[Jeff_850]

my 14 day wait for my Remington 700P will be done on friday... not asking what break in procedure to use... just asking what ammo should i use to break my barrel in with?
i have ordered Federal Gold Medal Match ammo in 155, 168 and 175 grain, Black hills 168 grain match (40 rds of each match load), Amerian Eagle 150 gr FMJ (200 rds), Austrailian surplus 144 grain ammo (160 rds)
which would you use to break the barrel in with?
does it matter what ammo i use to break the barrel in with?

 

[badshot]

When I was getting ready to break the barrel in on my RUM I was advised to go get some plain old green box Remington factory loads. That was for the cost of a box of shells and for the brass since I was going to go straight into reloading after break in.

 

[Jeffvn]

Badshot pretty much hits the nail on the head. I used Federal Gold Medal Match during my break-in, but that was because: 1) I wanted to know how it shot right out of the box, and 2) I wanted that brass for reloading after I shot the ammo. Most any factory made any ammo will do.

I would stay away from tracers or aromor piercing stuff during break-in. Actually I would not use it at any time, but that's just me.

 

[Jeff_850]

you wouldnt use tracers or ap ammo because the accuracy woudlnt be good or is there another reason?

 

[badshot]

They're expensive? Its just a piece of paper, not armored, and hole will tell you where the bullet went. :lol:

 

[Jeff_850]

didnt ever look at prices of AP ammo but figured tracers would be expensive

 

[FLEA]

!

Trasers just dirty up your barrell A.P.I.T. (armor piercing incindiary tracers) might not be good for a new barrell.

I just use federal gold match.....it really doesn't matter what grain.

 

[boisedarc]

Use the best ammo you can get. Too simply put lead down range without reguard to accuracy is a waste. Just because you are breaking in the barrel does not mean you cant work on your grouping. Reguardless of what some may say, there is no set amount for breaking in a barrel. I have had some break in with about 20 rounds and some take much longer. You have to know when the barrel is broke in, you can tell this by a substantial reduction in fouling. If you shoot say 30 rounds and you see that huge reduction in fouling then it is pointless to keep in the break in procedure, likewise if after your reccomended break in time you still have alot of fouling occuring you dont want to quit. But at any rate do use good ammo and shoot it with purpose.

 

[mele]

Type of ammo doesn't matter for actually breaking in the barrel, but like has been mentioned, I always begin my zero and grouping tests & experiments WHILE doing the break in. No sense in wasting that ammo.

MEL

 

[Jeff_850]

i have 40 rds of each type of match ammo that i would expect to come before im allowed to pick the rifle up on friday
is it ok to use say 20 rounds of 168 then 20 of 175 for break in so i can test out accuracy of each? later? or should i use the same round for the whole break in procedure?

 

[boisedarc]

As far as ammo goes, use whatever you want. Break in is a good time to experiment. Using different weights and brands will not hurt a thing.

 

[mele]

A purist, or a someone with a doctorate in chemistry or metalurgy (spelling?) may say otherwise, but for me, it is fine to switch ammo types like that, as long as you do not use corrosive ammo. You could stay all federal GMM with different grain bullets if you had a concern, as the powder type should be the same between federal GMM loads

MEL

 

[Jeff_850]

thx for the info
btw my bday is tommarrow

 

[SpEcTeR]

Well Happy B-Day Jeff_850!

To reiterate what Mel posted, if you stick to the GMM you should be fine switching from 155 to 168 or 175. I have read that it matters most when you begin to swith different lines within the same manufacturer or what is worse different lines from different manufacturers. GMM to Black Hills to that 144 Ausssie ammo you purchased. Only then might the results be perhaps unreliable and inconsistent. Good luck.

 

[Jeff_850]

thx

my experience with breaking in barrels has been somewhat inconsistant so far
my M4 was my first gun, never broke in that barrel, my 2nd gun, my Ruger PC9 i never broke the barrel in because there are 2 skrews you need to undo then push a slide back, hold it in place, take out the bolt, clean barrel, put back together again etc didnt even try
varmitner was shooting 1/2 moa out of the box sometimes 1/4 moa... was probably me shooting around .35 moa on average at that point not the gun... went about 10 shots, had some problems with my cleaning rod getting stuck in there... cleaned like every 20 instead of every 5 once i got a better rod... a few hundred rounds later i was shooting 1/4 moa every time...
now that i have a bolt gun i have no excuses because the barrels tollerances probalby wont be half as tight as the varmitner's and the bolt simply slides back out in about a second instead of having to take the whole gun apart... on a stiff push pin that barely fits into the stiff brand new upper this can be a pain with an AR