So I bought my first rifle a couple of weeks ago and just now got everything together (Scope, rings, mounts, cleaning kit, etc...). It's a Weatherby Mark V .30-06 with a Nikon Buckmasters scope. I am going to swing by Gander Mountain and have them mount and bore sight the scope then hit the range. I have some questions as I have never been to a range.
- What is a good range to go to near Jacksonville and how much, if any, does it normally cost?
- What is the proper way to break in a new barrell?
- I have heard about overheating a barrell. About how often should I shoot and how long should I let it rest?
what is meant by breaking in the bbl is realy conditioning, or polishing the inside of the bbl. get a 30-06 bore snake and run it thru the bbl after every 3 shots for the first few hundred rounds. there are new gun conditioning bullets but i can't remember the name, or conditioning products avail see midway.com. just let the bbl cool to the touch between shots.conditioning the rifle is easy. conditioning you to the gun takes alot longer. make sure it fits you properly. if you are tall or short the stock may need to be altered. also make sure the scope is not too close or too far away. close your eyes and shoulder the gun, open your eyes and you should have a clear view thru the scope, if not something needs adjustment.the scope needs to be the right height from the bbl and corect distance from your eye. good luck
I have heard and read so many different ways to break in a barrel it is just confusing. The general consensus is to just shoot it. One thing I am very big on is cleaning between every shot. At the range I bore snake between every shot and let the barrel cool.
In conjunction with your other thread, I prefer good factory ammo. I got away from the cheaper stuff and only will shoot Hornady SST or Barnes TSX(you can get them loaded by Federal thru MidwayUsa for the cheapest price anywhere).
Yes they are pricey, but good quality ammo is worth it. You'll see when you clean your gun after shooting with good ammo what I mean
A new modern firearm shouldn't take much breaking in. Most of them have pretty decent quality control these days because so much of the manufacturing process is computerized.
Before you take it to the range, make sure you clean the bore good to remove any oil and grease from the inside of the barrel. Shoot it the first time at 25 yards. Most the time a bore sight is used, it will be set for 100 yards. You may find it hard to belive, but a rifle bore sighted at 100 yards, will hit at almost the exact same point at 25 yards. Besides, it's a lot easier to see the bullet holes at that range. If you're satisfied at 25 yards, move down to 100 yards and see where it's printing.
For a new rifle, the aforementioned 3 shot groups is a good piece of advice. One word of caution though, rifles can be picky. Some ammo just won't group well while others will. It may take some experimention to find out which one your rifle likes. Nobody has ever been able to fully explain this fact, but, trust me it does exist. Here's an example:
Both my brother and I have Remington Model 700 ADL's in 7mm Rem Mag. These rifles have consecutive serial #'s. I got mine when I was 13 and my brother was 14 and we got them on the same day in 1976. My rifle will simply not group 175 gr bulets worth a damn. Never has, never will. But my brother's rifle loves that bullet weight. Mine seems to like a bullet around 160 grs. Thankfully, I handload, so I can tailor my ammo to what the rifle likes. If you shoot factory ammo, you'll have to spend some $$$ to see what your's likes. Good rule of thumb on 30-06 is bullets between 160 and 180 grs at moderate velocity.
Here's one final piece of advice: While it is good to shoot 3 shot groups to check if your rifle likes a particular load, pay especially close attention to where the very first bullet out of a cold barrel goes. That is the one you will shoot at your deer. By the time you get to the second and third shot on game, you've already missed. The first round downrange is your primary hunting round. If that one doesn't go where you want it to, the rifle isn't ready to hunt with. :cowboy
Here's one final piece of advice: While it is good to shoot 3 shot groups to check if your rifle likes a particular load, pay especially close attention to where the very first bullet out of a cold barrel goes. That is the one you will shoot at your deer. By the time you get to the second and third shot on game, you've already missed. The first round downrange is your primary hunting round. If that one doesn't go where you want it to, the rifle isn't ready to hunt with. :cowboy
Hence the reason I clean my gun every shot, and let it cool between every shot. That is the way it is when hunting, clean and cool. A fouled barrel will shoot much different than a clean one. And I never clean the inside of my barrel with oil or solvents till season is over. I only run a bore snake down it from the time I do my pre-season scope checks till end of season
