Bottom Gun
Member
I'm somewhat confused by Armalite's insistence that their barrels be broken in.
I just bought an AR-10 with a stainless barrel. While perusing the literature Armalite enclosed with it, I was surprised to read that Armalite says their barrels MUST be broken in by a tedious process for the first 100 rounds and they recommend using J-B paste, which is an abrasive.
A few years ago, Gale McMillan addressed the barrel break-in procedure on The Firing Line and as I recall, he said that break-in only served to shorten the life of the barrel through use of abrasives such as J-B paste. He advised against using abrasives like J-B paste saying its use would round the edges of the lands thus shortening the life of the barrel and hindering the accuracy.
He went on to say that if barrels did indeed need "smoothing out" as Armalite claims, wouldn't the top barrel makers such as he was take care of that task before the barrel left their hands to ensure it was done properly?
Armalite says its stainless barrels are "produced from triple-lapped target grade blanks". Doesn't all that lapping ensure a high grade of finish by itself?
Armalite goes on to say that an alternate break in method is to fire 30 rounds of moly coated ammo with a dry patch between each shot. While this latter method is certainly more palatable to me, since I'm reluctant to use any kind of abrasive in a bore, it is hardly the same process as aggressive cleaning with an abrasive as in the first break-in method mentioned earlier.
I've never used moly coated bullets and know very little about them except I've read there are two schools of thought regarding them with some saying they improve accuracy and extend barrel life and others who maintain that moly coated bullets do neither.
It would stand to reason that some of the moly coating must transfer to the bore and in time would coat the bore. If that is the case, what happens later if you decide to switch back to plain old copper jacketed projectiles? Can you even do that once you've committed to using moly bullets?
Does the moly deposited by the earlier bullets stay in the bore for long once you start using plain copper exclusively or does it shoot out quickly? What happens to your accuracy at this point?
I must say that I'm more than a little confused by all this. I've never "broken in" a barrel before and at this point I'm unsure whether to abide by the manufacturer's instructions or to listen to the advice of a highly respected barrel maker whose product was used by champion shooters to win matches.
I have several high quality rifles which I've never bothered to break in and they remain extremely accurate. Not one of my Sakos came with any break-in instructions. I simply took them out of the boxes and shot the heck out of them. They are all tack drivers to this day after thousands of rounds.
I'd welcome some opinions, especially from anyone who has used moly bullets and switched back to plain copper since if I do decide to break this barrel in, it will be with the moly coated bullets with the intent of switching to plain copper later.
Thanks for your time,
Ken
I just bought an AR-10 with a stainless barrel. While perusing the literature Armalite enclosed with it, I was surprised to read that Armalite says their barrels MUST be broken in by a tedious process for the first 100 rounds and they recommend using J-B paste, which is an abrasive.
A few years ago, Gale McMillan addressed the barrel break-in procedure on The Firing Line and as I recall, he said that break-in only served to shorten the life of the barrel through use of abrasives such as J-B paste. He advised against using abrasives like J-B paste saying its use would round the edges of the lands thus shortening the life of the barrel and hindering the accuracy.
He went on to say that if barrels did indeed need "smoothing out" as Armalite claims, wouldn't the top barrel makers such as he was take care of that task before the barrel left their hands to ensure it was done properly?
Armalite says its stainless barrels are "produced from triple-lapped target grade blanks". Doesn't all that lapping ensure a high grade of finish by itself?
Armalite goes on to say that an alternate break in method is to fire 30 rounds of moly coated ammo with a dry patch between each shot. While this latter method is certainly more palatable to me, since I'm reluctant to use any kind of abrasive in a bore, it is hardly the same process as aggressive cleaning with an abrasive as in the first break-in method mentioned earlier.
I've never used moly coated bullets and know very little about them except I've read there are two schools of thought regarding them with some saying they improve accuracy and extend barrel life and others who maintain that moly coated bullets do neither.
It would stand to reason that some of the moly coating must transfer to the bore and in time would coat the bore. If that is the case, what happens later if you decide to switch back to plain old copper jacketed projectiles? Can you even do that once you've committed to using moly bullets?
Does the moly deposited by the earlier bullets stay in the bore for long once you start using plain copper exclusively or does it shoot out quickly? What happens to your accuracy at this point?
I must say that I'm more than a little confused by all this. I've never "broken in" a barrel before and at this point I'm unsure whether to abide by the manufacturer's instructions or to listen to the advice of a highly respected barrel maker whose product was used by champion shooters to win matches.
I have several high quality rifles which I've never bothered to break in and they remain extremely accurate. Not one of my Sakos came with any break-in instructions. I simply took them out of the boxes and shot the heck out of them. They are all tack drivers to this day after thousands of rounds.
I'd welcome some opinions, especially from anyone who has used moly bullets and switched back to plain copper since if I do decide to break this barrel in, it will be with the moly coated bullets with the intent of switching to plain copper later.
Thanks for your time,
Ken
