Barrel seasoning

[beemanjohn]

Ok, may be a dumb question but I cannot find the answer. Now, we all know you have to fire a number of rounds to "season" your barrel any time you change brands of ammo...right? So, lets say you want to change from SK to Eley. Can you use a cheaper Eley to season the barrel (like club) rather than burning up half a box of Match just to get it to shoot? Is the lube on the bullets the same?

I know, sometime there is no free lunch!

 

[Bart B.]

My experience is the lube is the same for a given make but the powder may be different. You usually need to clean the bore anyway after switching ammo.

After cleaning the bore, it is re-seasoned in 5 shots if a good barrel. In a match, put those shots off target then your first sighter on paper.

Not worth the hassle to change ammo after seasoning, or fouling the barrel with cheap ammo unless you've proved otherwise.

 

[lawrence97]

I have not noticed much of a difference when switching in my v22 rifle. On a clean barrel it may take 5-10 rds to settle in and after that I can switch between sk std, sk rifle and pistol match. If I switch to Eley or something else, usually the first 3-5rds might have a mind of their own! But after that it settles in.

 

[beemanjohn]

If I make it to the range today I will give it a try. Yesterday I was shooting some club trying to find that one brand that shoots the best in my new 455 varmint. (so far its SK st.+ that shoots best, but I have only tried about 10 brands) Anyway, I will shoot a few of the club rounds and then send some black box match rounds through the barrel and see if they settle right in, or not.

 

[lawrence97]

You could also try just running a dry boresnake in between brands. That should knock out most of the residue left behind by one brand. I usually boresnake my barrel after a match or between 100-200 rds.

 

[Tim s]

Ok, may be a dumb question but I cannot find the answer. Now, we all know you have to fire a number of rounds to "season" your barrel any time you change brands of ammo...right? So, lets say you want to change from SK to Eley. Can you use a cheaper Eley to season the barrel (like club) rather than burning up half a box of Match just to get it to shoot? Is the lube on the bullets the same?

I know, sometime there is no free lunch!

If you have quality equipment and actually know how to clean and maintain a benchrest barrel, you should need far less than 1/2 a box.
I have 6 top flight rifles and all of them this year went back and forth between ELEY and Lapua. Not one failed to come right in after 4-5 shots.
That said,I rather doubt you want/need to run cheaper stuff to start, if for no other reason than it will start to foul the throat entirely differently than what you're shooting. Personally.....I would’nt.

 

[Rsadams]

Even on a factory barrel it should take 6-10.... What I have always found funny is that you can shoot quality ammo , then throw some absolutely junk in it and it will shoot good for about three shots till it takes over the barrel.... .22lr is a finicky mistress.. Since I am old school and if I shoot a gun I clean it before it goes back in the safe , that meens it will have an oily patch ran down the bore even with that , the rule of one shot per inch of barrel seems a bit much... Normally I will put eight to ten and let it rip... Clean it well and go out and test it... With Rimfire testing meens alot...plus that meens you're shooting so it's a win win.. just shoot the ammo it likes and stick with it...

 

[beemanjohn]

OK, tried it. Started out with a clean barrel, shot a couple groups of club, and then switched to black box match. Did not work. First group was all over the place, second was better, then it calmed down. Well, now we know. BTW, my gun did not like the black box match ammo at all. The club shot better, but not as good as the SK.

 

[Fotheringill]

Anschutz says five shots. It is about right. My CZ's take about 15 rounds.
There are certainly different lubes in different lines of the same manufacturer. Just take a look at Eley's various grades.

 

[JMayo]

Maybe sk and eley but not lapua with either.
Different wax / oil.

I shoot 5 eley from a bad lot then 5 from my intended to use ammo.

Like has been said the different lot will follow the first shot for a few rounds.

Also the case length, the ring. If its in a different place because of different ammo that's not good.

 

[Boyd L.]

OK, tried it. Started out with a clean barrel, shot a couple groups of club, and then switched to black box match. Did not work. First group was all over the place, second was better, then it calmed down. Well, now we know. BTW, my gun did not like the black box match ammo at all. The club shot better, but not as good as the SK.

I don’t shoot anything but SK competitively so my experience may not be what you’re looking for.
When I clean a barrel on a competition gun (normally a 1710, 1712, or Hart barreled 40-X) I usually get the following regardless of the rifle, or real close.
The first shot will strike 1/2” - 1” high of the aiming point at 77 meters, the second will usually be half way back to the aiming point, the next 3-5 shots will usually be close to the at the aiming point, but often the point of impact will move slightly for a couple of 3-5 shot sequences. Not much, maybe a half inch or less. For example if things are seemingly “settling” into one group after the first 5-7 shots, it’s not unusual for perhaps the next 3-5 shots to be slightly in a different POI, and it may move again seemingly depending on the temperature. Around the twenty shot mark I start getting consistent results. I think the semi-solid state of the bullet lube impacts the dwell time and flight condition of the bullet. The more consistent the viscosity (maybe that’s the correct term) of the lube in the barrel that the bullets are passing through, the more consistent the POI/accuracy. I always try to get several shots through a barrel before a silhouette match to warm a barrel a bit as well as to see how much the light is affecting POI.

As to using “cheaper” ammo to season a barrel as opposed to more expensive ammo. I have been able to use SK Magazine or Standard Plus to season (lube, warm, or whatever verb you choose) a barrel for SK Rifle Match. I can’t speak to Ely choices.

 

[beemanjohn]

Now that last post made a point I had not thought of. Your gun shoots a little high with a clean barrel, mine shoots a little left. I wonder it it has to do with barrel timing? When it warms up this spring I may try rotating my barrel and see what happens. Should be easy to do with the CZ.

 

[Tim s]

Now that last post made a point I had not thought of. Your gun shoots a little high with a clean barrel, mine shoots a little left. I wonder it it has to do with barrel timing? When it warms up this spring I may try rotating my barrel and see what happens. Should be easy to do with the CZ.

Got nothing to do with barrel timing. Clean barrels shoot higher MV until you get some nice warm lube in there.

 

[mgunderson]

Normally soak the barrels in beer and boil them before they go on the grill .

Was going to go with whiskey and ground pepper. Would that have been better?

 

[seymour fish]

Now that last post made a point I had not thought of. Your gun shoots a little high with a clean barrel, mine shoots a little left. I wonder it it has to do with barrel timing? When it warms up this spring I may try rotating my barrel and see what happens. Should be easy to do with the CZ.

Beeman, through a chrono, the first shot out of a cleaned rimfire bbl is considerably faster

 

[velocette]

My experience with barrel seasoning is that regardless of brand, it takes 5 ~ 15 rounds to settle in and shoot well.
Changing types within brand, (eg Lapua center X to Midas +) does take a while to settle in too. Don't know why for sure, but it is a certain fact.
First few rounds on a clean barrel are always high and in my rifle a bit right.
Another interesting little rimfire fact is that if I clean my barrel, then season it with perhaps 20 rds putting a fine zero on it, then put the rifle back in its case, ready for the next day's match, it will again take 10 rounds to get it back shooting to the pre-set zero. As an experiment, I am trying to season & zero, then one dry patch down the barrel & ready for tomorrows match.
Seemed to take only 5 rds to come back to zero & shoot well after one attempt. I'll try it again to see if I can replicate the results.
Needless to say, rimfire rifles are finicky.