Pre break in?

[PartsMan]

As some of the regulars know. I recently bought a new 700 chambered for 270 Winchester.
If the weather is nice enough i will shoot it for the first time tomorrow.

I have sanded the fore arm channel so that only the two pressure points are touching the barrel.
Also added a Half pound weight to the synthetic stock.
This evening I cleaned and oiled the rifle.

What do you guys do to your rifles before shooting them.
 

[DalesCarpentry]

PartsMan. I am sure many here would disagree with me on this but as you probably know I have a real tack driving 700 SPS Varmint 243. I have shot 3 shot groups at 300 yards that measure 7/8". The first thing I did with this rifle before it was ever fired clean it real well. Then I polished the barrel with Flitz. I gave it about 150 strokes or so and cleaned the mop a few times while doing so. I was careful not to polish the last 2" of the bore. I was told by someone not to so, so I did not. I can't say for sure if this really has anything to do with how well my rifle shoots because I did it before I ever fired it. I can say this though it sure did not hurt it any and it had to cut down on the break in time. Dale

[sniperVLS]

I run a patch of Shooters Choice thru, followed by a brush a few times thru, dry patches after that. Wipeout foam sitting for 30 minutes, remove. And either Iosso or JB bore paste, remove that real good, few patches of rem-oil, another dry patch to get any excess out and done. Sounds like a lot but other than drinking coffee and listening to music or cleaning other guns while the foam is sitting, takes but 10 minutes for the other stuff

I have done this with all my rifles in the past 15 years(minus the foam which hasn't been around that long) and all shoot well. I may be doing something quirky in that list but it works for me.

What do some of you do when shooting for the 1st time while at the range? Do any of you get to the point of cleaning every round for 10 rounds and shoot 3 and clean and yada yada?

I did a quick field cleaning after every 10 shots with the SPS-V when I got it, I did that 3 times and asked myself what the heck I was doing and stopped and just kept shooting Before that, I never cleaned while at the range. I put 62 rounds thru my VLS once until groups started opening up. Cleaning the copper out was, well you can imagine.... That barrel loves to be fouled though, shoots it's best when around 35 or so rounds, go figure.

I noticed with the SPS that after about 16 rounds, groups start opening up so just goes to show how different/finicky barrels can be 

[beemanbeme]

Watch your heat. Be sure and take it slow.  Take another rifle with you so you won't be tempted to rush between shots or groups. 

Dale, what was the reasoning for not polishing the last two inches of the barrel?  I have an idea (wag) but am wondering if you were given a reason.
Thx

[NONYA]

I buy 200 rounds of milsurp and go apeS^%$,soooo much fun!

[DalesCarpentry]

Watch your heat. Be sure and take it slow.  Take another rifle with you so you won't be tempted to rush between shots or groups. 

Dale, what was the reasoning for not polishing the last two inches of the barrel?  I have an idea (wag) but am wondering if you were given a reason.
Thx

The reason he said not to polish the last two inches was that the last two inches of rifling were the most important. I do not if this is true but that is the reason given. Dale

[beemanbeme]

I was wondering if he was avoiding the possibility of "belling" the rifling at the muzzle?  In the specialty shops they usually lap the barrels before they finish them. (and they go at it pretty aggressively) and then if they do bell them the chamber cleans up one end and they whack off the other end and crown it. I'm not familar with flitz. How abrasive is it?  I know the abrasives in JB Paste is much, much finer than the finest grit used in lapping a barrel.

[corbanzo]

I usually load my guns before I shoot them.

[PartsMan]

I usually load my guns before I shoot them.

 

I shot about a box through it yesterday. Did very well.
I posted a target on another thread.

[DalesCarpentry]

I was wondering if he was avoiding the possibility of "belling" the rifling at the muzzle?  In the specialty shops they usually lap the barrels before they finish them. (and they go at it pretty aggressively) and then if they do bell them the chamber cleans up one end and they whack off the other end and crown it. I'm not familar with flitz. How abrasive is it?  I know the abrasives in JB Paste is much, much finer than the finest grit used in lapping a barrel.

From what I am told Flitz is about the same as JB paste. Dale

[sniperVLS]

you did 150 strokes? and there's still rifling left? 

Dang, I get nervous after about 10 while cleaning. I heard it can do nasty things if overused, just an old wives tale? I tell ya what, using that white Iosso paste sure does open ones eyes. I sometimes think I have a clean barrel and the patches with the Iosso comes out very dirty. The JB does the same but seeing as it's brown, it doesn't show the junk as much as the Iosso. I may get bored later and do a few passes with JB to see if Kate is as clean as I thought.

[DalesCarpentry]

you did 150 strokes? and there's still rifling left? 

Dang, I get nervous after about 10 while cleaning. I heard it can do nasty things if overused, just an old wives tale? I tell ya what, using that white Iosso paste sure does open ones eyes. I sometimes think I have a clean barrel and the patches with the Iosso comes out very dirty. The JB does the same but seeing as it's brown, it doesn't show the junk as much as the Iosso. I may get bored later and do a few passes with JB to see if Kate is as clean as I thought.

I bet you would have to give it 100,000 strokes to wear the rifling out. It really is a very mild abrasive and you can not feel the abrasive in it when you rub it between your fingers. Dale

[beemanbeme]

I don't guess I should tell him that I routinely give my new rifles 500 strokes of JB before I start shooting them. 
In truth, assuming that Flitz is the same as JB paste, you are not lapping the barrel. As I said, the grit in JB is much finer than the finest grit used to lap a barrel. You are, in fact, more burnishing the barrel. Perhaps you could say you are polishing out the marks left by the lapping compound.  You're leaving less irregularities to catch copper and impede the bullet. 
All I know is it works for me.  After that kinda break in, I can shoot 50 rounds thru a target rifle without a fall off in accuracy (not that I'm that hot to begin with) and the barrel cleans up without a whole lot of Butch's.  You don't reckon I've got the barrel so opened up that the bullet ain't touching do you? 
I use Sweets for my Litmus test for copper. 

[sniperVLS]

Seriously? 500 strokes with JB before even shooting?

Do you patch it or use a brush? 500 though? 

[DalesCarpentry]

Before I flitz it I will run a brush through it a few time and then run patches through it till they come out clean. If he is like me he probably uses a bore mop. Dale