One tip, if you shoot jacketed bullets primarily, give your barrel a very good cleaning before going to lead. Any copper fouling will act like a magnet to pick up lead.
Thanks for the tip, I just realized I don't have anything to remove copper fouling. Any recommendation on what solvent works the best and not too expensive?
I use Hoppe's #9 to clean the bore. When I look at the inside of the barrel it looks the same now vs. when it was new, to my old eyes anyway.