Keep a Dedicated Lot of Ammo for Baseline of New Rifle?

[logem]

Would it be a valid idea for me to buy and store a quantity (~100 rds) of a single lot of factory ammo to break-in and baseline a new barrel, and then to track it's performance over it's lifetime? Maybe I am overthinking this?

I recently acquired a Tikka T3x 6.5 CM Super Varmint. The scope should arrive Wednesday. I reload and chronograph everything when at the range with my Labradar. I have dies, tools, and enough brass, bullets, primers, and powder for this new rifle to load in excess of 4000 rounds. This will be my weekly all-around "shooter" and I expect to eventually shoot out the barrel. I am not into competition shooting. This will be a medium to long range target/prairie dog/coyote/deer/fun rifle.

Here's my thoughts on a plan:

1. Initially shoot about 20 - 30 rounds of factory ammo (Hornady 140gr ELDX-Match) through the rifle to zero the scope and get a decent statistical sample of velocity, ES, accuracy, etc.
2. Move on to developing starting loads with several bullets. Meanwhile the barrel velocity may reach a point where it will increase.
3. Shoot small 3-5 round samples of the factory baseline ammo every once in a while to determine when the "speed up" stage occurs.
4. Fine tune and finalize the hand loads after barrel speed up.
5. Wear out the barrel with match, hunting, and varmint bullets.
6. Use baseline ammo occasionally after large round count to access barrel integrity.

If this is not ridiculous OCD planning, how many rounds of baseline ammo would you purchase for a new barrel?

 

[turbobrick]

Its a little OCD, especially if you intend to hand load for the gun, but I don't see a downside other than cost. Really, the chrono and your groups at a set distance will probably be the only benchmarking you'll really need.

 

[logem]

Hey. Thanks for the reply. I suspect that it's not typical practice, but I'm not too concerned about the cost and it won't bother me to keep a small amount of "known" ammo aside.

 

[EdP]

I agree with Turbobrick and think the results of your "study" would be interesting to see.

 

[swavescatter]

Not sure what factory ammo gets you if you're a reloader. Some folks just buy enough powder/primers/bullets of the same lot to last the life of the barrel. You could just develop a load and load as many of those as you want...