[ORHunter79]

Ok, so I got me a new PT145, thanks to the advice on this site. I plan on putting 200 round through it to "break it in".

I took it apart and from the looks of things, it could use it, meaning there were some burs that need to be ground down. I know Taurus isn't the known for making "perfectly" machined firearms. I did grind down a bur on the bottom of the locking lug that was obviously missed in the factory.

So the question....would racking the slide accomplish the same type of wear on needed parts as firing the gun?

Thoughts?

Thanks.

[tipoc]

No it wouldn't. You need to shoot it. At some point you will fire the first 200 rounds through the gun anyway won't ya? I know of no way to get to the 201 round or 1000th without firing the first 200. I know of no way to get familiar with how the gun fires in your hand without shooting it.

Slide racking cannot replace the power and velocity of the slide in recoil or the interaction of the various parts during the firing action.

Dry fire and slide racking help break a gun in and can help develop some skills but nothing replaces shooting. Shooting is what most folks buy a gun for in the first place so go shoot it, fret not, and enjoy.


tipoc

[ORHunter79]

Ok. Thanks. Yep, I plan on shooting it a lot before it I will truly trust it.

As far as skills or being familiar with the gun, I'm not worried about that. Not tooting my horn, but I've got a lot of trigger time with different types of firearms to include this one, though I know you can always get better.

This is more or less a hypothetical questions dealing purely with gun break in.

Figured the slide moves whether a person fires it or racks it. And in turn it wears down the same parts. I could be wrong, that's why I posted the question.

Thanks for the input.

[Ben86]

tipoc is right, nothing breaks it in like actually firing the gun. Slide racking helps, but to a lesser extent.

As far as skills or being familiar with the gun, I'm not worried about that. Not tooting my horn, but I've got a lot of trigger time with different types of firearms to include this one, though I know you can always get better.

Even though you may have considerable skill with other guns, to get really good with THAT gun you must practice with THAT gun.

[ORHunter79]

Right, I acknowledge that I need to practice. Thank you. Not trying to be an ass, just trying to stay on topic.

Again, my main question was with rack vs fire. On that note, I guess the general consensus is racking helps, but not as much as firing? I could see that.

[PabloJ]

I would take it to range with box of 50 to make sure it goes bang. I would not dry-fire or rock slide needlessly you might have to sell that and buy something we know to work like alloy framed S&W .45.

[The Lone Haranguer]

No amount or force of hand racking can come anywhere close to the speed and force of actually firing the gun. However, practicing your hand racking techniques is beneficial and still may impart a small amount of break-in. (For safety, use dummy rounds instead of live ones.)

[bds]

I plan on putting 200 round through it to "break it in".

So the question....would racking the slide accomplish the same type of wear on needed parts as firing the gun?
Congrats and good idea on shooting 200 rounds to "break in" the pistol. With barrels that are not polished and coated on the inside like Glocks, I still prefer to shoot several hundred rounds of FMJ to burnish the surface of the barrel, especially if you plan on shooting lead reloads. Also, I noticed SA trigger pull smooth out quite a bit during this break in period. As to racking the slide, I agree with other posters that it is not the same as shooting the pistol.

These are pictures of my stainless slide PT145 with 5000+ rounds of jacketed/plated/lead reloads shot through. It's been cleaned with Hoppes #9 solvent and lubed with BreakFree CLP after each range session. The PT145 has similar rail configuration as 1911 and the slide-to-frame fit (white arrows) is tight even after 5000+ rounds (I could barely move the slide side-to-side. Heck, it's better than my new Sig 1911's slide-to-frame fit! :eek:).
http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=155625&stc=1&d=1325208146

The slide rails hardly show any wear, just a light removal of black finish on the bottom picture (red arrows).
http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=155622&stc=1&d=1325207424
http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=155623&stc=1&d=1325207564

The red arrows show where the black finish wore from slide contact and that's just about the only significant wear I can tell. I usually lightly lube the rails like my 1911 (full length with BreakFree) and the striker/firing pin release points (green and yellow arrows).
http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=155624&stc=1&d=1325207564

[tomwalshco]

I disagree. I think hand racking the slide is very beneficial for breaking in the mating parts. You can hand crank that dude 100 times in a minute - and when you smell the lubricant, you know you've created enough friction and heat and am doing some good.

A good diet of both is the best prescription for new guns. I'll also hit the ramp and chamber with a virgin felt cone, leaving the polish or grit off. A polish job, not abrasions...

Hand racking is less likely to cause galling with ill-fitting components.

[rcmodel]

There is nothing you can do by hand that even comes close to replicating the gyrations, flexing and slamming of parts together that goes on inside a gun when it is fired.

When I built match guns for 5th. Army AMU many years ago, we hand lapped every slide to every frame, and hand fitted every part. Then hand cycled hundreds if not thousands of times tuning triggers, and extractors, and magazines for each gun.

Still, you never knew what you had until you took it to the range and shot it half a day.
And then looked for wear spots and tuned some more.

I can GayRonTee Ya hand cycling is a great way to build muscles, and callus's, and sore hands.
But it doesn't break in a gun one little bit compared to shooting it 200-300 rounds.

Hand crank that dude 100 times in a minute - and when you smell the lubricantShirley, you jest!

rc

[tomwalshco]

When I built match guns for 5th. Army AMU many years ago, we hand lapped every slide to every frame, and hand fitted every part. Then hand cycled hundreds if not thousands of times tuning triggers, and extractors, and magazines for each gun.

If hand racking is so different from actual firing - why did you even bother? Busy work?

[Old Fuff]

I regard this business of “breaking in” with great amusement.

There are three classes of 1911 platform pistols: Service, Target and Big Boy Toys. The latter two are often delivered to a buyer/customer too tightly fitted to cycle reliably – and in particular fail to always go into battery. Service pistols shouldn’t require any breaking in at all. Is the poor Ol’ Fuff to believe that during World Wars One & Two each USGI 1911 or 1911A1 was shot 200 times before it could be packaged and delivered? Are there any other pistols beside the 1911 being sold today that require this treatment? Clearly the answer is, “No.”

Target pistols, of the bullseye kind should have slides and frames where the rails have been lapped together, and after the barrel has been fitted the lower lug could stand some attention too. But when you take one out of the box the slide should move without a hitch, and go into battery without having to be driven with a sledgehammer. :uhoh:

Big Boy Toys are target pistols that have been festooned with every gadget and accessory the builder can foist off on the buyer. Some of the stuff may have some utility, but a lot of it is to move money in one direction, and it isn’t difficult to determine what that direction is. These too are often delivered to they’re new owner in a generally too-tight condition.

None of this is to imply that one shouldn’t go out and shoot the pistol to get used to it. If you bought it too shoot by all means go out and do it. But if it has been correctly assemble and lapped in if necessary it should function reliably after no more then a magazine or two. In years past I built a few, both for others, and myself and not once did anyone have to break the gun in, because it was ready to go from git-go. I wouldn’t have delivered it if it weren’t.

[Ben86]

If hand racking is so different from actual firing - why did you even bother? Busy work?

He meant while he was working on the guns, not while he was hand cranking (100 times a minute?) and wishing he was shooting instead.

[bds]

good idea on shooting 200 rounds to "break in" the pistol. With barrels that are not polished and coated on the inside like Glocks, I still prefer to shoot several hundred rounds of FMJ to burnish the surface of the barrel, especially if you plan on shooting lead reloads. Also, I noticed SA trigger pull smooth out quite a bit during this break in period. As to racking the slide, I agree with other posters that it is not the same as shooting the pistol.
While PT145 does not need the hand lapping of tight match components, it will certainly benefit from firing 200-300 rounds of FMJ ammunition:

1. Unlike highly polished/coated barrels like Glock and aftermarket barrels, inside surface of PT145 barrel is not polished and burnishing with FMJ bullets will help smooth the surface. This will not only help in cleaning out fouling/copper residue, but if you shoot lead reloads, it will help reduce leading/removal.

2. New PT145 SA/DA trigger was good (my SA pull around 5 lbs) but will lighten and smooth out during the break in for more consistent SA striker release (now feels more like 4.5 lbs, similar to Glock trigger).

3. The captured dual recoil spring set was quite stiff when new and all the controls worked well but with definite crispness. After several hundred rounds of factory FMJ rounds (Winchester WB, PMC, CCI Blazer, etc.), it seemed functional operations smoothed out and made the handling of PT145 more comfortable.

Remember, this is a sub-compact 45ACP pistol with similar dimensions as Glock 26 that has a longer grip. It will snap in your hands shooting factory/full-power loads. Any smoothness in trigger/controls will help. :D

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=126845&stc=1&d=1283178089


Due to chamber dimensions (measured .485" at the mouth that quickly tapers to .480" and down to .473" halfway in) and mirror polished ramp that comes from the factory, PT145 has reliably fed/chambered every bullet type to include 200 gr SWC loaded out to 1.270" OAL. Here's a review of PT145 that produced 1.25" shot group at 25 yards with 200 gr SWC - http://www.taurususa.com/news-detail.cfm?newsID=13
The high performance Cor-Bon ammo grouped five shots within two and one-half inches with every variety tried, at a range of twenty-five yards. This is very good combat accuracy from a compact pistol. I also ran some hand loaded 200 grain lead semi-wadcutter ammo through the Taurus, and it would group five rounds into one and one-quarter inches from a rested position at twenty-five yards. This is excellent accuracy from this little pistol, much better than many full sized target pistols. The accuracy was no doubt helped greatly by the smooth trigger pull

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=155642&stc=1&d=1325227628

[usp9]

So the question....would racking the slide accomplish the same type of wear on needed parts as firing the gun?
There is no way on earth you can attain the same speed and energy during hand racking as the gun does while shooting. I know some forums espouse hand racking as a breakin technigue, but IMHO it is wasted time and energy. Go shoot.

[The Lone Haranguer]

If hand racking is so different from actual firing - why did you even bother? Busy work?
He was building match guns. You can still detect things like tight or loose spots in slide/frame fit this way, before the gun is deemed ready to shoot. Only actual shooting will reveal functioning or accuracy problems.

[1911Tuner]

If hand racking is so different from actual firing - why did you even bother? Busy work?

Nope. It's called lapping in. It smooths up any rough spots and mates the sliding surfaces as perfectly as can be gotten before firing the first round. Standard procedure with a tightly fitted pistol. The final seating is done with oil...and there can be many hundreds of cycles before the armorer gets just the right "feel" that he's looking for.

No need to do it with the gun fully assembled. Just the slide and frame...then the slide, frame, and barrel, and then a hundred trips fully assembled. Disassemble...clean and oil...and go shoot it to seat the lugs.

There's a lot more to buildin' a pistol than throwin' parts together and blastin' away.

[tomwalshco]

Not enough logical sense made to change my mind.

But typical - beat somebody over the head until they see your way of thinking. Everything is an absolute - such as - all Taurus guns suck, 380s won't stop a squirrel, Kel-Tecs are POS guns, hand racking is a total waste of time. Surprised the 1st one hasn't worked its way into this.

Hand racking does help, just like lapping is done by hand action. If violent action is the only path to break-in, why not just mate the parts with a bench grinder? Faster, more harmonics and slamming. All filing, polishing and fitting is not done at 10,000 rpms.

Hand racking is a supplemental process, not unlike dry firing, to help improve the gun and shooter performance. We are still talking about off the shelf semis (e.g. Taurus MilPro) aren't we? Not handmade raceguns.

I can easily rack my full-sized 45 autos 100 times in 30 seconds and would be willing to YouTube it if there is enough action on the table..... and I'm a 62 year old geezer.

Off with his head! ....absolutely!!!....

[bds]

So the question....would racking the slide accomplish the same type of wear on needed parts as firing the gun?
Perhaps the engineers/machinists can chime in and better clarify what I am trying to say about metal surfaces "settling" and "deforming" during the break-in process.

What would you really accomplish by repeatedly racking the slide by hand (even without lubrication on the slide/frame rails)?

My PT145 frame/slide rails came from the factory in pretty good shape without visible burrs on the surface. So racking the slide by hand would simply move the slide back and forth on the rails and perhaps cycle the captured dual recoil spring set to soften it a bit. Since there was no load bearing on the barrel/lug/slide/frame metal-to-metal surfaces, there would be no "real wear" on these parts as parts would simply "slide/glide" on each other. With the pistol operating from the force of powder ignition, these metal-to-metal contact points would be "slammed" against each other under load and real wear/deformation of metal surfaces would take place during the 200-300+ rounds of break in period.

For me, accuracy is everything and believe accuracy is the result of consistency. As the metal-to-metal contact surfaces "settle/break-in" into their normal operational tolerance consistency like how the barrel chamber locks with the breach face/slide, pistol may shoot differently than before the break-in period. I do not believe simply racking the slide will accomplish this as you are moving parts without load to produce this wear.

One thing that will result in "real wear" is the dry firing of trigger as trigger components are under the same "load" dry fired or with live ammunition. With new striker fired semi-auto pistols, I often dry fire several thousand times while watching TV or manually polish the individual components for smoother/lighter trigger operation.

For these reasons, I do not adjust my sights until after there was sufficient "break-in" of the pistol and shot groups produce consistency in point-of-impact (POI). Many people rush to adjust their sights before their pistols had a chance to break-in and end up moving the sights again. :D

[gamestalker]

I actually have quite a few Taurus's and although they are not in the same quality range of top shelf manufactured handguns, all of mine have functioned flawlessly after thousands of hand loaded rounds, to date, the only feature that I've had fail is the no rack repeatable battery. Of the 5 Taurus's that have it, 3 have quit functioning. Fortunately I've never had a mis-fire even after decades of reloading, but if I did that feature sure would come in handy.

Anyway, to your question. The 3 best ways to break that PT145 in is to shoot it, shoot it, and shoot it!

[HKGuns]

I'm a 62 year old geezer

Who obviously figures he has it all figured out and doesn't need opinions that differ from his own.

[1911Tuner]

Not enough logical sense made to change my mind.

If you ever have occasion to hard fit a slide...it'll become clear. Lapping isn't a "break-in" process. It's a final fit. You'll know you got it right when there's no detectable movement in either axis and feels like buttered glass as it makes the full trip to and fro under gravity when tilted at 45 degrees. Then...you'll understand lapping to fit.

And, I wasn't trying to change your mind.

[Old Fuff]

If the pistol isn't correctly fitted up (too tight in the wrong places) shooting can produce a sort of "battering ram fit," which is mostly a matter of the bottom lug camming surface pounding on the slide stop pin, or to a lesser degree on the barrel/slide where the top lugs come together. I suppose we could call this "peen fitting," and it's not particularly desireable. A little Dykem dye in the right places should show what's happening long before 200 rounds have gone down range.

I'm not sure I'd want a defensive weapon this tight anyway. To many folks are way to hung up on "tightness."

[The Lone Haranguer]

Hand-racking a pistol to break it in seems a lot like assembling an automobile engine and trying to break it in by turning the crankshaft with a ratchet and socket on the crank bolt. If something is seriously amiss, you might feel something, but otherwise it will just wear you out. ;) Only starting and running it will actually break it in, and if everything was done right, little or none should be required.

[Ben86]

To many folks are way to hung up on "tightness."

I admit to previously being one of those folks. I was astonished one day when I noticed the amount of play my S&W M&P9 had in it's slide to frame fit. Once I learned that was by design my anxiety subsided. I guess it's because people equate quality with tightness and junky things as being loose. While not having an understanding of firearm engineering.

[1911Tuner]

Hand-racking a pistol to break it in seems a lot like assembling an automobile engine and trying to break it in by turning the crankshaft with a ratchet and socket on the crank bolt.

If there was ever an apples to oranges analogy...

:D

[Old Fuff]

I was astonished one day when I noticed the amount of play my S&W M&P9 had in it's slide to frame fit. Once I learned that was by design my anxiety subsided. I guess it's because people equate quality with tightness and junky things as being loose. While not having an understanding of firearm engineering.

Back around the late 1960's Springfield Arsenal (later Rock Island) were turning out match grade 1911A1 pistols for use by USGI bullseye teams and for competitors at the National Matches held at Camp Perry.

One requirement was that while they could use new match grade slides, barrels, triggers, sears and walnut stocks, the frames and most other parts had come from regular service pistol inventory. By '68 most of the frames showed considerable wear.

I have one, which when in battery lifts the slide high enough so that in good light you can see the recoil spring. :eek:

Yet the pistol passed the requirement of shooting a 3" group at 50 yards while mounted in a Ransom machine, and loaded with match grade USGI ball ammunition. As you might expect it is very reliable, and at the time I bought it at Camp Perry about the only shots that had gone through it were a test/proof load and the the 5 shots fired from the machine rest. I field stripped it, wiped out some excessive preservative, lubricated it, and started shooting it the next day in matches - with zero failurers.

Now of course today you can bench-build a pistol with selected top-quality components that will shoot machine rest groups well under 3 inches, and in fact my pistol has produced some in the 2" ballpark. But if I had to protect my poor body I would be more then satisfied to use a pistol that was unquestionably reliable under any conditions, but would shoot 3-inches at 50 yards.

The armorers at Springfield understood how to make a pistol that was tight enough, but not too tight.

As Tuner has correctly pointed out, If the pistol is correctly fitted together and if necessary lapped where needed, so far as reliability is concerned about 95% of so-called "break-in" shooting is unnecessary.

This is not to suggest that one shouldn't go out and shoot the living daylights out of any pistol they bought with the full intention of shooting.

But if they have to break it in, who ever made the pistol didn't finish the job.

[tomwalshco]

Who obviously figures he has it all figured out and doesn't need opinions that differ from his own.
So lacking a cogent counterpoint, a personal slam works just as well, I guess.

[rellascout]

So lacking a cogent counterpoint, a personal slam works just as well, I guess.

Ad hominems aside you have not accepted the facts present to you in this thread nor have you been able to prove your assertions.

Here is the list of the cogent counterpoints you have ignored up to this point.

There is nothing you can do by hand that even comes close to replicating the gyrations, flexing and slamming of parts together that goes on inside a gun when it is fired.

Since there was no load bearing on the barrel/lug/slide/frame metal-to-metal surfaces, there would be no "real wear" on these parts as parts would simply "slide/glide" on each other.

shoot it to seat the lugs.

I would be interested in your rebuttle to each of these points.

PS this does not count... LOL " Hand racking does help, just like lapping is done by hand action. If violent action is the only path to break-in, why not just mate the parts with a bench grinder? Faster, more harmonics and slamming. All filing, polishing and fitting is not done at 10,000 rpms."

[tipoc]

From the op:

Ok, so I got me a new PT145, thanks to the advice on this site.

Here is a link to pics of a Taurus PT145...

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=mcafee&va=taurus+pt145

And an article about them by Dick Metcalf...

http://hunting.about.com/library/weekly/aasttauruspt145.htm

The op did not ask about a tuned semi custom or custom 1911. He asked about a gun in the Millennium Series of guns by Taurus, polymer frame, steel slide. Similar in many ways and materials to a good many guns made today like the Glock, Springfield XD, S&W M&P, etc.

We all know that there is a great deal of divergence of experience among gun owners. Some are brand new to sidearms. Some new to semis, some new to a new type of handgun, etc. Some experienced to varying degrees.

It's a useful idea with these, as with any semi, new or used, to field strip and clean the gun, cycle through the action, dry fire, run some dummy rounds through to make sure things work as they should, etc. These actions can detect some problems or potential problems. The inexperienced shooter or someone new to a certain type of gun may entirely overlook some oddity that the more experienced eye would quickly catch. Nothing can be done about that so If the gun looks fine it's time to shoot it.

Shooting it can reveal a good many things that nothing else can. 50 rounds can show the pin or screw that begins to back out or work loose, the trigger that was improperly installed, that one mag will not feed properly while the others do, the chamber that begins to crack from improper heat treatment, etc.

Some manufacturers use the term "break in" as an excuse for poor construction and work. But with mass produced guns as are many today occasionally things do go wrong. "Guarantees" are not that the gun will work perfectly without flaw but that if there is fault the fault will be repaired or replaced. With used guns anything can be wrong. The experienced can tell this right off or after a bit of shooting. The inexperienced not so much.

tipoc

[rellascout]

It's a useful idea with these, as with any semi, new or used, to field strip and clean the gun, cycle through the action, dry fire, run some dummy rounds through to make sure things work as they should, etc. These actions can detect some problems or potential problems. The inexperienced shooter or someone new to a certain type of gun may entirely overlook some oddity that the more experienced eye would quickly catch. Nothing can be done about that so If the gun looks fine it's time to shoot it.

This is solid advise but I think it can also be misleading. There are a lot of guns which will show erratic ejection when hand cycled because your had does not replicate the action when it is firing a bullet. I have a 1911 which has never failed to eject when actually firing but will hang up when hand cycling sometimes...

Also a lot of times a particular JHP will feed fine during live fire but not when hand cycling or vise versa.

In the end to the op just go out and shoot the gun and enjoy it.

[HKGuns]

So lacking a cogent counterpoint, a personal slam works just as well, I guess.

Why bother when you haven't acknowledged the validity of any of the other valid points made in the thread......I'm not big on wasting breath, or trying to change someone's mind.

Lots of good points have already been made that you refuse to acknowledge. It isn't a personal slam either, it is an observation. You're more than entitled to your opinion and more than entitled to ignore the other valid and relevant points made in the thread.

[tomwalshco]

OK, we disagree.

When another point falls within the boundaries of physics, I might be in. But I'm still on the other side. 2 metal surfaces that rub together produce friction, heat and wear - whether under load or not, lubricated or not, 100mph or 1. Period.

The only proof I have is the performance and reliability of my guns. I have my processes and they work for me.

Should I do a paper and submit it to the Flat Earth Society for their endorsement?

p.s. haven't seen any proof from the other side except generalizations such as - waste of time, doesn't work, save you energy, won't happen, must have smoke and violence to do any good, done it that way for years.........

Then throw away your polishing stones, files, emory cloths, dremels, sandpaper, polishing/lapping compounds, Q-Tips and be free at last, brothers and sisters.

[1911Tuner]

There seems to be a little misunderstanding of the concept here. Maybe I can offer something.

I'm not real big on specific "Break-in procedures" when talking about an autopistol. I shoot it. I especially don't care for the notion that a malfunctioning gun just needs to be broken in...mostly in the hope that whatever is wrong with correct itself.

The gun was designed to function. If it's built to spec...used with decent ammunition and proper magazines...it will function. It's a machine. It doesn't have a choice.

Occasionally, I run into one that feels a little rough or tight for my tastes. I use a mixture of J&B Bore Cleaner and oil and some elbow grease to smooth things out...but I don't consider that "breaking in" the gun. I think of it as something that should have been done before it was boxed and shipped. Part of QC includes hand-cycling the finished product to see if anything is obviously substandard or "not quite right."

But break in? If breaking it in is the exercise, it should be done while shooting it.

[Ben86]

2 metal surfaces that rub together produce friction, heat and wear - whether under load or not, lubricated or not, 100mph or 1. Period.

Yes, but when simply hand racking that wear does not happen in an appreciable degree and without the same forces that are exerted on the gun when shooting. I don't think anyone here is saying hand racking is useless for breaking a gun in. It's just that it has it's limitations and doesn't match the action that takes place when actually shooting.

I still hand rack a Kahr firearm 500-1000 times when I first get it to help loosen the super tight recoil spring. Hand racking is good for that. But what my have taken me 500-1000 reps of that is probably equal only to about 200 rounds fired (as far as stress on the recoil spring alone).

[flatlander937]

Hand-racking a pistol to break it in seems a lot like assembling an automobile engine and trying to break it in by turning the crankshaft with a ratchet and socket on the crank bolt.



I'm an automotive technician... I think a more apples to apples analogy would be fitting valves to a cylinder head... you lap them prior to installing them. If you don't then they will potentially leak... maybe they will "break in" and maybe they won't(I'm not stupid enough to NOT do it)... but the right way to do it is to lap the valves.

;)





I am no 1911 guru by any means(relatively new), but I'm pretty mechanically inclined.

I think the hand cycling/lapping process is more so to get any high spots out of the slide/frame area prior to shooting. Yeah... shooting it will work them(the high sides or unevenly matched parts of slide/frame) down, but until cleaned it will be like putting lapping material in there - WHILE FIRING THE PISTOL - as the high spots wear down and metal particles break free and stay stuck in there.


Think about how triggers/sears relate... It is incredibly common for the trigger pull to be stiffer when the pistol is completely brand new... shoot it 1000 rounds and it will smooth out ... or you can detail strip it, and remove any burrs present, use a fine stone and then finish up by polishing the sear or trigger or whatever you want... then shoot the first 1000 rounds with the smoother trigger pull. It will still probably improve by shooting with time, but the difference from the first pull to the 1000th pull will be minimized if you smooth things out first.


The only difference with the trigger/sear vs slide/frame analogy is that the slide to frame fit may cause issues in return to battery and whatnot... as mentioned above.


I agree that hand racking the slide doesn't do anything near the force of actually firing the gun... when firing it you're also putting a very sideways(upward) force on the slide due to the bore axis/your grip and the effects of recoil.... but again hand racking isn't "breaking it in." It's just smoothing things out so the actual "break in process" can go smoothly(no pun intended) with no failures to feed or return to battery or whatever the issue may be.


I dunno if that maybe clears anything up, but that's how I see it.

[jimmyraythomason]

I think a more apples to apples analogy would be fitting valves to a cylinder head... you lap them prior to installing them. Actually,if you grind them with a 3/4 degree interferrence angle,no lapping is needed. I've built hundreds of cylinderheads (gas,propane and diesel) and never lapped a valve in my professional career. Rotating a new engine by hand and racking a new slide by hand will both reveal possible problems/tight spots but will do little or nothing to correct it.

[flatlander937]

Actually,if you grind them with a 3/4 degree interferrence angle,no lapping is needed. I've built hundreds of cylinderheads (gas,propane and diesel) and never lapped a valve in my professional career. Rotating a new engine by hand and racking a new slide by hand will both reveal possible problems/tight spots but will do little or nothing to correct it.

Good to know... I admit I've only had to do a handful of valves, though every time I'm lapped them, if anything at least for peace of mind(it certainly won't hurt anything)... maybe much like people racking a slide by hand hundreds of times;)