Everything is not a head space, all gages are not head space gages. The distance from the bolt face to the face of the barrel on a Mauser is case head protrusion, then there is unsupported case head. With few exceptions the case head protrusion from a Mauser barrel is .110" +/- a few.How ever there is another headspace issue which can be really bad. That is the distance from bolt face to barrel face. If that is too wide you can get a head separation and much gas and pressure let loose in the action,
In the perfect world and the smith/reloader had a go-gage case head protrusion on a 98 type Mauser would be .115". The extra .005" would be caused by head clearance as in the difference between the length of the chamber from the shoulder to the bolt face and the length of the case from the shoulder of the case to the case head.
"Hatcher said" has always been the beginning of a very boring story. The advancing of the shoulder (story) started with an 03, and I always ask: "Where are the 03 experts", finally someone read the book and understood there was a test 1, test 2 and test 3, the 1917 was test 3. Hatcher had nothing to gain by advancing the shoulder until the shoulder no longer existed. In a real world effort he had nothing to gain by advancing the shoulder beyond .080" I have always referred to the chamber as the 30/06 Hatcher +.080" Wildcat . Hatcher became a wildcatter/fire former by simply pulling the trigger.
When I pull the trigger I eject once fired cases, had Hatcher scribed the case body/shoulder juncture of his 30/06 cases he would have know the case shoulder was erased and became part of the case body, he would have know part of the neck became part of the shoulder, he would also have the case shortened from the end of the neck to the case head but lengthen from the shoulder to the case head. Had he measured the length of the case before firing from the shoulder to the case head and again after firing he would have know the length of the chamber from the shoulder to the bolt face. I form cases to fit from the shoulder of the case to the case head before firing. I am not the fan of short cases that do not cover the chamber. When forming cases for wildcats. 35 Whelen and 338-06 my cases shorten as much as .045". I form cases from 280 Remington cases, the 280 Remington is .051" longer from the case head to the shoulder and longer from the mouth of the case to the case head than the 30/06.
F. Guffey