Got questions? Here’s some answers.

If you’re referring to the primed case filled with powder with a bullet stuck down the throat it’s a fu#&ing cartridge not a caliber. A caliber is a hole.

Next question.

Simple. Do the following without skipping any steps*:

1. Shoot 1 shot and clean thoroughly for 15 shots using the ammo you intend to hunt with.
2. Then shoot 1/2 a shot and clean for 21 shots using the same ammo.
3. After this shoot nine 2-shot groups using ammo with bullets that were dipped in a mixture of nutmeg and orange soda.
4. Retrieve ALL bullets fired during steps 1-3 and melt them down.
5. Using material from step 4 cast into fresh bullets measuring exactly 0.0000587″ larger than your groove diameter.
6. Fill fire-formed cases to the neck with a 50/50 mixture of Unique and the little rocks you scraped off of some 36 grit sand paper.
7. Seat bullets according to best OAL practices. You should have 43.5 loaded cartridges.
8. Now fire these cartridges two at a time until all ammunition is spent making sure to clean with a nylon brush between each double shot.
9. Perform a final bore clean using your bore solvent of choice.
10. You’re all set!

*do not do any of these things under any circumstances.

Some have a rather elaborate and lengthy process for barrel break-in while others don’t do much, if anything. Keeping in mind that different barrels often need different things, we fall in between these two ends of the spectrum. Generally speaking we do the following:

1. Initial cleaning (we use bronze brushes but understand many have excellent results with nylon)
2. Shoot three to five 3-shot groups while keeping the barrel reasonably cool.
3. Thorough clean.
4. How do the groups look?
   1. OK? You’re done.
   2. Not OK? Back to the range with same and additional loads.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 until satisfied. Sometimes if it’s being ornery we’ll use some J-B Bore Paste to do some very light lapping. Generally not necessary.

That’s it.