6mm BR Break-In

[MatthewG]

Hey guys, I dont mean to be repetitive or anything but havent found any solid posts on this stuff. I am picking up my rifle from the smith Friday and just want to know some of the first things to do making sure the cases are right and barrel is broken in. My main question is for my starting loads, do these need to be special for any barrel breaking-in/case forming,I will be using lapua brass)? I think I have cleaning figured out, and have seen some good article on that subject. Anthing you do or any tips for my first precision setup would be helpful. Thanks!

-Matt

 

[dreever]

I break in a new barrel with close to my regular competition load. You do not want to subject brand new brass to a light first load and then go to a heavier load later.
I shoot Kreigers and just follow their break in instructions, playing with the load and adjusting the scope as I go. By the time everything is the way I want it the barrel is broken in.
Danny

 

[Preacher]

Danny is right as usual-- Start with a stout load, no wimpy stuff allowed....

 

[billmo]

Danny is right as usual-- Start with a stout load, no wimpy stuff allowed....

Preacher, What would you consider to be a good start load for a Savage F class target rifle 6.5 - 284 Norma - Lapua,no turn) brass, SMK 142s COL touching riflings at 3.146 and Berger 140 VLDs at 3.213 COL touching riflings? Seems to have quite a bit of freebore. Thanks in advance for your opinion. Bill

 

[Preacher]

I don't use that caliber much but when I do, I use H-4350 with the 140 grain bullets
at around 2700 fps........

 

[MatthewG]

Well guys I got the rifle, looks great, shoots amazing. My setup is:

24" Hart 1:12 barrel
HS Precision P-16 Competition stock
Rem700 action trued
Bushnell 3200 elite 10x,40mm)

Shooting Norma 6BR with Varget, 450 CCI primers, Berger 80gr match bullets, redding competition dyes, saeco powder measurer.

Break-in:
7x 1-shots, clean thoroughly...
[clean thoroughly = 2 patches shooters choice> 15 strokes nylon brush with shooters choice> 10+ patches hoppes/sweets mix until coppers gone> 2 rubbing alcohol patches]
1x 3-shots, clean...
1x 5-shots, clean...
1x 10-shots, clean...
1x 15-shots, clean
and now plan on cleaning every 15-25 shots.

At 100yds after break-in I tried .010 from lands, and .005, .010, .015 into lands. I cant say all my results are conclusive, this was my first day with the rifle and its going to take me a bit to really get my technique down, however:

@ .010 off lands group CTC .295" 5-shot
@ .005 into lands group CTC .142" 4-shot,first four in that tight, breathed to long for the last and messed my group up into the 4's, Da*n)

Anyways, thats on fresh brass, a 10x with a fairly nice crosshair, stock trigger and sandbags, first time out, and havent played with powder, just threw 31gr in there. Still much work to do, but the future looks promising! Hopefully this helps someone like it would have me when I searched. Happy Shooting...