Got my new Howa Axiom! Barrel break-in?

[trippledigitss]

So I got my new Axiom in 22-250 yesterday and I'm planning on getting it zeroed tomorrow and hunting with it this weekend. Its the Ranchland Kings Desert Camo (as you can see) with 24" heavy barrel and the matching Stirling Nighteater 4.5-16x44 scope. Its a bit heavier than my MP15 but I like it and I'm pumped to shoot it! I'm also gonna put a Harris 25c ultra-light bipod on it so there's another pound to add to the listed 10.8lbs. I think its heavier than that since UPS weighed it at 16.4 in the box and I doubt the box and foam weighs 5#???

Anyway, whats your guy's take on barrel break in? Is it really that important? I've never done that on any of my rifles before and they *seem* to shoot fine to me!  I read a 'how to' page online and it says if you dont have a barrel guide to clean it with dont even bother - you'll do more damage with the cleaning rod than you will by shooting it. I find that hard to believe, I always clean from the breach end and use my fingers as a guide and so with that and the chamber I dont think the rod hardly touches the barrel. Also I use a bore snake most of the time except to oil the barrel with a patch.

But I've never had a BA rifle before want to dial in this gun to a tack-driver as best I can so I want to do it right. So can some of you guys gimme your take on all this barrel break in and how important you think it is? Thanks!

[trippledigitss]

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[coop2424]

That is an awesome looking rifle.  Congrats.  I usually just shoot a round or two and then clean for the first 50 or so rounds and of course clean it after done shooting and I have never had a problem.  I think every gun that I have will out shoot me for the amount of shooting I do.  I think it is really your preference on the break in because I have seen some real tack drivers that the owner did not do any kind of break in and vice versa.  I personally don't do enough shooting that I am ever going to see a difference but I always hope I will have the time to do enough shooting to really get my rifles dialed in to better than what they are now.   

[carpsniperg2]

the first 10 or so i clean between each shot. then the next 10 every 2 shots then i shoot 4 3 shot groups cleaning inbetween each group. that has always worked well for me. the axiom is a nice gun i have a friend that has the 204 he is a big les buff so of course he has one. i have shot it about 4-5 times and it has always shot well when i have put it on paper. he shoots it good to nothing like 1/2" but ave is about 1-1.25" good gun overall i am sure you will like it. i always give him crap because his is heavy like yours and i told him that is why they had to cut all the extra stuff off the stock to make it " " lighter like the kings also

[trippledigitss]

Thanks for info guys and the compliments on the gun. Yeah I saw Les shoot it on PQ and thats why I wanted one! At first I thought it was kinda weird looking but now I really like the looks. But boy it sure is a heavy pig! I think I'm gonna have to start lifting weights or something - come to think of it I'm getting a workout just by lifting this thing. It blew my mind picking it up after my MP15 - that feels featherlight now. But I was kind of expecting it after shooting predatorpro's CZ550, that thing had some weight to it too.

Thats pretty much what the break-in guide said to do, shoot it, clean it, shoot some more, clean more, and spread it out longer & longer. But that kinda seems like a pain in the @$$ and also once I start to cleaning I cant ever stop so it takes me forever! Get a little obsessive about it I guess. Not real impressed by the bore snake either, seems like I run that thru 6-8 times then a patch and the patch always has more black stuff on it. Guess I'll just get one of those bore guides to be on the safe side and use my rods more often.

Thanks again and I'll update you guys once I get a few rounds downrange with it!

[predatorpro]

hey thats a great looking gun! im jealous!! what room are you keeping it in and when are you going to sleep? lol j/k!

[bowhunterforever]

Awsome gun I like the camo pattern. Let us know how she shoots?

[overunder12]

http://www.gaprecision.net/ga-precision-download.html you can check out the break in procedure that they use on that page. pretty thorough!

[trippledigitss]

hey thats a great looking gun! im jealous!! what room are you keeping it in and when are you going to sleep? lol j/k!

heheh - always kept in the safe and I sleep with one eye open right next to the safe! Dude you know I'll let you clean it for me anytime!

[trippledigitss]

He addresses all the "misinformation" about barrel break-in procedures.

ummm, yyyeah...I dont think I'll be using that method anytime soon! But that was hilarious! Kinda puts things in perspective though. Damn I wish I would have seen that before I ordered this rifle - I got one with a cow barrel!

Thanks man - that was good! 

[WiseOldYote]

I too have an Axiom in 22-250. Light contour barrel.

I would  recommend a  copper cleaner as well. I found the bore on my rifle to be a bit copper fouled. It will happen with a new barrel because the copper from the jacket will try and "fill" the machining imperfections within the bore.

I cleaned after every shot up till 40 or so rounds and am very impressed with the accuracy. 3-shot group with 30 rounds down the tube measured  .116!!!!  Good enough for me!

[trippledigitss]

Well I took it to the range and tried to get it dialed in. It seemed to shoot very well and I liked it alot. I need to find a way to comfortably and consistently shoot on target. It seemed like I was bouncing around alot. What was cool was that the rangemaster was just drooling over my rifle - he loved it and couldnt stop telling me so. He kept coming over and giving me tips, seeing how it was coming along and finally he came over and spotted for me while I was shooting it. He came over while I was cleaning between shots and asking me what I was doing so I told him I was breakin it in. So he says the whole break-in thing was BS and started by barrel manufacturers to make more money by shooting more ammo and buying more barrels. I wasnt sure how it fit together in his 'conspiracy theory' but since it kept me from doing all that cleaning I went along! He was saying the barrel temp was most important thing so dont get it too hot.

Anyway, I'm still pretty green to all this hunting and proper target shooting so I dont know if my results were good or bad - but the range guy didnt seem impressed! He said the gun was under 1/2" moa but I need to learn how to shoot better. A pic of my targets both at 100yds is below. The left target was the 1st one I used to sight in. The two shots in the upper left were the very 1st two shots with no adjustments, just bore sighting. The two at the bottom towards the middle were after dialing it down. Then the ones at the left middle from dialing up - and finally the ones around the center.

The two in the upper right were from the guy next to me shooting the wrong target! Big-5 was there with the manufacture reps showing the rifles they will be selling next year and the guy next to me had the Savage Edge in .243. I should have asked to show it to me and I know he would have let me shoot it - darn it! But they had Savage, Remington, Mossberg, and Smith & Wesson reps there with all kinds of rifles and LOADS of ammo and were cycling thru all the Big 5 employees - some who were not very experienced shooters at all....

The target on the right was a fresh one once I had it "dialed in" better but I just could not hit tight groups consistently. It has to be my method of shooting. Oh well, not perfect but more practice should help! It was good enough to get its first kill on Sunday! (See my next post...)

[trippledigitss]

Well after reading the break-in procedures on Howa's website I'm kinda 2nd guessing my decision to forego the break-in!   I hope the range guy is right about it being BS! But the way Howa explains it make sense, I should have read that 1st! I didnt shoot 20 rounds in 5 minutes but I did get the barrel good & warmed up with about 10+ shots loaded one at a time but basically in a row. Hopefully it will still shoot fairly straight - I'm not looking to win any competitions but I would like to be able to hit a ground squirrel at 100+ yds.... Besides, with bolt action how often do you shoot 5+ rounds really fast together & heat up the barrel - its not like its a frickin AR where you can drop 30rds in less than a minute!?!

[carpsniperg2]

yeah it is a pain and worth it at the same time

[G.R.K]

That new Axiom shotgun seem's to be pattering very nicely.