BA110 300 Win Mag - Barrel Break In

Hi All,

This is my first post here. I mainly hang out at The High Road and just read the Reloading forum. Since I got my first Savage BA110 LH in .300 Win Mag I decided to join the group.

I read the break in procedure on the Savage sight and wanted to see what other folks did to break in the barrel. I removed the Savage rail and have a Nightforce rail and NXS 5.5-25-50 Scope on it and it has been bore sighted. I will be shooting on level ground from a bench across a pond to a target that is 110 yards away.

I have a couple boxes of Federal Fusion with 190SMK. I am open to any suggestions on procedures and products. I have some J&B bore paste but have never used that. Honestly I am more of a center fire hand loader and collector than shooter. Since I have around $4800 in this rig I want to break it in properly. I welcome all feedback.

Thanks,


Steve
Wake Forest, NC

You do not want to go there!
You will find that some think it's required while others say its a waste of time and money, (50/50 split I'm guessing).
Perform a search if you dare.

I honestly wouldn't mess with the bore past. i would make sure the barrel is nice and clean before you start shooting. Maybe shoot and then remove the copper for the first 3 rounds or so then just shoot for awhile. heres a really good in depth video that may help you. I tend to agree with this guy for the most part. Sweet gun man, post some pics. I always thought if I were to get a BA it would be a win mag.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXf6oZzLYaY

I just bought a custom barrel. I will clean it well. After that I will shoot it and clean it normally.

I have read where some people claim they have improved their low end production bores by attempting to polish them. ???

So far, I do not feel I missed a problem I didn't have. ?

This is JMHO...Good Luck- Good Shooting...And Welcome to the Forum :-)...Jim

I had the same rifle and maybe I had a bad factory barrel cut with a dull tool because but after about 60-75 rounds it would foul bad enough that my groups would open up from one big hole to 2-3" at 300yds...I used the JB bore paste to lap it a little and it didn't help much...the barrel was VERY accurate but was a REAL PITA to clean. your rifle may be different/better as I have that Charlie brown kinda luck when it comes to most things.

my break in consists of...first cleaning the new barrel and then shoot 1 then clean and let the barrel tell me whats going on...if theres heavy copper ill shoot another round and clean if no or light copper ill shoot a 3 shot group then clean....if theres no or only light copper after the 3 shot group I will shoot 50 rounds or so and then clean....after that ill shoot until I start to see changes in groups...I don't look at this as a break in but more to tell me how the barrel fouls and when it will need to be cleaned....my last 260 barrel liked being fouled and only got cleaned every 4-500 rounds..my current 260 barrel shoots best clean so it gets cleaned every 150-200 rounds.

also the word "clean" has a different meaning to different ppl...a clean barrel to some is clean to metal or copper free...clean to me is when ALL carbon/soot is removed and I'm pulling very light blue patches.

like dave said everyone has their thoughts on cleaning and no one clean technic is right or wrong you just need to find which one works best for your barrel and every barrel is different...the only break ins I personally disagree with is the ones that have some set number of rounds you have to shoot and clean...IMHO shooting 50 rounds to break in a barrel is a waste of about 40 rounds of ammo and barrel life not to mention your day.

I do exactly the procedure outlined on the Savage site (http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/p...barrelbreakin/) and I'm in the camp of of those firm believers.
Kind of a drawn out process but I have had very good results with rifles that I have broken in this way. It sure aint gonna hurt.

http://bartleinbarrels.com/BreakInCleaning.htm
have the same rifle /calibre. really held copper for a 100 rounds or so then slowly began to get easier to clean. loves berger 230gr bullets 71 grs.h-1000