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When you get a new Savage, do you go through some "break-in" process ;ie shoot , clean, shoot , clean, ect.ect. OR do you just "load and shoot" not stopping to clean till later / till you get home ??
Can't decide weather to do a short barrel break in to smooth out any machine marks or just go straight to HbN treated bullets.
run a couple dry patches, shoot 5-10, clean it, shoot 150-200, clean it, foul it, load dev....
My break-in process is as follows:
1. Clean bore as soon as I get it home after purchase.
2. Take it to range and shoot the piss out of it until the accuracy starts tapering off or I run out of ammo.
3. Bring it home and give the bore a thorough cleaning
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 until it's shot out.
5. Replace barrel and repeat steps 1-4.
In other words, I don't believe in all the barrel break-in nonsense.
Best break in process is killing dinner!!!
Wipe it down. Load ammo. Get it zero'd at 100. Go kill deer. Wipe it down, run a couple patches, repeat next deer season. Ha ha..Quote:
Originally Posted by txrob5150
From Savage FAQ they offer this:
Although there may be different schools of thought on barrel break-in, this is what Precision Shooting Magazine recommends:
STEP 1 (repeated 10 times)
- Fire one round
- Push wet patches soaked with a powder solvent through the bore
- Push a brush through the bore (5 times in each direction)
- Push dry patches through the bore (2 times)
- Push wet patches soaked with a copper solvent through the bore
- Push a brush through the bore (5 times in each direction)
- Push dry patches through the bore (2 times)
- Push a patch with 2 drops of oil through the bore
STEP 2 (repeated 5 times)
- Fire a 3 shot group
- Repeat the cleaning procedure from STEP 1 after each group
STEP 3 (repeat 5 times)
- Fire a 5 shot group
- Repeat the cleaning procedure from STEP 1
They recommend the use of a patch with 2 drops of oil after the cleaning so that you are not shooting with a dry bore. It is also advisable to use a powder solvent and copper solvent from the same manufacturer to be sure they are chemically compatible.
I agree with J. Baker.
I have 7 Savages, all bought new, and they all shoot great.
When I got them, I cleaned out the bore and then shot then just the snot out of them on our 100 yard range.
I wore one .308 barrel out after 6,500 rounds and then got a new barrel, cleaned it and shot over 4,000 rounds through its replacement.
It shoots better than the first barrel and has averaged 0.452 for 1632 5-round groups.
My other .308 Savage, also with no break-in procedure, averaged 0.455 for 215 5-round groups.
I have three Savages in 6.5mm Creedmoor. I never broke any of them in and they all average under 0.4 inches for 5 round groups. The best one, and the last one purchased, averages 0.348 after 339 5 round groups, the first one (bearing the brunt of figuring out the loading idiosyncrasies of the 6.5mm) has averaged 0.364 for 529 5-round groups, and the 2nd one (with a shorter 24-inch barrel) averaged 0.383 for 175 groups.
My latest .223 Savage with no break-in averages 0.298 for 350 5-round groups. Admittedly, it shoots 69 and 77 grain bullets better than anything else and with bullets under 69 grains the average is 0.392 for 29 5-round groups. With 69 and 77 grain bullets, it averages 0.283 for 315 groups. Overall averages show all the warts for any rifle when compared to the weights it shoots best.
Each Savage rifle took about 25 rounds to begin to really shoot accurately and then each became very consistent and shot better than this 'nut behind their triggers' could ever achieve. My break-in is to shoot the rifle until it begins to group consistently and then get on with it. The group averages listed are for all the groups measured with each rifle with all powder-bullet combinations even the initial few. All of these rifles have a best powder-bullet combination average that is about 0.050 smaller that the averages listed. The best 10 loads for each rifle have averages that are 0.060 to 0.080 smaller than the overall averages. For the .223, the heavier 69 and 77 grain bullets shoot more than 0.1 inch smaller groups on average. Part of that is due to being able to seat the heavier bullet out to minimize jump. The lighter, shorter bullets can't be seated out anywhere near the rifling because they would be almost out of the case neck.
I don't shoot at long distances because at 76, it is too much bother to drive several hours in Northern VA traffic to get to a 600-1000 yard range.
At 100 to 200 yards, I can't see any reason to get over zealous on break-in.
I might be more concerned about barrel break-in if I could shoot at 600-1000 yards like charlie-b out in New Mexico.
I have a buddy I'm going to send this to. He will be a nervous wreck the next time he gets a new rifle knowing this information! He's the same guy that didn't drive over 55 mph for 500 miles to properly break in the Dana rear-end on his 2016 3500HD Duramax. lol....Quote:
Originally Posted by charlie b
Ask different people, get different answers.
Some people like fords, some people like chevys. (and some prefer Jeeps)
I break in all my new barrels. I use a copper and carbon cleaner such as butches bore shine or MC-7.
I clean the new barrel with a couple patches before I shoot it. I then shoot one and clean for the first 5 rounds. then I shoot 5 and clean for the next 15, for a total of 20 rounds. I then shoot normally after that.
It makes a world of difference in how easily the barrel cleans and you can tell the difference when pushing the patches through the bore. It is a lot smoother.
I never put up a dirty gun. For someone who shoots every day, or every weekend on a regular schedule, I could see not cleaning between range trips.
But for me, when I shoot a gun, it could be a week till I shoot it again, or it could be a month, or could be a year, sometimes even multiple years. So I always want a clean and protected gun and bore.
Preposterous. Everyone knows that the first two times you brush the bore in Step 1 you have to do the first three only from breech to muzzle and then the third is halted just after the bristles enter the cartridge neck area and reversed and THEN you do two additional strokes in each direction. Then the next eight repetitions are as the above describes.Quote:
Originally Posted by charlie b
And nowhere does he mention that the muzzle must be facing East throughout the whole process. Amateur.
Normally I clean a new rifle bore with Carb Cleaner (I use Berkebile 2+2 Gum Cutter - do not get anywhere near a oil finished wood stock) to remove any machine oils or dried protectant oils/varnish. But then I just oil for storage and before heading out to shoot run a dry patch or brush (to remove dust, moths, spiders & such). ;-)
When I was a green ear. Noob. I let a guy I trusted put a copper brush on a rod in a drill scrub my bore with copper solvent.
It cleaned it and looked good. Shot even better.
Not sure I would go that route now but it worked.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
ROFLMAO
I didn't say I agree with Savage, just that is what they recommend.
Me? I do it my way :) I've never broken in a barrel yet, but, it also has taken over 200 rounds for my barrels to start to shoot really well.
Best copper remover I've found is KG12. For general cleaning Ed's Red.
For you guys who don't do any break-in routine, is that for any barrel or do you treat a good aftermarket barrel differently than a factory barrel?
The best barrel I ever bought was carbide swaged and did not require any special break-in to be butter smooth. It came that way. Factory barrels - some had more chatter and machine marks that it took thousands of rounds to smooth them out . . . and by then the throat was eroded.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill2905
One of the most accurate barrels I have shot (still have it) was pitted before I bought it. Takes a long time too clean (clear cotton patches), but shoots well whether it is clean or not.
Look at the groups, not the barrel. ;-)
That's really the issue. Many of these factory barrels shoot really well, even with all the machine marks left in the barrel. If you look in there you would be shocked that a barrel that rough could shoot well. But, they do.
My Axis is pretty accurate, good enough for .5moa on a regular basis. But, if I clean all the copper out it shoots poorly until I put 10 or 20 rounds through it.
The bottom line is if it shoots good enough for you then leave it alone.
I had a Savage 308 once that was uncanny in that respect. After a "squeaky clean" barrel cleaning the rifle would shoot fair. At round 11 things came together and it was extremely accurate.Quote:
But, if I clean all the copper out it shoots poorly until I put 10 or 20 rounds through it.
Here's John Krieger's take on it -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d0-FOEpAuw