OK guys. I've got my Tikka .270 win; scope gets mounted tomorrow and out to the range for first shots on Saturday. My question is - is there a better or worse brand of ammo to use for "barrel break in"? I really don't want to screw up my brand new rifle...

Are you going to use reloaded ammo or factory ammo? I've never broken in a barrel on a hunting rifle, just sighted them in and shot them. I do run a hundred strokes on a bore brush with a patch wrapped around it with JB non-embedding bore cleaner prior to shooting.

I'd shoot the ammo your going to hunt with. Prior to shooting I'd take the gun down and make sure all the places that won't see daylight have a coat of oil or paste wax on them. It doesn't hurt to tear down a bolt and clean it on a new gun. It's a good time to check the bedding and free float if your barrel is so set up. At this point I usually do a glass bed job on wood stocked rifles.

I agree with Bob, I have tried the "break in" routine and after shooting dozens of new rifles I can see no difference. IMO the eloborate break in procedure is just a myth.. an exercise to give the chronic worrier something to do.

Use the ammo of choice and just shoot. I do, however, clean the barrel to bare metal each time after the first few shooting sessions. Then just clean the carbon and soot out after that. When accuracy starts to go away (100 or so shots), I clean out the copper to bare metal again.

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When you're "breaking-in" a new barrel, you're ironing out the tiny manufacturing defects left in the barrel. Faucettb's cleaning procedure is doing the same thing without wasting a lot of time and ammo at the range. I would recommend you consider it.

When range shooting, the important thing is to pace yourself and not let the barrel heat to the point you can't hold your hand completely wrapped around it.

The suggestion to use whatever type of ammo you intend on using for hunting/target practice is also a good one.

All good suggestions, follow them and you'll have no problems. Let us know how it shoots.

Shoot the ammo you will be using. Don't just shoot bullets to put them down the tube, sight your rifle in while your doing it. If you shoot 10 shots and your gun is sighted in, you wasting ammo if you just keep shooting solely for break in purposes. The bullets going down the tube smooth out the rough sections, when they are gone you have a potential for better accuracy but every bullet also wears the barrel so unless accuracy is terrible your wasting your time on a hunting rifle. Tikka barrels are generally very smooth so you may not see any difference in accuracy, on the other hand some brands like Savage really tighten up after the first 30 or so shots.

No ammo will screw up your gun unless it is dirty, improper or over cleaning is the #1 cause of barrel wear.

i always clean a bbl. down to bare metal before i ever fire a shot so when doing that i can get a pretty good idea how smooth the bore is. that will dictate the "break in" procedure that i use. truth be told anymore i just clean 'em to bare metal and take them to the range and shoot 10 to 20 rounds through it and then when i get home i clean it to bare metal before it's next range session. i usaully do this 2 or 3 times and then go into a more relaxed routine. sometimes it takes more range sessions, sometimes it's barely necessary.
rifles are all induviduals so it is hard to make a blanket recomedation, i generally err on the undercleaned side of things. remember, generally the more that you shoot the rifle the smoother the bore will get, there are always exceptions but this usually holds true.

You guys ought to give the JB bore cleaner a try. This is an old bench rest shooters trick and really gives a new barrel a boost. It also saves a lot of ammo which means longer barrel life.

Starting with a clean bore wrap a patch around a well used bore brush, apply JB's and do 25 strokes the full length of the bore. do a new patch with JB's and do another 25 strokes. Twice more and your ready to shoot. Do use a good bore guide whenever you use a rod in your barrel. This leaves the bore really smooth and ready to shoot.

Thanks all. I know there's quite a bit of diversity of opinion on this matter. I kind of blended the advise though I didn't try the JB Bore cleaner. Fired 6 rounds, cleaned, repeat a couple of times. Popped out the bolt and sighted down the bore - looked like a mirror. Sighted in the new scope at the same time so as not to waste ammo. Ended up putting 60 rounds down the tube; was mindful of the barrel temp.

Fun gun to shoot, though by the end of the day my shoulder was arguing that!

You guys ought to give the JB bore cleaner a try. This is an old bench rest shooters trick and really gives a new barrel a boost. It also saves a lot of ammo which means longer barrel life.

Hey Bob, I've always used Remington 40X for this sorta' effort, and it does help with the occassional rough spot in a new barrel. Does the JB have any advantages in a new barrel? Grit size, hardness, etc. that you are aware of?

Clean it well, and just shoot the thing. JB is good for getting heavy nasties out, if needed. The one important rule is 'DON'T LET THE BARREL GET TOO HOT!' Until you've put a few dozen rounds down that nice new bore, just fire a few at a session and clean afterwards. I was shooting new rifles for years before I ever heard of 'break-in', but common sense told me that you don't run any mechanical device full-out until the mechanism has had a chance for the parts to settle in and get used to doing the voodoo that they do. DON'T LET THE BARREL GET TOO HOT! Don't see much controversy there.