Barrel break in accuracy

hadjii said:
So, I just got my rifle back from the gunsmith where I had a new Hart barrel put on, and some work done to the receiver. Caliber is 25-06. I'm just a little disappointed in the fact that with 116 grain hammers, I can only get to 3.050 OAL before I'm into the lands, but not sure I'm concerned with that yet. First 20 rounds thru the barrel have yielded pretty mediocre results as far as accuracy, so I guess my question is this. Would it be normal for a rifle to shoot more accurately after say, a hundred rounds are put through it, or not so much. I haven't done any load work-up yet. I figure I need to get some rounds thru it before I go there, but just curious as to what you really good shooters' opinions are as to accuracy and a new barrel.
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I'd stay away from hammers. Try some Sierra matching bullets. Though they are not for hunting but start their. Don't load hot and do a process of elimination but that can be hard with loading components expensive now and hard to find what you may wanna use.
 
hadjii said:
This is what it shot today after work. Bullet on the right is a rem 120 gr core-lokt. That was shot 1. The group of 3 are 116 gr hammers. 48.0 grains of Rel 26, fed 210 primer, herders case. I'm not claiming to be a world class shooter, there's that, but at least it's a group that measures 1 1/16" c to c. I think I'll get there, no doubt.
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I'd call that progress in the right direction.
 
leftyviper280 said:
I'd stay away from hammers. Try some Sierra matching bullets. Though they are not for hunting but start their. Don't load hot and do a process of elimination but that can be hard with loading components expensive now and hard to find what you may wanna use.
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It would make a lot more sense to stick to a hunting bullet he intends to use in the future.

At the price of bullets these days it doesn't make a lot of sense to buy bullets you don't intend to use up.

They may be cheaper than the Hammers but there are also other alternatives such as the Accubond and Accubond LR not to mention the Hornady ELD-X and SST.
 
I didn't read all the responses but the first thing I would do is switch powders. Use H4350 or any kind of 4831. 50 to 54 grains and it will shoot. I have 7 25-06's in my family and every single one of them will shoot 3 shot groups in a dime sized group with those powders. Casing didn't matter, primer didn't matter. Hell even the chasing the lands didn't matter. Seated to 3.25, they all print. 3 Ruger M77, 2 Win Model 70s, a older Rem 700 and a Ruger No. 1. H4831 may not be the fastest but man can it stack em in one hole.
 
hadjii said:
So, I just got my rifle back from the gunsmith where I had a new Hart barrel put on, and some work done to the receiver. Caliber is 25-06. I'm just a little disappointed in the fact that with 116 grain hammers, I can only get to 3.050 OAL before I'm into the lands, but not sure I'm concerned with that yet. First 20 rounds thru the barrel have yielded pretty mediocre results as far as accuracy, so I guess my question is this. Would it be normal for a rifle to shoot more accurately after say, a hundred rounds are put through it, or not so much. I haven't done any load work-up yet. I figure I need to get some rounds thru it before I go there, but just curious as to what you really good shooters' opinions are as to accuracy and a new barrel.
Click to expand...
Yes barrel breakin is normal for a new barrel and Manson will rent a reamer for you to increase col on the new barrel,I shoot 6.5 creeds and had to run a reamer in the chamber of my McGowan precision barrel to increase col dimensions out to 2.999 with a 153. 5 Bergers over 4831 and it shot lights out ,be patient for we deal with a finesse game where all variables must align !
 
Yes, I've good luck with H4831SC. I've also had good luck with Magpro. My Ruger no 1 in 25-06 will print 1" groups with 55.3 grains of Magpro pushing the Rem core-lokt 120 grainers. I'm plenty happy with that since the Ruger no 1 can be an aggravating sonofagun. As far as Sierras, nope. Don't shoot em', don't like em'. I've drank the hammer koolaid with this rifle, so that's where my head is. The REM core-Lokts are my 2nd choice, based on how they shoot and how they did on 2 deer last year. And I have about 1200 of em', so I have plenty.
 
From my experience, the best way to know what is happening with the barrel is to shoot through a chronograph to determine break-in. It usually take somewhere between 100-200 rounds to break-in a barrel. You will notice when it happens because all of a sudden you will see a jump in velocity and the groups will tighten up. After that start tuning the load.
 
Have to agree with the load in 1gr increments find pressure and back off 1gr. process. I did that the first time loading hammers in my 6mm rem and ended up with a .8" group. I tried another lower gr load and it was a 4" group.
 
hadjii said:
So, I just got my rifle back from the gunsmith where I had a new Hart barrel put on, and some work done to the receiver. Caliber is 25-06. I'm just a little disappointed in the fact that with 116 grain hammers, I can only get to 3.050 OAL before I'm into the lands, but not sure I'm concerned with that yet. First 20 rounds thru the barrel have yielded pretty mediocre results as far as accuracy, so I guess my question is this. Would it be normal for a rifle to shoot more accurately after say, a hundred rounds are put through it, or not so much. I haven't done any load work-up yet. I figure I need to get some rounds thru it before I go there, but just curious as to what you really good shooters' opinions are as to accuracy and a new barrel.
Click to expand...
I'm not a good shooter... but all my rifle.. start to shoot better after 100.. 200 rounds.. that I start to use my reload.. ( anyway. I needed the shell so . bunch of factory ammo to break the barrel in.. and every session of 30 40 ammo.. I cleaned the barrel shiny shiny!!! using even AR COPPER REMOVER LIQUID .. WHAT IS NAME . ( REALLY DONT REMEMBER.. when I buy it I just look at the design and logo on a black bottle .. 😆 ) KEEP THE GOOD SHOOTING AND GOOD LUCK..
 
hadjii said:
When I bought this rifle new, it drove me crazy. I can't remember how many bullet/powder combinations I tried, and it just aggravated me. I let it set for a couple of months, then was ready to go again. I spent about 5 hours one day just cleaning it. I'd use Butch's Bore shine, then Montana Extreme. I alternated between the 2 for 3 cycles each, then said ok, if this dang thing won't shoot this time, I'll just rebarrel it. Well, it shot like a house afire. 3 remington core-lokts into a half inch about every time, but it wouldn't shoot 116 grain hammers worth a hoot, and that's what I wanted to shoot, so I rebarreled it with an 8 twist, as opposed to the 10 twist it had, so that's where I'm at. It'll shoot at some point. I just have to get the combo right. But I would've preferred to be able to seat the hammers a bit longer.
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manitou said:
I am a little jealous about the 10 lbs of RL26.🥴 The stuff is like fairy dust on a unicorn nowadays!
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I have a sealed 8lb of RL26 I will trade for 8lb sealed H1000 if you have it?
 
nikeandros said:
I'm not a good shooter... but all my rifle.. start to shoot better after 100.. 200 rounds.. that I start to use my reload.. ( anyway. I needed the shell so . bunch of factory ammo to break the barrel in.. and every session of 30 40 ammo.. I cleaned the barrel shiny shiny!!! using even AR COPPER REMOVER LIQUID .. WHAT IS NAME . ( REALLY DONT REMEMBER.. when I buy it I just look at the design and logo on a black bottle .. 😆 ) KEEP THE GOOD SHOOTING AND GOOD LUCK..
Click to expand...
sweets
 

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