Bullet choice
Just received a Savage 12FLVSS in a 22-250 and I'm looking for recommendations for bullet (manf. and grain)for shooting prairie dogs and coyotes. Have shot a 243 with 80gr for both but need help with the 22-250. Secondly, I'm going with a group of guys to shoot prairie dogs in a day or two, how important is it to break in the barrel in a new gun? Really don't have the time and don't want to miss out on shhoting the "dogs" while I'm cleaning and they are shooting. Thanks for your input.[8D]
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if its a new gun, make sure there is no oil residue in rifle b4 shooting. shoot once or twice, clean, shoot once or twice, clean etc.... i never paid much attention to the entire break-in procedure other than listed above. as far as bullet manufacturers, if you are not reloading, try the hornady v-max varmint rounds. sounds like you have some time limits to deal with for sighting in your weapon, better get to the range soon! 0 -
Just a follow-up to my question, can that cleaning be done with a bore snake? Finally how many series or 1 or 2 shots and clean? 0 -
Pems: never used a bore snake. so cant answer that one . I use a one piece cleaning rod. JustC can answer the break-in with good advice.
PEACE THROUGH SUPERIOR FIRE POWER0 -
prairie dog shootin is a good way to "braek in" a barrel. Shoot til it gets hot enough to cook off the round without pulling the trigger 
). Then let it cool some and keep shooting. By the end of the day, it'll be broke in fine. Been gunsmithing & breaking them in that way for about 45 yrs. Break in (one shot at atime) is about as necessary as cryogenic treatments. <g>.
GS0 -
Pems: breaking your rifle is also a good time to set your scope. Shoot 3 rounds then run a patch with bore cleaner through bore with a bore guide in place, then brush it a few times then a clean patch. Do this every time for at least 10 sessions.By now your scope should be on or close. Then you can increase the number of rounds shot through the bore, then you can pick a bullet that shoots in your rifle if you plan on reloading your own. What you are doing is smoothing out the rough tooling marks in the bore.
Advice that was given about shooting till you can "cook off a round without squeezing trigger" was bad advice. Not only was this bad, its dangerous, you could lose fingers and a lot worse. Not only that, but you would have a rifle that would not group, because you washed the throat out. I dont think that it is possible to shoot one till you could cook one off. But who would want to try.
Bolt
PEACE THROUGH SUPERIOR FIRE POWER0 -
Try Hornady or Sierra 60gr soft point or hollow point. I have found them to be very accurate & deadly killers even on deer. 0 -
Bolt handle has pretty good advice if you really want to maximize accuracy. If you just want mediocrity in your accuracy you can pass on the breakin. That mediocrity is adequate for most shooters but if you are thinking about getting the most from your weapon take the time to break it in. If you don't break it in you still will be able to make 200-300 yard shots consistently and look good. I wouldn't hold my breath for you to make many beyond 300 or so though without the breakin. Beach 0 -
I just remembered, what barrel twist do you have in your rifle? Many .22-250 barrels are set up for a diet of 45-55 grain bullets. If you are looking at 80 grain bullets you should be looking at a barrel with a faster twist. Beach 0 -
Shoot once and clean X 10
shoot 3 times and clean X 21 (7 groups)
shoot 5 times and clean X 50
Anywhere near that is sufficient. There is actually no set rule and no agreement between any maunfacturer or competition shooter. Just be sure to "season" the barrel and you will have the better shooter. And as has been stated, find out what bullet your rifle likes while you are doing this. No need to waste time/money just to break it in.
I shoot and clean with "shooters choice" follwed by "kroil" and a dry patch to finish. Using sweets for that is unecessary, but is a good move after you shoot repeatedly on a high pressure round such as the 22-250 and a P-dog town. You WILL build up copper that doesn't show up quickly on the patches, but Sweets will take it out FAST. You can see the difference as the patches have Deep blue spots on them from the Sweets eating that buildup. Just don't leave it in for hours on end.
As far as a bullet, Beachmaster is dead-nuts accurate in his recommendation. I would look at the 50-55gr bullets, the 40 gr will scream, but won't buck the wind very well. From what my 220 swift has shown me, with a 14 twist barrel, the 52gr Sierra bullet is the ticket. If you handload, look at the Sierra Match King in 52gr and the Hornady A-max in 52gr, Also, the blitz king and the nosler balistic tip are great bullets. I have used the nosler in darn near everything and it just plain works.
Do invest in a bore guide as Bolthandle suggested. Sinclair sells them and they are a quality product. Also, get the solvent port for it, that way no solvent makes it's way into the trigger group or bedding (if there is any).
why chase the game when the bullet can get em from here?....
Got Balistics?0 -
Advice that was given about shooting till you can "cook off a round without squeezing trigger" was bad advice. Not only was this bad, its dangerous, you could lose fingers and a lot worse. Not only that, but you would have a rifle that would not group, because you washed the throat out. I dont think that it is possible to shoot one till you could cook one off. But who would want to try.
Bolt
Duh.. er uh, that was a joke Bolt. Or did you miss the)? "Breaking in" a properly made button rifled barrel is just done with lots of shooting though it doen't change much from the very beginning. Pulling an oversize carbide "button" through a drilled & reamed hole swages and burnishes the bore to the point it doesn't need "breaking in". Trust me, the King is naked ) (there it is again). GS0 -
Dont know that I would want to be 'dead-nuts' accurate... [;)]
FFL Dealer, Class 07/02 Mfg0
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