breaking in 700 sps .308?

[slickest]

Should have my rifle in 3-5 days. have a 700 sps varmint .308 ordered. I'm just curious whats the proper way of breaking in a rifle? Also if you could what would you suggest for some good factory rounds that i should be able to get good groupings from? i was thinking some black hills gold in 155gr a-max or some magtech 150gr fmj's. Im really curious to see what other suggestions their is also.

thanks,Adam

[beemanbeme]

Good question with several answers.  First off, take your rifle apart and clean it. Make sure there are no wood or metal chips lurking around nor parts rubbing that shouldn't and everything is snug. And put a little drop of oil here and there. Clean the bore just as if you had come in from a firing session. If you're mounting a scope, spray a little Brake Kleen or such on a Qtip and clean any oil from the mounting holes in the rifle and the various screw holes on your mounts. As you mount the scope, use a little Lok Tite or fingernail polish on the screw threads.

If it were my rifle, after I had cleaned the bore and before I mounted the scope, I would follow directions and give the bore 500 strokes with JB Paste.  Then I would just shoot the rifle. I would start my load development. I would clean it only at the end of a range session or when I felt accuracy was falling off during a session.  I would be very careful about heat. At no time would I let the barrel get so hot that I couldn't pick it up by the barrel.  This will bring shrieks from a lot of folks but it works for me. I find the barrels copper less and clean up quickly.  People will tell you that a barrel needs to have a couple of hundred rounds thru it before it starts shooting its best. I bypass that by smoothing the barrel with the JB Paste before I shoot it.

Now some other folks can tell you how they do it and you can pick the one that you think suits you best.

[jvs]

Depending on your Rate of Twist, your .308 should like a round weighing between 150gr and 168gr best.  There is also a slight chance that it may like 180 gr better.

Odss are it will be in the 150gr area for the .308.

I am curious, why do you want to shoot FMJ's?  That is not one of the better hunting rounds for expansion, although it will be the least expensive.  It is my opinion that FMJ's are more for plinking than for hunting. 

Others may disagree.

[slickest]

This is going to be a target and hunting rifle. Im just looking to see what the best idea is where to start for brand/grain/and bullet type of ammo. I would like to just shoot the same ammo all the time so im not set on fmj's just the ones i seen had a good price.

Any other suggestions on breaking in the rifle and for ammo guys? I was kind of actually looking at some winchester ammo to start out with also since it seems to get great reviews.

[bigjeepman]

Depending on your Rate of Twist, your .308 should like a round weighing between 150gr and 168gr best.  There is also a slight chance that it may like 180 gr better.

Odss are it will be in the 150gr area for the .308.

I am curious, why do you want to shoot FMJ's?  That is not one of the better hunting rounds for expansion, although it will be the least expensive.  It is my opinion that FMJ's are more for plinking than for hunting. 

Others may disagree.

I couldn't agree more. For me, I wouldn't use a fmj for anything ...

bjm

[jvs]

I was kind of actually looking at some winchester ammo to start out with also since it seems to get great reviews.

Any time you read a Review you should use the information as a Guide, not as Law.  Most of the time they are written by Self Appointed Brown Nosers and have nothing to do with how any ammo will shoot from your rifle.  They same goes with rifle reviews.

When I buy factory ammo I settle with Remington, Federal or Winchester Premium.  I am familiar with the performance and results.  And since Remington and Winchester offer many different Premium variations of bullets at different costs, as does Winchester, the options are close to Hand Loading.  Federal is the Low Cost Leader in my area.

As far as breaking in a barrel......I have never worried about that. 

When it is sighted in, it's ready.

[beemanbeme]

There have probably been more deer killed with a Remington Core Lokt bullet than all the rest combined.
While we're on the subject of cheap: Why don't you spring for a Lee Loader and a Lee Auto Prime?  A few components and a plastic mallet and in short order you can be loading ammo that's better and cheaper than anything you can buy. At today's ammo prices, it wouldn't take too many boxes of ammo to come up with the under $100 bucks it'd take to get started.
And we'd be here to answer any questions you'd have. 

[crash87]

I actually quite surprised you haven't been chastised for wanting to break in a barrel. There are a lot of non-believers out there, most of whom have NOT ever tried the concept. My way, short of using the LBT method of lapping the bore is to fire a shot, clean- fire a shot, clean, etc. The purpose is to smooooth out any rough spots in the bore or, burnish it, if you will. How many shots is up to you 25 to 50 is not out of line. The thing to remember, is to get all the fouling out, copper and otherwise, from the bore after "every" shot. This is done by wrapping a patch tightly around a undersize brass brush, with J-B bore paste and giving it about 50 strokes. If it starts to feel loose wrap another patch around it. Go through it then with an ammonia based solvent if you want to see if the copper is all out. Then, get all the solvent out, run a slightly oiled patch through to lubricate for the next round and go fire a shot, Repeat. Plan on killing an afternoon. In the end you will have a bore that will not foul as badly and it will be a snap to clean, completely getting out all the copper fouling. If cost is a factor (and it always is) buy some cheap fmj for the break in, I really don't see where that would matter. Your basically shooting them into a backsop anyway. CRASH87

[slickest]

While we're on the subject of cheap: Why don't you spring for a Lee Loader and a Lee Auto Prime?  A few components and a plastic mallet and in short order you can be loading ammo that's better and cheaper than anything you can buy.

I'm going to buy the components to reload this summer. probably in July or something but its not that big of concern to me right now. When i do buy the the equipment to reload I'm going to rcbs press, electric scale, tumbler, and so on. I just want to buy everything i need in one shot then i don't have to deal with it again.

thanks for the help  guys, keep the info coming

p.s. this is a little off topic but i am a 3rd year union plumber apprentice and the guy at orders material at our shop told us that he got a call from one of are wholesalers and told us that all carbon steel pipe and welded fittings doubled in price last week.

[Freezer]

    I like the three shot method.  Three shots then clean the barrel.  I prefer this method because yous barrel will never get too hot or foul bad even if there are some rough sport in it.   J-B is good and the solvent I prefer is Hoppes Bench rest.  It's a little more expensive than Hoppes #9 but it's worth it.  Copper fouling will be blue on patch, if there's any blue on a patch keep cleaning.  For break in non corrosive surplus ammo is fine.  50 or so rounds should do the trick, my NEF took over 100 rounds before it started to tighten up it's groups. My personal theroy for rough barrels and dirty rifles from the factory is;  for every penny  they put into the gun they have to charge six cents more to the customer. 

[jvs]

There have probably been more deer killed with a Remington Core Lokt bullet than all the rest combined.

I agree with this 100%.  When you hit something with the Business End of a RN CoreLokt, there isn't much else that needs to be done.  While CoreLokt's aren't known to be the most accurate load there is, they are probably one of the most productive low cost factory loads.  A real winner from Remington, IMO.

I have seen some down right nasty exit wounds on deer hit with my .35 Rem and 200gr RN CoreLokt's.  I hit a 60 lb male Coyote once at about 50 yds with a .35 Rem 200 gr RN CoreLokt while hunting deer.   I hit a rib going in and blew his Heart right out of his chest.   

He is now one of the nicest Mounts I have.

Last Fall I ran into a deal on .308 Federal Power-Shok 150 gr for $8.99 a box, which now-a-days is roughly ¾ the cost of CoreLokts.  I bought a case and I intend to try this load in my VTR.  IF the VTR doesn't like it, I can still try a 673 and a M-70 Featherweight. 

You should be able to find something your rifle likes.

[jnclement]

Shoot it. When accuracy drops off, clean it.

Before the internet, barrel break-in was largely unknown outside of competition circles, and most of the top barrel makes didn't have a procedure for it. Some of them came up with a break in procedure due solely to customer demands for one.

And I remember when the Core-lokt WAS the premium bullet.