I read that Windex was useful for running in after removing as much of the cleaning fluids ( Hoppes and Sweets ) as it gets all traces out and leaves the bore clean of everything. Dunno but took it anyway as we had some and it wasn't going to cost. Got a few strange looks so I resorted to putting it on the patches under the bench like some sort of wino .......
Of course Eagle Park was putting on a show with a lot of wind and a nice muddy and partially washed out track. The weather seemed to scare most people away as when I got there I would have been one of about 10 until early afternoon.
I put a target out at 25, did the run in thing whilst sighting it in ( talk about a boring job ) , then moved to 50m for sighting in and then 100 to finish the day off.
Given that the loads were just what looked good with W748 as I have some and the rifle is pretty new I was really happy with the results.
My best was a three shot group of .711 edge to edge @ 100m, so half an inch centre to centre.
I did a better three shot group but stopped to have a chat to the guy beside me who was also playing with a 204 ( albeit a Remington ) when I decided to run two more shots which blew it out to .946 edge to edge, so about 3/4 of an inch. You can see three shots clustered which was the original 3 ... serves me right, should have left it there and gone for glory ! A 5 shot group at way less than an inch is nothing to sneeze at though.
Two minor concerns. One is patchy extraction. About 1 time in 10 the claw doesn't grip. I have read something about this and hope it is just cheap crappy Remington cases as I plan to get some Norma/Nosler brass once financial. The other is the magazine doesn't like more than three cartridges in it as the 4th pushes everything at a funny angle and jams up the works. I note that although I am slightly under the max COL, the cartridges are right on the limit of the length of the magazine. Something else to play with.
Summary? I like it. I think that playing with the bedding and finding a load recipe it likes will see the groups shrink even more. Watch out bunnies !
I also took the Marlin 17 HMR out to see if my recent lack of form with it was going to translate to a target. At 50 it was acceptable but at 100 it was shooting around 3 inches. Playing around with the action screw tension didn't do much so I will have to think about it. It was quite windy but I don;t think tripling the group would be the result of that.
Lastly, I managed to hit a small pot hole at the intersection of Ripley Rd and Little River Rd ( I think ) and screwed my week old tyre. I will be speaking to the council about the state of their roads and see if I can get anything back from them. We pay taxes and so on for an infrastructure so it should not be in a state to shag tyres !! grrr.
I think its Metho your thinking of to remove all traces of oils/cleaning solvents after a clean. That barrel looks like it wants to shoot to me, run more rounds through it and it may come really good ... its already shooting damn well!
