Arms

In his OP, he mentions shooting it and getting horrible groups. Hopefully he kept the fired brass…

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

In his OP, he mentions shooting it and getting horrible groups. Hopefully he kept the fired brass…

Oh you're right. My bad

 

[BWB]

If this is a PROOF Prefit Carbon barrel, my first phone call would be PROOF. I'm having a hard time understanding how this could have anything to do with the action...

 

[Zermatt Arms]

If this is a PROOF Prefit Carbon barrel, my first phone call would be PROOF. I'm having a hard time understanding how this could have anything to do with the action...

Tolerance stacking in an action makes it more likely that it's an issue with our product than PROOF's.

OP, like others have said, just shoot me an email. I'll get you a return label to send the BA in for inspection.

Thanks - Ray ([email protected])

 

[Prophet1776]

Tolerance stacking in an action makes it more likely that it's an issue with our product than PROOF's.

OP, like others have said, just shoot me an email. I'll get you a return label to send the BA in for inspection.

Thanks - Ray ([email protected])

I really appreciate it. I just emailed you.