First Day with the 300 WSM


WABS

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Went to the range yesterday with my Christmas present (300 WSM) and started the barrel break-in process. Spent about 1 1/2 hours out there and only shot 7 times, but I enjoyed every one. Boresighted by eye and hit paper at 50 yards no problem. The first three rounds were a bit erratic, but the last four were starting to show some promise as far as grouping goes. Looking forward to getting some more range work in on Jan 23rd. Got football to watch next Sunday since my Vikes lucked out yesterday and won one.

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Re: First Day with the 300 WSM

CO Bob -- I actually purchased Nosler Partition bullets for my reloads. I'm starting with a couple of boxes to Federal and Winchester just to get use to the gun and to see how the factory loads do. Then I'll start to work up my load for my MT elk/deer hunt.

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Re: First Day with the 300 WSM

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...due to today's advances in technology, materials, and craftsmanship..

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How is todays factory barrel any better than the barrels of 40 years ago? They are made of the same material and chances are on the same machinery. Hammerforging is nothing new and thats how most of the gun makers make their barrels, other than Savage, which button rifles their barrels. None of the manufacturers lap the barrels, let alone use an air gauge. Factory barrel quality has not changed for the better recently.

You would think with today's CNC machining, the actions would be a lot higher quality than they actually are.

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Re: First Day with the 300 WSM

whew this is gonna be a big pot to stir!! just kidding

I never really figured it was any thing more than just a fluke...but by no means have i ever done any tests of my own. I buy a gun and shoot it. i clean it when i think it needs it or before long periods of storage. and i dont thing a cleaning rod can damage a piece of firearms grade steel. I may be completely wrong but all my guns shoot as good now as when they were new.

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Re: First Day with the 300 WSM

All I know is that on the Savage website it gives break in instructions --- now I don't always believe everything that the manufacturer says, but I know I've also seen out here advice to go through a break in procedure. I figure I have nothing to lose since it forces me to spend more range time. Can't go wrong with that and it sure isn't likely to hurt my accuracy.

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Re: First Day with the 300 WSM

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...i dont thing a cleaning rod can damage a piece of firearms grade steel. ...

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Well, it can when used improperly. Take a soft paper towel for instance. It is much softer than a piece of glass or Lexan, but when the paper towel is used to clean the glass or Lexan without using liquid, the dirt on the surface is what actually scratches the surface. The same with the cleaning rod. The rod picks up pieces of carbon which is very hard and when the rod is used improperly, it will ride against the throat or the crown and will act like sandpaper. It can and does do damage.

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Re: First Day with the 300 WSM

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You must be careful when using it tho. Crown washout is a very real possibility. For extremely rough barrels...I reccomend Flitz metal polish. Again extreme caution must be used to prevent damaging the crown. But when used properly, both will yield a very nice smooth finish inside the barrel.

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Well, JB Bore paste is not an abrasive. It will not harm the bore. Improper use of the cleaning rod will damage the bore but the paste is just a cleaner. It will not remove steel. Many tests have been done and measurements taken to see if metal removal actually occurs. All tests that I know of have come back with zero metal removal. With this being the case, how can a cleaner that does not remove metal, remove tooling marks?

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Re: First Day with the 300 WSM

I for one would like to hear more about bore lapping and what should and should not be used. I just wanted to also make it clear that I'm not shooting rounds through my rifle just for the sake of break in. My thinking is that I plan to shoot a lot of rounds through anyway, why not do it using a method that was outlined on the Savage webpage? So it takes me a little more time to empty my ammo boxes. Helps insure that I take my time. I'd recommend that someone with knowledge of lapping start a new thread...

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Re: First Day with the 300 WSM

No idea 280AI. I'll bet dollars to donuts it was not the JB. Do you really think benchrest shooters would use the stuff it is could do that to a barrel? I have used it in my benchrest gun for years and it will still shoot sub 1/4 MOA groups.

I keep track of throat measurements in my fast guns. I have not seen an increase in erosion from using JB paste in there either. My loads are designed for specific bullet jump to the lands. As the throat erodes due to fire cutting, I seat the bullets farther out.

Sorry Bud, I don't know what to tell ya.

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Re: First Day with the 300 WSM

I will admit that the literature that came with the gun did not talk about any kind of break in procedure for the barrel if you go to the website you find this:

FAQs: Barrel Break-In Procedure

Q. What is the barrel break-in procedure?

A. Although there may be different schools of thought on barrel break-in, this is what Precision Shooting Magazine recommends:

STEP 1 (repeated 10 times)

Fire one round

Push wet patches soaked with a powder solvent through the bore

Push a brush through the bore (5 times in each direction)

Push dry patches through the bore (2 times)

Push wet patches soaked with a copper solvent through the bore

Push a brush through the bore (5 times in each direction)

Push dry patches through the bore (2 times)

Push a patch with 2 drops of oil through the bore

STEP 2 (repeated 5 times)

Fire a 3 shot group

Repeat the cleaning procedure from STEP 1 after each group

STEP 3 (repeat 5 times)

Fire a 5 shot group

Repeat the cleaning procedure from STEP 1

They recommend the use of a patch with 2 drops of oil after the cleaning so that you are not shooting with a dry bore. It is also advisable to use a powder solvent and copper solvent from the same manufacturer to be sure they are chemically compatible

I guess since they don't say up front that SAVAGE recommends this procedure, you could say they don't recommend this, but I think you'd have to agree that by the fact they put this as an answer to their FAQ, they give it some amount of validity.

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