Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Tubbs final finish question?

Guys I have a new Savage 22-250 that I need to shoot to break in. My question is should I just shoot regular ammo and then clean after every shot or would it be better to shoot the Tubbs treated projectiles and then clean? I have a box of the Tubbs bullets with like 5 or 6 different grit bullets. I have never used the Tubbs system before but have read several posts and some guys say it helps with accuracy and fouling and some say they can tell no difference. I have never read anything that claimed that it hurt the accuracy of the barrels.

I�m sure that you guys will probably say for me to shoot regular ammo first and see how it does but I wanted some opinions, especially from some of you guys that have used the Tubbs system. Thanks!

I used it on my savage 308. could not tell an appreciatable difference in accuracy but did notice easier cleaning and less fouling.

I shot 6-8 bullets in a Remington .223 to knock the bark off the tooling marks in the throat. Dunno if it was a coincidence, but it's the cleanest-shooting centerfire barrel I've ever owned that wasn't treated with UBC. I have shot as many as 500 rounds and it shoots the same good groups at the end as at the beginnng, then takes about 3-4 patches to clean. I don't know if it would happen again but it happened once!

I used it on a Ruger Mark II in 30-06. In one range session I put all the rounds, 40 shots IIRC, into 2 1/2". I believe I got about 3/8" better groups and easier cleaning afterward.

I wish I had more to report but I sold that rifle soon afterward, confident the new owner would be happy with it.

You did this to breaking-in the barrel or to smooth a rough barrel?

jwp475,

I bought the rifle used. It shot 1-1/2" five shot groups with consistency. I wanted to experiment with the Tubbs system, that's the main reason..... that rifle seemed like a good candidate. Copper fouling was worse than average.

My primary goal was to improve the accuracy. I was hoping to get MOA but was happy to average approx. 1-1/8" with the same load after treatment. No other changes were made to the rifle.

I agree that is what the Tubbs system is for, but the Opening Post asks about shooting the Tubb' final finnish bullets to break-in a new barrel

I've used it on several new barrels - a couple of new factory Remington's and 2 custom barrels and I'm a big fan.

The one that showed the most improvement was a factory Rem 700 chambered in .350 RemMag which was the worst barrel I've ever seen for fouling plus I couldn't shoot more than 9 or 10 loads with Barnes bullets as it plated copper in the bore so badly it was a long, long process to get it out. After the Final-Finish treatment the difference was amazing with respect to copper plating. Accuracy was difficult to determine before the Final-Finish treatment but afterward it was about what you'd expect from a factory barrel or about 1.5" @ 100 yards -- some a little better and others a bit larger.

I also used it on a experimental custom barrel, at the suggestion of the maker, and it made a very good barrel into an outstanding barrel and it was without a doubt the easiest barrel I ever owned to clean and it went a long, long time between cleanings.

Some will tell you that the process will move the throat forward but that hasn't been my experience in any of my rifles.

With respect to the tried and true method of fire one shot and clean etc etc, I think it's basically a waste of time for a hunting rifle and the only reason benchrest shooter's do it is they want to find out the potential of the barrel as soon as possible and it isn't uncommon for them to go thru more than a few excellent barrels before they find that magic barrel that works for them. They basically know the load they want to use and if the barrel doesn't shoot it they move on.

jwp,

I responded to that portion. Accuracy and fouling reduction is the goal of break in. Why are you posting in this thread?


Onestar,

I think it would work great for a "break in". Aren't Tubb bullets about the cost of a box of good factory ammo, very reasonable. You may be on to something.

What do you mean by "why am I posting in this thread"?

JB,

Were you using the course, medium, or fine grit bullets?



Casey

I have had good results in general with the final finish, but I would proceed with caution. First do the standard bullet break in whatever method you like. See how well the barrel shoots and cleans up with at least 20-40 rounds through it. If it is accurate and easy to clean I would only use the three finest coatings following the instructions for a custom barrel. If it shoots lights out I wouldn't do anything in the way of fire lapping.

If it is hard to clean to bare metal then I would consider using the standard method. I also lube the bullets with spray on tri lube to extend the honing further down the barrel (at least in theory).

On the negative side it can push the throat forward and increase tolerances in the throat area. The rougher the barrel the better it seems to work. Hand lapped barrels only benefit from removing reamer marks in the throat.