[Rockrivr1]

Hello Everyone,

I just picked up my new S&W1911 yesterday and spent last night breaking it down, cleaning it, lubing it up and putting it back together. It's my first 1911 style handgun so it was pretty interesting taking it apart. Very different then taking down my Sig 229.

Now I'm ready to hit the range with it this weekend and I just realized that I've never owned a "Brand New" handgun before. Because of that I'm not sure how I should break the bbl in properly. I want to break it in right and any advise will be appreciated.

Thanks

[CWL]

Go shoot it, that'll break it in enough for you. Several hundred rounds of FMJ followed by JHPs will break-in the entire gun functionally.

You may be thinking about custom rifle barrels rather than handguns. The jury is still out on whether rifles need breaking in at all.

[Nero Steptoe]

Shoot it a lot.

[Rockrivr1]

That sounds great! I wasn't sure if I needed to do some break in procedure with it like I did with my Highpower Service Rifle AR-15.

Thanks for the information.

Troy

[SADshooter]

My wife recently bought an STI Trojan from Dawson Precision. Their comment on break-in was to keep the friction surfaces well-lubricated for the first few hundred rounds. That's it.

[dfariswheel]

Handguns are significantly different from rifles.
Rifle barrels can be broken in. Old timers called this "sweetening" the barrel, but the process wasn't as fully understood as today.
As above, the jury is still out on whether break in really works, or is advisable.

"Breaking in" a pistol, is the process of shooting the gun until the burrs or defects left by machining are reduced by friction, and the parts "seat" with each other. Until the gun is fired enough to break it in, reliability and accuracy won't be as good as after.

Because of the much lower pressures pistols operate at, barrel break in really isn't necessary or even possible.
Whether rifle barrel break in is "ok" or not, the process takes around 100 rounds or so.
Pistol barrels don't change significantly for many hundreds of rounds.

In the case of a new handgun, here's my break in process:
First, I field strip the gun and closely inspect it for any possible factory defects. I wipe/brush any factory grit, metal fragments, or dirty lube out, and run a patch down the bore to remove factory lube.

I take the gun to the range and shoot it with whatever ammo is cheapest. After the day's shooting, no matter how many rounds were fired, I field strip and give it a good cleaning.
After the first 50 to 100 rounds I'll shoot at least a few of the brand/type of defense ammo I'd like to use in it. If it obviously won't handle this ammo, I consider changing to some other brand/type, but I don't get too excited just yet.

After, I've gone through about 200 rounds or so, I do a 100% strip, (only on autos that are capable of being disassembled properly by the owner, like the 1911) and give it a through detail cleaning/degreasing.
While it's clean and dry, I take a close look at all parts, looking for any factory defects, or unusual wear or damage, cracks/chips, etc.

If everything looks Ok, I re-lube and assemble the gun.
If the gun is a defense gun, I buy 100 to 200 rounds of the brand/type of defense ammo I'd like to use in the gun, and I take it to the range for a day-long reliability test.
I try to shoot the ENTIRE 100-200 rounds in one session. If this isn't possible, I finish the next day, and overnight I DON'T clean or strip the gun.

I shoot the gun in every manner possible, rapid fire, slow fire, on it's side, pointing up and down (if possible), and in every method of operation possible, like firing the first shot double action in a DA type gun, shooting the gun "dry" and reloading from a locked back slide, etc. I use all the magazines that I will use for that gun.

If the gun handles the entire amount of test rounds with 0% failures OF ANY TYPE, the gun is considered to be "trust-able" for personal defense.
If I have an obviously ammo related problem, like a bad primer, I will disregard that one round.

If the gun has any problems, I discern where the problem is. Either the gun has a problem, or it doesn't "like" that brand/type of ammo.

If it's the gun, I get a factory fix. If it's the ammo, I try another brand/type.

This defense test IS expensive, but I'm not going to trust my life to an unproven gun/ammo.

At the end of this 200-300 round break in and reliability verification, your new gun is broken in, and reliability and accuracy should be as good as it's going to get.
If you ever change ammo, magazines, replace parts, or have any gunsmithing done, the gun MUST be re-verified for reliability.

[Dave T]

I just picked up a new 45 ACP yesterday. I got to the indoor range today and fired Ball, JHPs and cast bullet handloads. I came home and cleaned it and lubed it. On Saturday I'm going to shoot it some more, after which I will clean it and lubricate it. I may shoot in an IDPA match on Sunday. If I do I will come home, clean and lubricate the not quite so new anymore gun. And so it goes.

[Rockrivr1]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Dfariswheel, thanks for the in-depth breakdown. Some very good information there I'll start using.

[Ky Larry]

Step 1: Shoot it.

Step 2:Clean it.

Step 3: See step 1.

[gun4funtime]

what dferiswheel said (post 6) +1
great advice!