# First Range Report!!



## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

I went out last week to "break in the gun" shooting and cleaning and repeat. its a controversial theory but, I figured it wouldn't hurt.

(All my shots were off my bipod with my butt of the stock rested on a sandbag)
(all shots were taken at 200 yards)
(270WSM 140gr Accubond) 

SO, I picked 2 powders to start with. IMR 4350. I loaded exactly what the book said (58.5/59.5/60.5) grains of powder seated at .015 off my lands.
The best the 4350 did was 5 shots 140gr Accubond with 60.5gr of powder just under a 2" group at 200 yards with an average FPS of 3210

Then, I tried the RL 17: starting load, 5 shots 140gr Accubond at 59gr of powder seated .015 off the lands average fps 3220. same as before on my bipod with a sandbag shot a 15/16 inch group (measured with a tape from center to center of the 2 outside holes) at 200 yards.

What do yall think??

not too bad of a range day? worthy of collecting data with i'm thinking..


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Horizontal string looks like a bedding issue. Bet you can tighten that up even more.

-DallanC


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## Fez (Sep 3, 2009)

Nice shooting!!!!!

Looks like your well on your way to a shooter.


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## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

DallanC said:


> Horizontal string looks like a bedding issue. Bet you can tighten that up even more.
> 
> -DallanC


1 inch at 200 yards, hard to tighten that up


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## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

here is an IMR 4350 group. 5 shots at 200 yards. not quite as good as the RL 17 but, i'm going to load up the 3 groups that shot the best and go out to do a double check


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## waspocrew (Nov 26, 2011)

Looks like you're off to a great start with that rifle!


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## Hoopermat (Dec 17, 2010)

I believe most would be very happy with that 1 inch at 200 would be 1/2 Moa. 
A lot of custom rifles can't pull that off.


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## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

well, today I did a little shooting. my 200 yard group wasn't as tight but it was still 1MOA at 200 yards.

This is my 400 yard group

the true BC chart from huskemaw called for 11 clicks at 400 yards so I did 10 and let her fly, Here is 4 shots and 1 flyer. Just under 4 inches as 400 yards..I think I can do better than this but, I noticed i need to settle down more while i'm on the bench. I think if I can improve on that, my group will come in tighter.


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## Hoopermat (Dec 17, 2010)

goosefreak said:


> well, today I did a little shooting. my 200 yard group wasn't as tight but it was still 1MOA at 200 yards.
> 
> This is my 400 yard group
> 
> the true BC chart from huskemaw called for 11 clicks at 400 yards so I did 10 and let her fly, Here is 4 shots and 1 flyer. Just under 4 inches as 400 yards..I think I can do better than this but, I noticed i need to settle down more while i'm on the bench. I think if I can improve on that, my group will come in tighter.


Still shooting 1 Moa. Can't complain about that
What's with the flyer?


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## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

I am legitimately impressed. That's good shooting.


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## derekp1999 (Nov 17, 2011)

goosefreak said:


> I went out last week to "break in the gun" shooting and cleaning and repeat. its a controversial theory but, I figured it wouldn't hurt.


Hey, goose, what "break in" method did you use? I've read a handful of articles/opinions/methods and it seems to be all over the place.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

http://www.6mmbr.com/gailmcmbreakin.html



> Gale McMillan, of McMillan Stocks fame, was one of the finest barrel-makers and benchrest shooters of all time. Here he argues that elaborate barrel break-in procedures do more harm than good.


IMO, only crappy barrels need break in... and most people do it wrong. Quality lapped barrels shouldnt need break in.

-DallanC


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

Not only does your gun shoot well but it also says a lot for your quality reloading. Good work!


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## derekp1999 (Nov 17, 2011)

DallanC said:


> ... and most people do it wrong.


Do tell... how do you do it right?

I'm asking legitimately. I'm looking to purchase a gun that is probably what most would consider "budget"... and if "only crappy barrels need breaking in" then I'm guessing that any that I buy will probably have what you'd consider "crappy".


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## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

I don't know if my barrel needed breaking in but, I did it anyways. here's what I did: I cleaned the barrel first thing. then I shot a round, then I cleaned the barrel again. I did that for about 10 bullets cleaning between each shot and letting the barrel cool. then I did a series of 3 shot and cleaned after each series. then I shot a series of 5 shot groups and cleaned between each series. I did this with about 50 rounds. 

I don't know if I needed to or not but I did anyways. and It can be done while getting your gun on paper. I'v heard both ways that its BS and other people swear by it.

what I'v learned a little is that a custom barrel, or a barrel from a more quality company don't need to be broken in because they take the time to drill the rifling with more precision or something like that. On the other hand a barrel/gun that is more widely produced the manufacturer "slams" the guns out 1 by 1 so their can be burrs and machine markings on the inside of the barrel. The Idea of breaking in is to smooth out those imperfections. so you start with a clean barrel, then shoot a round, then you clean all the copper and fouling from that fired shot and repeat so you get a clean smoothing shoot every time and in theory smoothing out the imperfections. so I wouldn't necessarily say a gun that needs to be broken in is a crappy gun because I just bought a Rem 700 stainless and put custom stock/trigger/rings/scope/bedding. And I'm shooting 1/2MOA at 400 yards. (shot a 2" group at 400 the other day) I'd say thats pretty good for a mass produced Rem 700.

Although my load is just about developed, I'm going to try 1 more powder to see if I can tighten up the 1/2MOA but, I may just be trying to do something my trigger hand isn't capable of.. still my goal is 1/2 MOA at 800 yards (4 inches)


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