[kennygarza]

Can anyone give suggestions on proper break-in on new .243 Ruger M77? Is a break-in beneficial or just hype? Thanks.

[Zak Smith]

On a match-grade barrel (one that's been air-gauged then polished out) it is a waste of time.

On other barrels, it may help; the jury's out. When I started shooting my 243, I cleaned it completely pretty often to make sure the barrel wasn't stripping too much copper.

-z

[P95Carry]

Welcome Kenny! :)

My Savage .243 .. now barely 2 years old .. first had an outing once I had a scope fitted .... 20 rounds of factory got things settgled in and something like an OK group.

Then handloaded and by chance found a great load .... N-140 with 105 grain SP Spitzer .. that proved even better than factory .... ''run-in'' period?? .. still so far, less than 40 to 50 rounds ... it can't get much better than that ....... can it?

[dakotasin]

here's my break in procedure w/ a new rifle:

1. take gun down and clean very, very thoroughly.
2. shoot one.
3. clean barrel.
4. shoot as per normal, following the usual cleaning schedule.

i clean the gun initially like that to try and get all the factory machining garbage out of everything as much as possible. i clean after 1 shot to make sure there is no facory garbage whatsoever in the barrel that could become embedded in the barrel w/ repeated shooting...

then, once i am sure the factory machining garbage is all out, i shoot the gun per normal, and clean it on the same schedule as my other rifles. i bought the thing to shoot - not raise and send off...

[Coltdriver]

I think Dakotasin hit the nail on the head.

All of this nonsense of lapping the barrel etc just acclerates wear and is of very questionable value.

Cleaning it out first, then keeping it clean is important. But fanatical cleaning is also wasteful if you ask me.

I too just got a .243. I am basically doing what Dakotasin describes.

If you got a "bad" barrel, not much will make it great. But most production barrels are just fine right out of box.

I also believe that if you can do a little hand loading that you can hit upon a combination that works in your particular rifle. This has been the case for a Ruger .223 that I have.

Have not had a chance to work on a load for the .243 because the money has not presented itself to purchase the dies yet!

[QuarterBoreGunner]

What dakotasin described is what is generally thought to be the standard break-in procedure for a factory barrel, and yes in my experience it does help with accuracy down the line. The first cleaning is the really essential part, get that machining crud and anything else out.

Don’t do what I did on one of my .22-250s, which is to use moly-coated bullets to break in the barrel. It takes FOREVER! For some reason I neglected to remember that molybdenum being super slippery, does not abrade the bore like standard copper, therefore increasing the number of rounds downrange needed to break-in the bore. *sigh*

[kimbernut]

I've used and recommend for the bore:

1) Good initial scrubbing with borebrush,hoppes#9,and patches until clean

2) 1-2 Break-free soaked patches followed by 1-2 dry patches

3) First 5 shots same procedure between each shot

4) Next 15 shots same procedure between 5 shot groups.

Lightly grease the bolt raceways and lugs and you're good to go! It's worked well for me.

[Dave R]

Remington's website recommends a regimen pretty similar to what Kimbernut describes. That's what I did. Can't imagine it adds much wear to the bore to clean after the first few rounds.

[kennygarza]

Thanks for the helpful info. I'm tring out the steps you call out for. How many shells should I feed it until the break-in cycle is complete? Thanks.

[Art Eatman]

I never heard of "barrel break-in" until the subject came up back at The Firing Line. I don't think I ever read about it in the gunzines, back in the 1950s. My uncle and father never mentioned it, and they'd been riflemen since back in the 1920s.

I always took it for granted that you did some cleaning on a new rifle, but after that you just shot it to sight in and then did a normal cleaning when you got home.

My best accuracy, generally, has been from a bit of stock tweaking on the bedding of the forearm, and messing around a bit to find a "pet load". My little Sako .243 has maybe a couple of thousand rounds through it, and it still can put three shots into a dime at 100 yards...

FWIW, Art