Never thought much about Barrel break in, until now !

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mark slavinski

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Just got a Christensen Mesa in 300WM. I always do my own version of bbl break in which is very consistant to CA. I own three CA rifles which were all shooters right out of the box, no break in really needed. I started with a load, got it zeroed then cleaned. shot another load 3" at 100 and cleaned. Shot another different load , 3" then cleaned. Went through several bullets, powder, cleaning and everything shot about 3"…..after about 50 rds, I cleaned and was really frustrated and ready to send back to CA. i figured a had better send some factory rounds down range to make sure it wasn't me Before I called them. Had a partial box of hornady superformance 150 GMX on hand so shot a group with them getting a 4" group at 100. Had some PPU 180 gn SP tried a group with them and got a 3" group. Have a buddy with some Hornady 180 sst superformance and got a 4" group with them. Now I am ready to send the rifle back. Cleaned it again then dwelled on it for a while. I now have about 60 rds down the bbl and thought I need to try some heavies so loaded up some 208 ELDM's and got a 1/2" group. Had to be a fluke so shot another group and got 1/2". Went back to 178 ELDX and got a 1/2" group! Tried three other bullets and everything is now shooting 1/2-3/4" groups! All of a sudden I have a rifle that shoots that I was ready to send back….never experienced anything like this, CA says it takes 50-60 rds to break in the bbl, this is the first time this has ever happened to me. Guess you are never too old to learn!
 
I'd double check the torque on the action screws and scope rings and bases. That's an unrealistic drastic change in group size. "Breaking In" a barrel wouldn't cause that IMO. Even if that barrel was chambered and rifled absolutely terribly, you would have seen a slow decrease in group size. Not a 3" to 1/2" from one group to the next. Something is off for sure.
 
Huntnful said:
I'd double check the torque on the action screws and scope rings and bases. That's an unrealistic drastic change in group size. "Breaking In" a barrel wouldn't cause that IMO. Even if that barrel was chambered and rifled absolutely terribly, you would have seen a slow decrease in group size. Not a 3" to 1/2" from one group to the next. Something is off for sure.
Click to expand...
Agreed. That's seems fishy to me and not just a barrel break-in shift. I believe those have a factory installed brake? If so, make sure it's tight as well. The good news is that it's shooting for you now!
 
Huntnful said:
EXCELLENT point! I've had a loose brake throw me for a loop before lol.
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Yep, same. I had a brake that was just slightly loose after a cleaning session and it caused groups to open up. The other thing that I see people do frequently is to allow the front sling stud to contact the rest or shooting bag during recoil. It's amazing how far a rifle will throw shots if the front stud is snagging on the rest or front bag. The rear stud can have a similar effect although usually not as profound as the front stud.
 
mark slavinski said:
Just got a Christensen Mesa in 300WM. I always do my own version of bbl break in which is very consistant to CA. I own three CA rifles which were all shooters right out of the box, no break in really needed. I started with a load, got it zeroed then cleaned. shot another load 3" at 100 and cleaned. Shot another different load , 3" then cleaned. Went through several bullets, powder, cleaning and everything shot about 3"…..after about 50 rds, I cleaned and was really frustrated and ready to send back to CA. i figured a had better send some factory rounds down range to make sure it wasn't me Before I called them. Had a partial box of hornady superformance 150 GMX on hand so shot a group with them getting a 4" group at 100. Had some PPU 180 gn SP tried a group with them and got a 3" group. Have a buddy with some Hornady 180 sst superformance and got a 4" group with them. Now I am ready to send the rifle back. Cleaned it again then dwelled on it for a while. I now have about 60 rds down the bbl and thought I need to try some heavies so loaded up some 208 ELDM's and got a 1/2" group. Had to be a fluke so shot another group and got 1/2". Went back to 178 ELDX and got a 1/2" group! Tried three other bullets and everything is now shooting 1/2-3/4" groups! All of a sudden I have a rifle that shoots that I was ready to send back….never experienced anything like this, CA says it takes 50-60 rds to break in the bbl, this is the first time this has ever happened to me. Guess you are never too old to learn!
Click to expand...
I had a shilen match barrel that took 150 rounds!!! went from 1 1/2" down to 1/2" - gradually.
 
Many rifles prefer heavier bullets or lighter bullets.
I had a 300WSM that would NOT shoot anything light worth a darn, but really liked the heavier bullets.

My bet is that it is the bullet and not break-in of the barrel.
 

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