Have read Lots about “break-in” period—-

The problem is you can’t prove it one way or the other. Well, perhaps you could if you used ten identical barrels, five with a break-in and five without and then tested for accuracy, fouling and barrel life. Probably take you ten thousand rounds and a couple years. But even then folks would argue that you didn’t do the break-in correctly….




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I was giving his a bit of thought just recently. Probably not the most diplomatic way to explain it, but I take the same approach Erik Cortana advocates:

In case you want to skip the link, that means I don't mess with break in, I just go shoot and give it a good cleaning when I get home after the first couple times out. Cortana is a better shot than I will ever be.

I have a couple high end precision rifles with expansive barrels. They get cleaned when the groups start to open up. For my 6.5 Creedmoor that's around 350-400 rounds. I haven't hit that on my 308 yet, it's too new.

They do however have a "break in" period when the barrel is new. For the first 50-100ish rounds or so the barrel would still shoot well but the muzzle velocities were a bit inconsistent. I clean them more often during this time but it isnt a 1 shot, clean, 2 shots, clean, 5 shots, clean, etc... kind of thing.

Do not do a break in, bring your money, and pink slip, see you at the side match.

This has been argued over and over. With my custom barrels I do a simple break-in that was suggested by a famous benchrest gunsmith that I read about years ago. I don't remember his name but I do remember that he doesn't make barrels. I patch the barrel out to free it of any oil or machining residue then I shoot it once, patch it out, shoot it once and continue until I don't get any copper fouling. This usually takes 6 or 7 rounds on my Krieger barrels. I also use those shots to get it zeroed, so theres no wasted barrel wear or ammo. Probably no amount of arguing will convince me not to this.

On factory rifles I patch them out to free it of oil and machining residue and shoot it like I live!

If you are truly serious about competing then the custom barrel you should be using won't really need a break in. Cortina and most of the top shooters don't do any special barrel break in.

I clean my barrels when new and when accuracy falls off.

I follow the barrel makers recommendations when it comes to break in. Bartlein, Kreiger, PacNor, Douglass (the barrels I've used) all recommend a break in. All recommend watching what the barrel "tells" you while cleaning, meaning that the amount of break-in varies.

I've yet to encounter one that went anywhere near the number of rounds that I'd be worrying about barrel life. Also every new custom barrel I've bought, speed up somewhat during the 1st hundred rounds anyway. I don't even get serious about load development till I've got a few rounds down the tube. During break in I'm testing pressure, fire forming brass and zeroing my scope, so it not like it's wasted rounds.

OEM factory barrels I just shoot, they don't have any specific break-in instructions.

For a new rifle or barrel I sight in and fire anywhere from 50-100 rounds and then clean well with a solvent that gets rid of copper fouling. After that I clean when my groups open up or if the rifle is going to be stored for a while. When it is time to clean I use (insert your choice of solvents here) and typically fire 3-5 rounds for "foul" shots.

My barrel break in is : clean it when new with patches only. Shoot 1 round and run patch down it, shot 3 rounds then patch it, then shoot 5 rounds and clean it. That's with a top line barrel. A factory barrel I clean when new shoot it to zero scope. Clean it after first shooting session, then foul the barrel before I hunt with it.

No barrel on any gun I have gets cleaned until accuracy falls off. That is unless I have a reason to clean it, like moisture, dirt, mud, etc gets in the barrel.

BTW no brush of any kind touches my barrels. A one piece quality cleaning rod paired with quality jags and tight fitting patches are all I ever use.

Yeah, Gale, it really burns barrel life.
I have broken in two aftermarket barrels by manufacturers' recommendations.
13 and 33 rounds, respectively.
By which time I also had velocity and 100 yard zero to feed into ballistics calculators for longer range come-ups.

Barrel break-in is a combination of superstition and Barbra Streisand, JMO.

I don't cause I've never seen it in the owner's manual of any rifles I've purchased.

Years ago there was a late night cable tv gun related show. The star of the show started out a new barrel by washing it out with boiling water and claimed improvement in shooting and cleaning.

These threads are so often like a soccer mom stating she doesn’t need to use specialized tires on her minivan as rebuttal to a NASCAR pit crew which do…

Well lapped barrels probably need less break-in, typical factory barrels probably benefit more. If you have a factory barrel it would probably benefit from keeping it clean the first 100 rounds or so to prevent copper build up. I am concerned about accuracy and corrosion, so I have a cleaning regime. I notice that my rifles benefit from cleaning at certain round counts. Besides I was in the Army. Take care of your weapon and it will take care of you. I agree with Varminterror. A minivan doesn't need Nascar tires. It's your rifle, do as you see fit. Winning matches is a lot of little things that losers don't do.

My standard reply. All barrels shoot better after a few shots than when new. Some only need 10-15 rounds, some need 100 or more. But the barrel can't count and doesn't care if you clean it after every 3 rounds or 300 rounds.

jmr40 said:

the barrel can't count and doesn't care if you clean it after every 3 rounds or 300 rounds.

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Walkalong said:

It can’t count, but it can care .

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I’m with @Walkalong on this one… barrels absolutely care.

I send all of my barrels to an Apache medicine man in Arizona for the ghost dance ritual - when the barrels return, break-in is complete and I am one with the Shooting Man God - just clean as needed for accuracy.

d2wing said:

Well lapped barrels probably need less break-in, typical factory barrels probably benefit more.

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I'm thinking differently. Break-in for a lapped barrel might iron out the few tool marks that remain and reduce copper fouling. Depending on the quality of a non-lapped factory barrel it probably won't make a dent in the tool marks for most.

Jim Watson said:

By which time I also had velocity and 100 yard zero to feed into ballistics calculators for longer range come-ups.

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I don't rebarrel rifles often enough that I can't spend a few hours doing some sort of break-in. I'm going to rebarrel my NM AR soon, and have a 18-20 shot regimen planned out. I want to chrono some loads in the new barrel and do a 10 shot ladder test with 80 SMK's. Other than 4-5 extra quick cleanings at the range it's shooting I would have done anyway. Its certainly not going to hurt anything.
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There are different types of barrel manufacturing and because we are not always sure of how a barrel was made, there are a few steps one can take to maximize the best results from any barrel. First, clean the gun barrel, chamber and magazine. Gun makers all coat these areas with preservatives to prevent long term storage problems. Wipe these areas down with mineral spirits or your favorite barrel cleaner. Dry it out and add you own lube. Now my smithy told me for a new gun to shoot 1 shot, and wipe out the barrel with some solvent, then shoot 2 and wipe and keep on doubling the shots and wiping up to 20. So you will do that 6 times. Even after that you may not have consistent shooting until you have shot 200 rounds or more out of the gun. Obviously, some guns are better than others, especially those that guarantee good shooting out of the box. From what I understand, you will remove cutting marks left in the barrel and round off sharp lands edges. It can't hurt the gun and now you have a good explanation to the wife: "Gee, I am just following the instructions, I have to go the range today. Ya don't want me to damage it ya know!"

Varminterror said:

These threads are so often like a soccer mom stating she doesn’t need to use specialized tires on her minivan as rebuttal to a NASCAR pit crew which do…

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That would depend on the minivan and the mom.