New Rifle sight in

[spinningreel]

Have a new rifle to sight in before Deer season and have some questions.

Gun make: Browning X bolt
Caliber: .270
Scope: Leupold VX 3i 4.5-14x40
Cartridge: Hornady SST 130 grain

Sight in distance will be at 200yds. Will be shooting from the Prone position with the aid of a Caldwell tack driver shooting bag.
Rifle is new unfired.

Question #1. Gun Barrel heat. How many times do you shoot before you let the barrel cool down? after each 3 shot group? 2 shots, or after each shot? etc. Any recommended techniques for manually aiding the barrel cool down? (ie. cooling towel, etc.) or just let barrel cool naturally.

Question #2. Clean barrel. Do you recommend running a bore snake after each 3 shot group? Sight in will be in the field away
my cleaning bench, so field cleaning will be a bore snake.
Question #3. Outside temps. Will outside temps affect bullet accuracy? Should I wait until cooler temps to do my sight in?

Any tips/advice appreciated. Thanks.

[byrdland]

There is the question/controversy about "breaking in" a new barrel. Some do, some don't. Gunblue 490 on Youtube is a very smart firearms guy. He says no break in necessary. I have a Browning A-bolt Medallion II in .308. I was advised to break the barrel in. I fired one round, filled the barrel with cleaning foam and waited 22 minutes, swabbed the barrel and repeated for 10 rounds. It was tedious, but I did get some blue copper residue on the swab until the blue began to disappear on the swab. I was advised it took 22 minutes for the foam to work. Then I fired 3 rounds, cleaned and then 5 rounds and clean. letting the barrel cool off between shots. Again, it was tedious. However the last three rounds I fired at 100 yards were all touching. With my rifle and 165 grain .308 (Hornady BTSP), if I'm 2 inches high at 100 yards, I'm dead on at 200 yards.

[spinningreel]

Gunblue490 is my favorite YouTube gun channel. Like Hickok45 he is rooted in a common sense approach. I highly value his opinions.

[Zoomworms]

I will add the last new xbolt i bought was extremely dirty from the factory.

[Aggie]

First off clean your rifle before firing. Start off sighting in at 25 yards before moving out to no more than 100 yards. About every rifle that I sighted in dead on at 25 yards will be about an inch high at 100 yards. I typically sight my rifles in around 2" high at hundred. You will really like that 270 X-bolt, I have an A-bolt 270, 7mm mag and 300 Win Mag. All of them group less than an inch at 100 yards. My 270 grouped better with 140 grain Hornady BTSP, harvested a great many whitetails over the last 25 years. Don't get locked into one bullet, try different brands and weights. For years I shot Federal Premium but the last 18-20 years been using Hornady for factory ammo. Just don't get the barrel too hot, modern ammo doesn't foul your barrel that much. You can run a bore snake after around 10 rounds is sufficient for sighting in for hunting in my opinion. Heat is your worst enemy.

[61Woody]

I just stated the reloading process on my Xbolt in .270 getting one hole groups at 50 yards but that is with a lower charge, will be upping it and see what happens. As for barrel break in I used to do it but I just scrubbed the Xbolt real good before I took her and shot 15 rounds stopping after evry 3 and letting her cool for about 5 minutes. While testing reloads I just fired groups of 3 every couple of minutes until it was hot enough to burn me. Let it cool for 15 minutes then fired a couple more groups and noticed the POI didn't change much at all. Barrel was very easy to clean when I got home.

[Capt Craig]

A barrel sometimes needs as many as a 100 rounds before the barrel's harmonics adjust to a consistent state. I wouldn't try and spend too much time trying to get a tight zero early on. You will find it will chase around a bit. Also, the hunter is most concerned with a cold bore first shot. Shooting more than 3 times warms the barrel and changes the overall trajectory slightly. Depending on several factors, the change can be unnoticed or it may be an inch or two. When teaching my students, we focus on several minutes between rounds in order to prevent the barrel from getting too hot. This time gap is not as critical in the early stages as it is when you get to the point of trying to really define your zero after 60-80 rounds down the pipe. At this point, it is important to pay special attention to cold shots separate from warm barrel shots to note exactly what changes in the point of impact you are actually getting.

[F150owner]

I had no idea about allowing the barrel to cool and cleaning to get sighted in. I have a never-fired, new Ruger American in .308 and new scope I need to sight in. This info is super helpful. This is why BBC is the best.

[d'Wayne]

I don't know about breaking in a barrel. All I'm concerned about is where the first , then maybe the second out of a cold barrel goes. I used to clean the barrel then fire one fouling shot before season.

[Bill2e]

get it bore sited first. Then fire @ 25 yards and get it centered. Move to 100 yards and adjust to 1 1/2 to 2 inches high. Next go kill your deer.

Should take no more than four rounds.

[Chief Paduke]

This thread is a delight. It reminds me of going with my dad to sight in rifles, some 50-60 years ago. I remember being so impatient, as he waited to a barrel to cool, before firing the next shot.

[StratDude]

Rather than change to BDC or Mil Dot scopes on all of my rifles I've acquired over the years, I sight most of mine in at 1 1/2" to 1 3/4" high at 100yds.

[96 Champ]

I bought a x bolt stainless this summer in a 270 cal. put a Leuopold vx3 on it. Went to our gun range about 2 months ago to see what it will do, & shot 10 rounds my buddy had loaded for his 270, that he full sized. No more break in needed than that for this rifle. After 6 shots I noticed things coming together so I cleaned it and fired one more to foul the barrel and shot 3 in a 1" group at 100 yards. Went back just last week to work up a load for my rifle, fired 3 @ minimum, maximum & 3 at middle of load data, made a powder adjustment twice and ended up with 3 in a penny at 100 yards. Before my last 3 shot group I cleaned barrel, loaded 4, one to foul the barrel and shot my group, I have a browning a bolt stainless that has the same characteristics when shooting. I'll shoot one 3 shot group and let barrel cool a bit and proceed, watch what your groups do to determine if you need to clean, maybe just run a brush through, then proceed. Every gun and barrel is different, just take your time and watch what's going on. Going back Monday to shoot again as long as it doesn't get hot outside and confirm what we got last week and maybe tweet it a bit if needed and sight it in. Tried to download picture but phone will not cooperate.

[Transom]

What powder are you burning in your 270? I like Imr 4831.

[96 Champ]

I am using hodgden hybrid 100V, 130 grain Barnes SSTX