Headspace Your Weapon 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
This is a personal account of a winner to be. This story took place in 1991. I was at the local rifle range, and our boy was there with his newly rebarreled AR-15. (semi-auto only M-16) As we were talking, I asked him if he had checked the headspace on his weapon before he test fires it. He said that, he didn't need to as the parts are all machined identical, and because of that, there is no need.
At the time, I was a military armorer. By the book, we are to check headspace every time we change barrels, bolts, and bolt carriers. Headspace is the clearance allowed to properly chamber the cartridge. If it is too short, the bolt will not lock, and cause an explosion. If too long, it will result in ruptured shell casings.
I told our boy this, and he refused my advice. He then inserted a full 30 round magazine into the weapon, chambered the first round, took aim, and fired. The headspace was too short! The unlocked bolt came rearward allowing the cartridge to explode. Fragments then punctured and ignited the next cartridge, and the next, until all the rounds had exploded. The explosion destroyed the magazine well, and took a chunk out of the upper reciever as well. I was suprized that our boy did not even recieve a scratch. I guess it did hurt him a bit in the pocketbook as a replacement would have cost him $700. Submitted on 06/18/2003
Submitted by:
Anonymous
Reference:
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