Barrel Break-In....

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ach224

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I just bought a new Stevens 200 in .270 Win. Thanks everyone who had input on my earlier post! I am going Friday to take it to the range for the first time. I have read a lot of conflicting reports on whether or not to procedurally "break-in" your barrel and the proper proceedure for doing so. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks for any advise!
 
To the best of my knowledge, the first (15) rounds in total , are your 'burnishing'
cartridges .. Usually shot in groups of (3) .. The reason ? .. when a rifle comes
from the factory it's lands and grooves are very sharply defined, and unless it's a $3,000
rifle, most 'normal' hunting type rifles will have to have these microscopic burrs smoothed out .. your bullets will do this job for you ..These are not zeroing in rounds,
but they provide a good gateway for your 'real deal' dialing in afterwards ..
 
Given the condition of the last few stevens 200 barrels I've seen no amount of bbl break in voodoo is going to do you the slightest bit of good.

I'm becoming convince that stevens barrels are rejects from the savage line. I have a brand new stevens 200 7mm08 bbl sitting in my closet that an abused Turkish Mauser bore has NOTHING on
 
I don't know if you're referring to my posting, but it came directly from Weatherby , as did my new rifle .. Notice I said : 'most normal' meaning mid-range cost , not the lower end rifles ..
 
I've done a great of reading on the topic. My personal belief is that it isn't required though it hasn't been prooven. I don't even on bolts I bown that are capable of sub MOA. I can't shoot that accurate anyway.
 
proper break in is vital, but the procedure is most important. Don't forget to dance on one foot for a minute every time you put a patch down the bore. That's the most important thing you can't forget.
 
paulo said:
Go to the Krieger web site and read what they say.
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just went there and very interesting for 'their' barrels .. the cost of these custom
barrels are around the cost of the whole stevens md'l 200 .. ( not fitted of course ) ..
now you're up to around $650+ or so .. why not get a rem' 700 bolt action in 7mm/'08..
it was an interesting article however .. Now the Savage w/accu' trigger is a whole other ballgame .. It's pretty unfair to compare custom barrel quality to 'price point' rifles like the stevens model 200 .. On another forum, re the exact rifle , he had a problem also but found out it was the scope .. now he claims to be shooting (1) MOA .. Hmmn
 
What I did:

Clean barrel. Shoot 5 rounds, cleaning between each shot. Also let the barrel completely cool between shots.

Shoot 15 more rounds, cleaning every 5 rounds. Again, don't let the barrel heat up.

I used only a bore snake with a splash of Hoppes No. 9 on it for cleaning...one pull and that was it. Couldn't be happier with the results! Did the "break-in" make any difference? I don't know--but the little amount of effort it required was worth it to be on the safe side. Seems like a reasonable step to take care of any burrs or rough places that they might have missed at the factory.
 
John Wayne said:
What I did:

Clean barrel. Shoot 5 rounds, cleaning between each shot. Also let the barrel completely cool between shots.

Shoot 15 more rounds, cleaning every 5 rounds. Again, don't let the barrel heat up.

I used only a bore snake with a splash of Hoppes No. 9 on it for cleaning...one pull and that was it. Couldn't be happier with the results! Did the "break-in" make any difference? I don't know--but the little amount of effort it required was worth it to be on the safe side. Seems like a reasonable step to take care of any burrs or rough places that they might have missed at the factory.
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Excellent and dead on re my information ..( close enough for me ) Thankyou
 
Barrel break in is a myth started by a guy who wanted his custom barrels to wear out sooner.

The following is by Gale McMillan of McMillan barrels. The entire thread is a very interesting read.

http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/Barrel_BreakIn.asp


Gale McMillan
Senior Member posted September 25, 1999 10:10 AM
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The break in fad was started by a fellow I helped get started in the barrel business . He started putting a set of break in instructions in ever barrel he shipped. One came into the shop to be installed and I read it and the next time I saw him I asked him What was with this break in crap?. His answer was Mac, My share of the market is about 700 barrels a year. I cater to the target crowd and they shoot a barrel about 3000 rounds before they change it. If each one uses up 100 rounds of each barrel breaking it in you can figure out how many more barrels I will get to make each year. If you will stop and think that the barrel doesn't know whether you are cleaning it every shot or every 5 shots and if you are removing all foreign material that has been deposited in it since the last time you cleaned it what more can you do? When I ship a barrel I send a recommendation with it that you clean it ever chance you get with a brass brush pushed through it at least 12 times with a good solvent and followed by two and only 2 soft patches. This means if you are a bench rest shooter you clean ever 7 or 8 rounds . If you are a high power shooter you clean it when you come off the line after 20 rounds. If you follow the fad of cleaning every shot for X amount and every 2 shots for X amount and so on the only thing you are accomplishing is shortening the life of the barrel by the amount of rounds you shot during this process. I always say Monkey see Monkey do, now I will wait on the flames but before you write them, Please include what you think is happening inside your barrel during break in that is worth the expense and time you are spending during break in
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There's a big difference between a McMillan or Krieger barrel and the typical factory barrel. Those custom barrels are generally hand lapped smooth before they're finished, but the typical factory rifle does not get that kind of treatment. The whole idea of "breaking in" a barrel is to let the bullets smooth out any tooling marks or rough spots that might exist. The idea of cleaning it between those first few shots as a "break in" process is an attempt to speed up that process by making sure that there is no fouling between the bullet an the bore steel and speed up the process of burnishing the barrel smooth.

It might be a myth as far as custom barrels are concerned - I've never owned one - but in my experience a typical factory barrel will foul less and get easier to clean after it's had 100 or so shots down the tube. To me that supports the idea of a barrel "breaking in" as I understand it. Following a set procedure of shooting and cleaning may or may not be effective but if done correctly it won't hurt anything.
 
The idea of cleaning it between those first few shots as a "break in" process is an attempt to speed up that process by making sure that there is no fouling between the bullet an the bore steel and speed up the process of burnishing the barrel smooth.
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I don't see how cleaning fluid is going to help the "burnishing" process. If the burnishing process is actually plausible, then some carbon fouling isn't going to stop the burnishing. Metal rubbing on metal is what causes burnishing, and that can be accomplished by shooting the gun 100 times in a row, rather than applying cleaning fluid in between shots (which doesn't do a thing to help the burnishing occur).

I think McMillan was right. You've either got a good barrel, or you don't.
 
#36

Barrel break in.

36. “Breaking in” a rifle barrel is probably just a waste of time. Some barrel makers recommend it while others do not which demonstrates a lack of universal agreement on whether it’s really necessary so it probably is not. Every formula for break in involves some combination of firing and cleaning. The fact that there are numerous different formulas should be evidence that nobody really has the definitive answer on the best procedure meaning there likely isn’t one. Simply shooting the rifle as intended will likely be all the break in that is required.
 
My vote goes with Gale McMillan and American Riflleman. Too bad age old myths are so hard to break. Why break in a barrel? "Because my pappy did it, his pappy did it, and his grand pappy did it...."
 
I must admit that I never did it until my shooting buddy brought it up, then I did the break-in for my next two rifles. After reading the article in American Rifleman, I stopped doing it!:eek:
 
What does cleaning between each shot have to do with:
Quote:
Seems like a reasonable step to take care of any burrs or rough places that they might have missed at the factory.
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It seems possible that very small rough spots in the barrel could result in material being deposited in the bore as the bullet passes through. Rough spots could wear away bullet jackets, or bullets could shear shave material off the rough spots. Cleaning after firing would remove any material that had been deposited; it would only take a few shots and cleanings to smooth out the barrel. This, of course, is just a theory. Like I said, it may not make a bit of difference--but pulling a bore snake through the barrel takes virtually no time at all.

Also, there is no way the method I used will wear a barrel out prematurely -- all you're doing is pulling a bore snake through the barrel a total of 8 times. Bore snakes are generally only good for superficial cleaning, and in this case they're the perfect tool to use (they can't hurt anything, and even if they don't make a difference in accuracy/break-in, your barrel will be easier to thoroughly clean later).
 
It seems possible that very small rough spots in the barrel could result in material being deposited in the bore as the bullet passes through. Rough spots could wear away bullet jackets, or bullets could shear shave material off the rough spots. Cleaning after firing would remove any material that had been deposited;
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See, this is what I don't understand about the theory. If bullets are being worn away by the bore in the first place, then burnishing won't smooth it out, at least not at first. But the application of cleaning fluid won't do anything to help the burnishing process, because cleaning fluid cannot remove the rough spots.

Shooting a bunch of bullets through the bore might eventually smooth things out, which might improve accuracy, and (if it does happen) may happen regardless of the application of cleaning fluid. Or that's what it seems to be to me, anyway. :confused:
 
Fremmer, my concern is that any material that may come off of either bullets or barrel during the first box or two of ammo through the gun may be deposited in the bore in such a manner as to cause it to wear unevenly. i.e., one bullet loosens material up, leaves it in the bore and the next bullet causes it to get mashed into the grooves or form an uneven spot on the lands.

It's not uncommon for a rough spot on the rails of a semiauto pistol to wear off through normal use, but it's usually better to shoot the gun a little bit and then clean the rails so that the metal that has worn off doesn't contribute to accelerated or uneven wear.
 
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