Develop Load/OCW While Breaking in Barrel?

[MMH]

Is it possible to develop a load (OCW) while breaking in a barrel? I am just beginning to shoot my new Remington 700 Long Range in 300 WinMag. I was going to work up a load while shooting the gun in. I was never much to break in barrels, but am not sure that I want to put the first 21 rounds thru it without any cleaning.

I will be loading a 212 gr. ELD-X w/ H1000. I will start at 72.0 grains and go up to 78.0 grains in 0.5 grain increments & load 3 rounds at charge weight for a total of 39 rounds (plus sighters). Should I clean between each 3 rounds to be consistent. How should I clean - just mild to get the powder out or try to get all the copper fouling out as well?

 

[jlow]

I’ve never done this but I think you would be taking a pretty big chance that it would not mean anything.

One reason is if your barrel speed change after break in, that will be a problem, and of course you don’t know if this is going to happen. The other thing is cleaning the barrel always produce the clean bore/cold bore effect on the next rounds fired and so if you are only firing 3 rounds before you clean again, those would be the minimum number I usually use to foul the bore, how are you going to get consistency and get results that are meaningful?

I think you would be better off firing cheaper factory ammo to break in the barrel and then use quality components to run an OCW.

 

[MMH]

I’ve never done this but I think you would be taking a pretty big chance that it would not mean anything.

One reason is if your barrel speed change after break in, that will be a problem, and of course you don’t know if this is going to happen. The other thing is cleaning the barrel always produce the clean bore/cold bore effect on the next rounds fired and so if you are only firing 3 rounds before you clean again, those would be the minimum number I usually use to foul the bore, how are you going to get consistency and get results that are meaningful?

I think you would be better off firing cheaper factory ammo to break in the barrel and then use quality components to run an OCW.

That's what I figured but thought that I would ask. I'm not going to go crazy w/ break in - just 20 rounds or so. I never got carried away breaking in a barrel. I will clean barrel out after each of the first three shots, then shoot three & clean, shoot five and clean, shoot 10 and clean and done. After the last string of 10, I will clean not just to get the powder out but remove the copper fouling as well.

 

[rimfiremac]

My latest 6.5 barrel sped up 80 fps after 250 rounds. It's frustrating to watch that happen after loading for the season.

 

[MMH]

My latest 6.5 barrel sped up 80 fps after 250 rounds. It's frustrating to watch that happen after loading for the season.

250? Wow, by break in I was thinking 20 rounds or so & call it good. I just did put 20 thru it & followed a 'mild' break in procedure as outlined in my previous post. I'm ready to do a OCW on it now. If it sppeds up after a couple of hundred rounds then I gues that I will do another OCW on it. Only question now is do I get ALL the copper fouling out before the OCW or not? I am normally not too anal about getting copper fouling out & most of my guns shoot good.

 

[jlow]

It’s hard to tell what your barrel will do but my experience has been that a quality barrel like a Luther Walter or Bartlein which is well made, polished, and burr free tends to not change much and not really have any fouling that I could detect. Read this article here about the reason for breaking in a barrel and where the source of the problem comes from:

https://kriegerbarrels.com/faq#breakin

 

[Twoboxer]

IMO there's nothing to lose by starting load development soon, even if don't you have a chrono. You have to shoot something, and reloads are priced well compared to factory.

If your barrel stabilizes soon, all the better. If it gets faster, with a chrono you'll know it and know what to do. All based on the data you could start gathering . . . soon.

 

[Homerange]

I will clean barrel out after each of the first three shots, then shoot three & clean, shoot five and clean, shoot 10 and clean and done. After the last string of 10, I will clean not just to get the powder out but remove the copper fouling as well.

Are you not aware that breaking in a barrel is primarily polishing the bore with bullets in an effort to reduce copper fouling over the life of the barrel. To not address copper fouling from the very first few shots is a mistake especially with normal production barrels. Any copper present during the break in effectively shields the bore from the polishing effect of further shots and IMHO any build up of copper while breaking in a barrel should be avoided.
Best advice would be to examine the lands near the muzzle of any signs of copper every few shots and address it immediately when seen. Saves a shite load of work later.

 

[Mozella]

I see a lot of shooters who do a one-day load work-up session, pick what they think is the best recipe, and call it quits.

I think that actually "knowing" the best recipe requires several carefully conducted testing sessions before using a particular load in a competitive match. Why waste the break in session?

You can fire some widely spaced charge weights (and possibly several powder types) during break in so you can zero in on a promising load, do some seating depth testing, and then follow that with a confirmation test based on much narrower criteria, fine tuning the charge weight and seating depth.

 

[rifleman700]

Read this and then decide. It is mentioned here.

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/long-range-load-development-at-100-yards.3814361/

 

[jlow]

I see a lot of shooters who do a one-day load work-up session, pick what they think is the best recipe, and call it quits.

I think that actually "knowing" the best recipe requires several carefully conducted testing sessions before using a particular load in a competitive match. Why waste the break in session?

You can fire some widely spaced charge weights (and possibly several powder types) during break in so you can zero in on a promising load, do some seating depth testing, and then follow that with a confirmation test based on much narrower criteria, fine tuning the charge weight and seating depth.

Mozella, I think the only down side doing this is you can in fact get some "red herrings", that of course can send the OP down a direction which ends up burning time/component. That would be my own concern.