I have a Winchester 30-06 my papa gave me 25 yrs ago. I plan to retire it this year and get something new. The problem is that I have never baught a rifle before. I am leaning toward a Winchester, Remington, or Savage in a 06, .270, or 7 mag. I know these three brands offer "out of the box accuracy" if bought brand new. But I am a little hesitant about the "Breaking in" phase of a new rifle. My other option is going used. but then there is the issue of how much barrel life, warped stocks, or accuracy problems I might encounter.
should I go new or used

As far as a break in period I am not aware of one. Take the gun and clean the heavy grease off of and out of it, have the gun boresighted and take it to the range. Buy several brands and weights of bullets to see which is the most accurate out of that gun. Make sure to let the barrell cool in between groups. Break in complete.

I hear your suppose to break it in, my grandfather, dad, and uncle never broke them in and took alot of deer. My other grandfather shoot match so he says you need them broke in. So my first rifle I toke his word and man is that thing accurate but its a pain, for example you shoot one then clean it, do that a few time and shoot twice and clean it and all the up until 10 shots, it takes alot of ammo and patience to break them in. I saw cabelas sells bullets that break your rifling for you, but I myself bought a 30-06 not to long ago and it shoots fine without being broken in.

I have never broken in a rifle. The only rifle I have right now is a rem model 7 in 7mm-08 that I got new and that thing will drive tacts. As far as a used gun If you find one in good shape It should last a long time. And as far as brands go the three you listed above are great rifles, I think the rem, and savage are a little more accurate, but my dad has winchster model 70 classic compact and he killed deer at almost 400 yrds with it.

The idea behind breaking in a rifle is to smooth out rough edges and machining marks left from the tooling. This theoretically:

- Decreases copper fouling by creating a smoother, more uniform surface
- Also makes the barrel easier to clean for the same reason
- Provides for more consistant velocity, because the barrel gets less fouling buildup, tight spots are removed or at least made more uniform and the bullet has a smoother surface to ride on
- Enhances accuracy because of the more consistant velocity

You can achieve the same gains by 'polishing' the bore with J-B Bore Compound. Since most barrels these days are button rifled, they get broken in a lot easier and faster than they used to. They're also a lot more uniform, so a break in routine isn't as necessary as it used to be for a hunting rifle. You'd think that hand-lapped competition-grade barrels wouldn't need to be broken in, but you won't find a competition shooter that doesn't carefully break in their barrel. So yes, there are gains to be had by properly breaking in a barrel, but most hunters are not concerned about squeezing that last .1" off their 100 yard group, and most would never notice the difference anyway.

A good, all-around break in method is:

Shoot 1 round and clean. Do this for 5 shots.
Shoot 5 3-round groups, cleaning between groups.

After this your barrel should be ready to shoot for groups, but clean it again after the next 10 rounds a couple of times. After 30-40 rounds you can consider it 'broken in', and you'll have achieved pretty much all the gains you can with a hunting rifle.

i bought a rem 700 sps last spring and a love it. its a little cheaper than the usual 700 but so far seems like a good rifle

I think the decision to buy new or used depends on a couple of things...1) Have you decided what caliber you want or are you flexible...If you are set on say a .270, but find a nice used .308, would you wait or buy...also...2) How good are you at doing minor gun smithing and how good are you at looking at a gun and telling how much it has been shot or if the previous owner even knew how to take care of a gun....It's my opinion that there are many rifles that are damaged because the previous owner didn't know how to properly clean the gun, so if you have to replace the barrel, you haven't saved money buying used.

So far as breaking in a barrel, I agree with wmramse...before I ever shoot, I first clean the barrel, it's amazing the stuff left in a barrel from the factory...With a 700, I usually remove the barrel from the action and clean, lube and adjust the trigger....I then put it back on the action and check for bedding problems, then attach the scope, remove the bolt and boresight by eye....When I take it to the range, I usually shoot once at 25 steps or so, just to make sure I'm on paper...I then move to 100 yards and sight in, usually I clean the barrel between every 3 shots or so for the first 20-30 shots...Then after about every 20 shots or so...Good Luck

i would look at ruger too. i have a ruger M77 in 30-06 and a ruger M77MKII in 6.5x55 sweedish mauser and boy they are about the best guns ive shot. very accurate and very reliable, plus ruger has good customer service.

well personaly.... with the way things are going and being a little bit scared of losing our rights to own guns i will not buy another gun new again for the reason of being registered in my name....lol no way to trace a gun to me so they cant take it away lol

Not that you'd give it up anyway, huh? I sure wouldn't. I would consider it an act of war, since it would violate my constitutional rights. I swore an oath in '94 to defend my country against all enemies, foreign and domestic, which includes my home, my family and my rights. If they think outlawing guns is a tough fight, just wait until they try to take them

I appreciate the great and valuable feedback. Because of all the "future problems" a used rifle may have, I have decided to go NEW. I like the price range and the accu-trigger of the Savage. also I have heard great things about the Rem. SPS. But definitely, it's going to be in the .270 caliber. Another thing that was mentioned to me was the Stevens 200 model rifle. Basically a Savage with a gray stock. Anybody know how well the Stevens performs? I do know that they are priced really cheap. Again, Thanks yall!

I haven't heard a lot about the Stevens 200, but what I have heard is that it's a good shooter and solid performer. From what I understand, it's essentially a base model Savage - good quality and value, but short on the bells and whistles. IMHO, the Savage 111 series is a better value - all the standard bells and whistles at not much more than the model 200. I've seen several at Wal Mart for $318, package deal with a (cheap Simmons or Bushnell) scope.

I'm with Wes on this, preacher and all!

From my cold dead hands........

hey everyone, since we are talking about cleaning and breaking in new rifles, i am wondering what you guys use to clean them. like, what oils, rods, even bore snakes.... just curious because i am looking for a new rifle and need to know how to keep it looking beautiful. another question, if you dont use something like a bore snake (something that you pull through the barrel, do you guys worry about pushing your rod (and all kinds of junk) towards the camber and innner wrorkings of your gun. thanks for the topic, its a good one....

I work at a local gun store in my area. There is nothing wrong with buying a used gun. Make sure you inspect the rifle carefully, look at the barrel, the stock the action etc. Also, if you want, ask the salesperson who owned the gun before and any questions you might have. They should keep a record of who they bought it from, the serial # and stuff like that. Usually from what I have seen the way the gun looks is a decent indicator of how it was treated. IMHO remington is the way to go. A used remington, in good condition will shoot as well as any new gun. Thats just my opinion. I mean if the military trusts its action in their sniper rifles then it has to be doing something right. Haha. Best of luck on your decision. I hope my rambling helped you out.