Barrel Break in

[Co243Win]

I just got my new 280 rem. I was reading the barrel break in thread. Is there any thing different for a stainless steel barrel? This is the first one that i have owned and don't want to jack it it. Also any one have any good loads that the want to share with me. I want to try some 140 or 160.Thanks Nic

 

[jmad_81]

Well I didn't use to do it and now I do just to be sure I'm not screwing anything up.

I shoot one and clean ten times. I then move on to shoot five three shot groups, and clean in between. After that I go to three five shot groups, cleaning in between. After the break in I take some JB borepaste and scrub the crap out of the barrel. It also helps to smooth things out a bit. Then I start load development.

Some people think I'm wasting bullets, and some people brak theirs in more than I do. Six of one and a half dozen of the other.

 

[DrMike]

Nic,

Avoid shooting the rifle hot and keep it clean until you know how it is going to shoot. I break in all my rifles, about half of which are stainless. I find I get what some consider to be exceptional barrel life by doing so, and I am convinced that I get better accuracy more quickly. The barrel bread-in thread is essentially the procedure that I use.

 

[6mm Remington]

I just got my new 280 rem. I was reading the barrel break in thread. Is there any thing different for a stainless steel barrel? This is the first one that i have owned and don't want to jack it it. Also any one have any good loads that the want to share with me. I want to try some 140 or 160.Thanks Nic

Congratulations on the .280 Remington. That is one of my all time favorites! I need to desperately replace the one I sold as I am having serious withdrawls. What is your new .280 in? Make & Model?

Just me but I would take the action out of the stock and thoroughly clean off the light coating of cosmoline they put on them and then wipe all the metal with Birchwood Casey's Barricade lightly sprayed onto a paper towel. I would then check to make sure the barrel channel and the action cut-out areas all had finish on them if you don't plan on having the rifle glass bedded or pillar bedded right away. (Mute point if your rifle has a synthetic stock with the aluminum bedding block) If it is a wood stock and you do not plan on having it glass bedded and even if you do, I would mask the barrel channel clear back to the rear tang screw so I did not get anything on the stock finish and I would then most likely spray a couple light coats of a good quality spray finish in the action channel just to make sure this area is sealed very well so it won't soak up moisture. I would then check and make sure the action fits in snug and is not loose and also does not have to be beaten with a rubber mallet to seat it into the stock. Tighten the screws up as the book calls for and you would be good. I would then clean the barrel with your favorite bore solvent and buy some rounds to shoot.

There are many slightly different manners to break in a barrel and they are all very similar and essentially the same with just slight variations. You can also e-mail Shilen or Douglas or one of the fine barrel makers and ask them what they recommend. Get it right from the horses mouth. Since you just put a scope on your rifle and you are basically breaking the barrel in, I would just buy a couple boxes of standard factory ammo and not get expensive Nosler Partition loads in Federal ammunition or something like that for the break-in. Just get some good standard ammunition from a reputable manufacturer. 40 rounds would be good. I assume your scope is all mounted and bore sighted and this is what I would do. Other's may do it differently, many correct ways to to do this with none of them really being wrong.

I would shoot at 25 yards with a 140 gr. factory load of your choice having two boxes of ammo on hand. I would have my cleaning gear with me at the range and plan on a nice long and leisurely session with my new RADD toy. Included in my cleaning kit would be a device called the PATCH HOG. It slips over the muzzle and has threads on the back end of it so you can screw on an empty water or 20oz pop bottle to catch your patches so they don't fall on the ground. Works great at home so you don't get solvent spraying out the end of your muzzle and getting on everything, and when you are finished you just screw the lid on the bottle and it keeps the smell and mess inside. You use the same bottle until it's too full of patches to use any more. AS you are bore sighted you should be close to hitting something, but I would start at 25 yards as I slowly am shooting and cleaning. I would fire one shot and clean with a few patches of solvent and then dry ones following. If needed, move the sights as you are doing this so you get it on at 25 yards. Shoot one more shot and clean. Repeat until you have 10 rounds one at a time with cleaning in between. Your barrel should not even be warm when you are finished with this part as you are taking plenty of time between the shots to clean. Getting a barrel hot is bad and I believe maybe more so when it is brand new and the bore hasn't been polished at all with the passing of bullets down the barrel. If after 4 shots you have her right on at 25 yards, then I would start my shooting at 100 yards.

I would continue to shoot one at a time and cleaning until I shot the 10 rounds, then I would start shooting three shot groups, waiting a couple minutes between shots especially if it's warm where you are doing this. After my three shot group I would clean and would adjust my point of impact so that it was right on and then would not mess with it any more. We really are looking for just shooting slowly and smoothly and not heating the barrel up to break it in and not overly concerned with group sizes at this point. Say it's hitting right on horizontally and is 1 inch high. Just concentrate on trying to see what kind of groups you are getting and if they are staying consistant and not wandering on you which might indicate a bedding problem with the stock touching the barrel, or the action being stressed/pressured in the action channel somehow. Shoot 3 shot groups and clean again. I would do this for the 30 rounds you have left of your ammo until it is gone. Now you have 40 rounds of brass to load for your rifle and you can work on your loads. The fun is just beginning!! Some might do just a few more rounds, say 50 rounds, and might also do 5 shot groups after putting say 9 three shot groups in the target. For me I like three. I really work on not getting the barrel any warmer than just mildly warm and make sure I clean the barrel after each three shot group. Some folks will also clean after 6 shots after a while, but I like cleaning after three rounds. Maybe the last ten rounds I have left I might do two 5-shot groups or two 6 shot groups and then clean.

Loads. The .280 is easy to load for and there are many bullets and combinations that work for it. For my rifle I used only 140 gr. Nosler Partitions or Accubonds. I used Winchester cases, Federal large rifle primers, and 54.0 grs. of IMR4350. This load chronographed at 2940 in the 22" barrel of my Remington Mountain Rifle. This load shot great so I never messed with it until right before I sold the rifle. The rifle was great, but I decided I wanted a .280 in another make and model and I haven't had the money to replace it yet :!: Right before I sold it though I began playing with H4831SC using Federal Large Rifle Magnum primers (It does get cold here in Montana and with H4831SC I worked my loads up using the magnum primers. Not necessary, but would not hurt anything either and SHOULD be a little more consitant when the temps were down in the zero or below range.) I was at 59.0 grs of H4831SC when I stopped my load development and the rifle went away. It appeard to have excellent potential and was printing great groups. Velocity was right at or just slightly higher than the IMR4350 load and the loads were essentially hitting same POI at 100 yards.

IMR4350 good powder.
H4831SC good powder.

Other on these sites have had excellent results with Reloder 17, 19, and 22 in the .280. I tried the Reloder 19 and did not care for it personally in MY rifle anyway. Good luck and have fun!

 

[rick smith]

my load; 150gr NBT, fed210M, 55.0grs IMR-4831, 0.015 off the lands. I am using Lapua 30/06 brass necked down. Works very well on deer and hogs.

For break-in, I first clean the barrel to remove any factory lubes. Fire one and clean looking for signs of copper fouling. If none or very little I will then fire two rounds and clean. I keep increasing the number of fired shots until I start to see build-up. Work from there. I have found there is not a set number of shots for every barrel. So I treat each as an individual.Rick.

 

[SJB358]

Rick, that is about what I do with a new barrel also. I think as long as you clean your barrel properly, you will get a ton of use out of most of them. Scotty