Home› Main Category› General Firearms
BigDanS
Posts: 6,992 Senior Member
Breaking in the Weatherby Vanguard 30-06 ( lots of pics... )
BigDanS
Posts: 6,992 Senior Member
Range Day! The day started at 9:30 AM, it started with a mild 78 F and mostly sunny with a 5 to 10 MPH breeze from behind the shooting line, and at times it was calm. I was determined to break in and then sight in my Weatherby Vanguard 1 in 30-06 with a Burris E1 3x9x40 scope on a DNZ mount. I hauled out my lead sled, Cauldwell Rock, sand bags and sundries, and 60 rounds or Prvi Partisan 30-06 in 150 gr for break in, twenty 150 Gr Federal Premiun Sierra 150 gr SPBT, twenty Remington Express 150 Gr Core-lokt, twenty Federal Premium 180 Gr, and twenty Remington Express 180 Gr Core-lokts.
The range at 100 yards...
The setup at the bench
The Weatherby Web Site procedure calls for two boxes of ammo, shooting one shot and cleaning for the first twenty rounds, then groups for the next twenty rounds. That was too much work. I decided to shoot two rounds, then clean, then shoot again. I used Birchwood Casey Bore Scrubber and Hoppes #9. For break in I used the least expensive ammo I had, Prvi Partisan 150 GR SP's. My routine was shoot two rounds, run a patch through with bore scrubber, use a copper brush on a brass rod to run up and down the barrel twice, run through a patch with Hoppes # 9, run a dry patch through.
The range hot / safe line interval allowed me to shoot six rounds. My first target was set at 25 yards. The low left shot was #1, and I adjusted the scope and shot rounds two through six.
The second group of six was also at 25 yards. While the groups were small they weren't one hole either...
I moved the target out to 50 yards and put another eight rounds through completing my first box break in:
Continued...
The range at 100 yards...
The setup at the bench
The Weatherby Web Site procedure calls for two boxes of ammo, shooting one shot and cleaning for the first twenty rounds, then groups for the next twenty rounds. That was too much work. I decided to shoot two rounds, then clean, then shoot again. I used Birchwood Casey Bore Scrubber and Hoppes #9. For break in I used the least expensive ammo I had, Prvi Partisan 150 GR SP's. My routine was shoot two rounds, run a patch through with bore scrubber, use a copper brush on a brass rod to run up and down the barrel twice, run through a patch with Hoppes # 9, run a dry patch through.
The range hot / safe line interval allowed me to shoot six rounds. My first target was set at 25 yards. The low left shot was #1, and I adjusted the scope and shot rounds two through six.
The second group of six was also at 25 yards. While the groups were small they weren't one hole either...
I moved the target out to 50 yards and put another eight rounds through completing my first box break in:
Continued...
"A patriot is mocked, scorned and hated; yet when his cause succeeds, all men will join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." Mark Twain
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester:
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester:
Replies
After a fifteen minute cool down I shot three more four round groups to complete the barrel break in procedure. This target is 12 rounds at 50 yards.
According to Weatherby it was time to sight in the gun. I brought four different hunting rounds to try. First I shot the 180 Gr Federal and Remingtons:
Next I shot the 150 Gr Federal Premiums and the 150 GR Remington Express Core-lokts:
Clearly this gun likes the Federal Premium 150 GR Sierra boat tails better than the others. I cleaned the gun again and adjusted the scope for my first group aimed at center target. It was a success!
To confirm my flinch wasn't moving the POI I set the gun in my lead sled and proceeded to shoot a new target. Continued...
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester:
I adjusted the scope so that it should be 1 inch high at 100 yards and let off my last three rounds. The barrel was warm and you can see the group opened up a bit.
I came home and measured the groups using my micrometer, and measured them center to center:
Overall I am very satisfied with this rifle. The break in seemed to shrink the groups as I moved forward. The trigger has not been adjusted down yet, and I think I can get the gun to shoot .75 to .5 MOA with the right loads. Certainly this is an excellent hunting rifle and with hand loads I think is capable of much more accuracy than I am. My goal was a one MOA or better gun with factory ammo and I feel I have acheived it.
Thanks to all who advised me along the way.
D
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester:
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2
This was a lot of work, and I spent four hours getting it done, arriving at 9:30 AM and leaving at 1:30 PM. I can say after spending that much time with this rifle I feel confident with it. I put 61 rounds downrange today and It would have been a lot more painful without my lead sled.
D
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester:
Yes. You just squirt it with non chlorinated CNC brake cleaner afterwards. Line finder taught me that trick.
Dan, the first rifle I used a breakin procedure on was my Howa action, Krieger barrel, .250 Savage. I did the shoot once clean for 10 rounds. but I think and really believe that 5 rounds did the trick because after the fifth round I never saw any copper to speak of. In other words it wasn't picking up copper from the bullets. After I did shoot-clean 10 times I went to two shots and clean. Then to 5 shots and clean. But I honestly believe I didn't need anything past the first five rounds. But that's a Krieger barrel that was lapped before shipping. The only part of the barrel that possibly needed any breakin was the neck- throat area.
The next rifle I did was my .223 Stevens 200. I did it in five rounds and called it good. Then my .257 AI. I did it for about 5 rounds. They seem to stop leaving copper after that.
You definitely have a keeper there. I love the Howa action. Also, you have the all time winning caliber there too. Now go kill something.
D
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester: