Dobber1978

Just bought my first rifle and because of the fact the gun ownership is new to me I just want to hear some recommendations for maintaining.

I bought the Tikka T3 Hunter, haven't shot it yet but was going to take it out this weekend which brings me to my first question.

What should I do before shooting it this weekend??

So this will get me out to shoot a few shots, hopefully get a box of ammo through before heading out for deer,

Is there anything I should do while going through a box of ammo, I have read posts of new gun ownership and the breaking in people do, is this required? Cleaning after ever third shot and stuff, sounds over kill but I bought this gun to last a lifetime.

And once I get home what steps do I have to take to ensure it won't rust, cleaning and oiling of all metal parts, drying of the stock, treatment of the wood?

If there is anything else people can recommend please lay it on me, like I said this is my first gun, got into hunting because I have a few friend that do it every year, not something I grew up with.

Thanks
Jeff

Briman

Don't worry about breaking it in- your rifle will shoot good the way it is and the 'breaking in' process has at least as many doubters as practicioners. I personally doubt that going through an extensive break-in has much merit.

Just clean the bore and bolt before shooting- run a solvent patch followed by a few dry patches down the bore to remove any oil/grease used to prevent rust while the rifle was being shipped overseas. You can re-oil the barrel afterwards, but remember that les is more and you should run a dry patch down the barrel before shooting it.

Wipe all fo the metal surfaces down with silicone treated cloth to remove fingerprints and to put a fine lawey of oil on the surface. You don't need to do anything with the stock.

Your rifle should be an excellent shooter. I've shot 2 new T3s int he last week- a 270 and a lefthanded 30-06, both shot sub-moa.

MichaelT.

Clean it before you shoot it... Clean it after every three shots....Clean it when you are done.....

Do not fire the shots one after the other fast..... shoot one and wait at least a few minutes for the barrel to cool then fire another and wait for the barrel to cool again. You are not just shooting a gun, you are breaking it in.... You are seasoning the barrel. Overheating a new barrel can cause accuracy problems.

After you are done cleaning the gun the final time, oil the outside of the gun lightly as a rust inhibitor.

Be safe, and read up on gun handling and shooting. Become an asset to your shooting friends, not a liability or a risk factor.

Good luck and congrats on the new Tikka.

Retaks

I jsut got a Tikka T3 Stainless Lite in 300 WSM. I love it. I dont do any of the barrel breaking in crap. I cleaned it before i left and cleaned it when i got done. I shot 3 groups with it and the largest was just over 1in. I was shooting the cheapest ammo i could get for it and i was shivering from the cold. Im going to go get some better ammo and see what kind of groups i can get out of it after hunting season.

statjunk

I don't believe in breaking in a rifle but I think you can learn a thing or two from some range time with a strict cleaning regime. You can find out how many shots your rifle can shoot before accuracy starts to go down hill. There are lots of variables that contribute to this.

Otherwise I think that Briman has given you the 411.

Hunting you only do one time a year. Shooting is all year around. You may like it more the more you do it. It's kind of addicting.

Tom

RugerM77.270

Don't worry about breaking in your rifle too much. It doesn't do a whole lot for it. Just clean it before you shoot oiling it well and then again after. If possible shot more than a box and from different positions to get a good feel for the rifle before you shoot. I be accurate you need to be familiar with your weapon.

starhunter21

Break in is very debatable as you can see there are those on both sides of the fence, however I would agree statjunk in that how better way to learn about your new firearm than to take it apart an clean it a whole bunch of times. One thing to note, just like a car, a real dirty barrel is much harder to clean than a slightly dirty one.

Start with the cheapest ammo you can buy, no need burning up the premium stuff. I shot three boxes through my new gun before I could start to see its tendencies. The biggest thing I found is that a hot barrel makes more of a difference than a dirty barrel in my experience.

Tikka 30-06

You'll love the gun man, guaranteed!!

Ideaman

Follow the manual. Break it in how ever they say. You probably won't hurt anything by following a good cleaning routine, you might by not.

Go take a hunter safety course, you will probably need it anyway.

Sorry to tell you, you will probably buy many more guns.

eldeguello

Basically, that breaking-in stuff is an arcane practice, best done at midnight at the full of a blue moon with no witnesses, if at all. As a matter of fact, the idea of "breaking in" a barrel is of very recent origin, and my understanding is that it was the brainchild of a custom barrel maker who was trying to figure out some way of getting his customers to buy more barrels! They weren't being "shot out" fast enough to keep him in business, so he devised this scam to make them wear them out with too much scrubbing! Apparently, it worked!!

However, to answer your question: Usinga good bore solvent such as Shooters' Choice, a correct size patch, and a good, one-piece, preferably steel cleaning rod, clean the bore and the chamber thoroughly of any and all oil/grease and leave both the chamber and bore dry BEFORE firing the first shot. DON'T use jointed rods, or those made fom a soft metal that permits abrasive items to become embedded in the rod (such as aluminum or brass). DO buy and use a cleaning rod bore guide that you stick into the action to keep the rod centered so that it does not wear too much on the rifling just ahead of the chamber.

Once you have finished firing for the day, clean with patchesand that same bore solvent according to the directions on the bottle, and again leave the bore and chamber dry. Next, soak a patch in Birchwood-Casey SHEATH (I think they have changed thename to Barrier, same stuff!) and coat the bore with this stuff, and all other ferrous components that can rust. Then store the gun in a safe, cool, dry environment until you go shooting again. Follow this same routine, and you will never experience any rusting of steel parts! The stuff dries in place, leaving a rustproof microscopic film which does NOT have to be cleaned from the rifle before you can fire it next time. Oil and/or grease DOhave to be cleaned out every time before firing.
Oil can throw off the bullet impact; grease and heavy oil can cause excessive pressures.

Eventually, copper bullet jacket fouling MAY build up in your bore to the extent that it will have to be scrubbed out.IF that ever happens (and it may NOT, based on how many rounds you fire through that rifle), get some J-B bore cleaning paste from Brownells', and use it according to the directions. Depending on how much shooting you do, and how rough your barrel may be to begin with, you may never even have to use a bore brush in it, only patches. I have several VERY ACCURATE custom muzzleloader barrels that have never been cleaned with anything but boiling water and patches.

I have several rifles,one of which dates from the late 1960's (it is a 7mm Rem. Mag.) which still shootunder 1" at 100 yards that have never needed any cleaning except what you can do with a good solvent and a soft cotton cleaning patch(I use GI 2.5"X2.5").

One of the old time GREAT barrel makers of all time, Harry Pope, once stated that "more barrels have been ruined with a cleaning rod than any other way". This is still true-I have been personally told this by a couple of today's best barrel makers! SHEATH will not damage your stock finish either, but many bore cleaning fluids will.

As far as wood maintenance is concerned, a couple of coats of Johnson's Paste wax, well buffed, keeps your wood looking good, and will protect against rain & atmospheric humidity pretty well.