I've said this before and I still believe it to be true. The most important factor in getting any rifle to shoot decent is consistent bore condition. What I meen by that is consistentcy of fouling. The bore cannot be accumulating carbon or copper at a steady rate as you shoot. It needs to stabilize at a certain point and remain steady.
If you happen to have a slightly rough new factory tube and can visually see copper streaks growing in the muzzle accuracy will suffer. Usually greatly suffer in my expierience. A sootier powder should help negate that. I've battled many coppermines and they are never jewels until the war is won.
I've devised my own simple breakin method that seems to work wonders. I need to buy some more Savage tubes to further my education on that.
On the other end of the spectrum some barrels are sensitive to carbon fouling and loose accuracy as it accumulates. Some powders just burn too dirty for extended firing.The shooter of any particular barrel needs to figure out which is which. Find the happy medium and all is well.
I demand of my tubes to shoot dirty. When I take them into competition I might need to shoot 100 rds without cleaning. Tubes might get fairly hot also. Usually I counter this problem by developing my loads without cleaning the barrel at all and running them hot.. Its not uncommon for me to have 200- 400 rds down the barrel before I shoot in comps. Obviously one does not need that many rds to settle down but I find it starts out and stays more consistent that way. Some barrel/powder combinations have a tendency to shift POI as they foul. Not good.
Your barrel is really gonna have to like the powder your feeding it to function that long. Thats what I strive for.
Running them hot will shorten thier life. Oh Well. I enjoy starting over anyway.
The average 204 with its long jump to the throat really appreciates consistent neck tension. For 100yd shooting it does'nt seem to care if thats super light tension with high ES's or not. Just consistent. Might not make sense on paper but I've seen it happen many many times. In fact if I was interested in shooting my factory 204 at 100yds only I'd go with super light tension and forget the ES numbers.
For longer ranges you'll be better off knocking down the ES's with a little more tension.
Switch primers every time you create a new load. You have to spin the wheel to find out what the winning combination is. Just be smart and safe about it. Fed 205M and CCI-450's usually come out on top for me. I try them all anyway.
Berger bullets.
The main stuff as I see it.
Enjoy the sport. Thats the real important part.
. Nice write up by the way!
