New rifle maintenance

[mbwa]

I'm the proud owner of a new Tikka rifle and am wondering what all to do with a new rifle to get it ready for shooting. With my first rifle, I cleaned it all very thoroughly and then went through the whole barrel break-in process. From everything I've read, it sounds like barrel break-in is unnecessary. What sort of cleaning is needed, though? Seems like wiping off excess oil and cleaning the bore is worth doing. Anything else? I have seen videos of people disassembling the bolt and cleaning excess oil off the bolt components as well.

 

[DropTyne]

I typically do a thorough cleaning as you mention. I don't disassemble the bolt and personally think that barrel break-in is pointless.

I am sure you will get very strong opinions on this, particularly with barrel break-in.

Enjoy your new rifle!

 

[Gearqueer]

I'm the proud owner of a new Tikka rifle and am wondering what all to do with a new rifle to get it ready for shooting. With my first rifle, I cleaned it all very thoroughly and then went through the whole barrel break-in process. From everything I've read, it sounds like barrel break-in is unnecessary. What sort of cleaning is needed, though? Seems like wiping off excess oil and cleaning the bore is worth doing. Anything else? I have seen videos of people disassembling the bolt and cleaning excess oil off the bolt components as well.

mbwa,

Congratulations on the new rifle. I can’t speak too much about maintenance on Tikka actions. When it comes to rifle bores I think that most shooters brush their bore too often. A little copper fouling keeps things consistent. I only run wet patches (hoppes solvent)and dry patches to clean the bore after long sessions. If you see a drop off in accuracy between 100-1,000 rounds then you can clean with a bronze brush and/or aggressive copper solvent.

You will get differing opinions on this.


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[slowelk]

Take the stock off, de-grease the action screws, make sure the lug is properly seated, torque action screws to 50 inch pounds, pass a couple of solvent patches through the barrel, then an oil patch. After that you're off to the races. If you haven't mounted your scope yet, and even if you have it would be good to de-grease everything then mount/remount.

 

[WCB]

New rifle...comes home is stripped and cleaned. I pull off the stock and clean all excess oil and residue off. Bore and chamber get cleaned then light oil. I personally only pull the bolt apart if it seems like a lot of extra oil/grease is coming out of it.

My barrel break in is to shoot it. basic cleaning after the range to get the powder fouling out...light oil. Deep barrel clean removing all fouling, copper etc., once the accuracy starts to go.

My optics are cleaned after every hunt or even during the hunt. Learn how to properly clean not only bino and spotters but rifle scopes. Have the proper tools/items.