Barrel break-in procedures?

[ETXhiker]

I will confess, that I have bought most of the rifles I've ever owned second hand. But I have read several articles on how to break in new rifle barrels. This usually involves a long procedure of firing one shot, carefully cleaning, firing another, repeating the cleaning over and over. Does anyone actually do this? I'm totally willing to go through this monotony if it yields benefits to accuracy, but since I've seen plenty of tack-driving rifles that weren't given this treatment, I'm sceptical. Any thoughts?

 

[RecoilRob]

Much has been written on this subject with many disagreements to be had. My personal experience is "it depends".

If the caliber in question has military bullets (gilding metal plated steel jackets) available, I shoot the first hundred or so of them and then find the bore to be smooth enough that no excessive copper fouling happens with match or hunting type bullets.

If no steel jacketed rounds are available, I DO clean frequently for the first several rounds and let the amount of fouling tell me how much more is needed.

My 375 H&H Ruger #1 fouled badly in the first few shots. Kept shooting 3 or 5 shot groups with cleaning between until the barrel smoothed out and the fouling decreased. Depends on the smoothness from the manufacturer and I would not be surprised if some barrels don't need any special care with copper jacketed bullets straight from the factory.

5.56, 7.62 Nato and 50 BMG all got steel jackets with little fouling noted afterwards. They shoot copper jacketed rounds just fine but normally get the surplus components. That is all I can tell you on the subject.

 

[rustymaggot]

barrel break in is not needed on most guns. the only reason barrel break in is needed is when the barrel is very rough when it was made. barrel break in actually harms a good barrel.

 

[Shoney]

Read the following thread entitled The Wisdom of Gale McMillan: McMillan is a world renowned barrel maker.
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60102
These portions of the above thread are concerned with break in
Posted: 01-24-2000 08:57
Posted: 01-25-2000 05:19
Posted: 01-27-2000 08:57
and most particularly, read
Posted: 09-25-1999 10:10

 

[rangerruck]

chck these;
http://yarchive.net/gun/barrel/break_in.html
http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/Barrel_BreakIn_II.asp
http://www.gunnersden.com/index.htm.rifle-bore-cleaning.html
http://www.6mmbr.com/barrelFAQ.html#24641
http://www.jacksonrifles.com/maintenance.htm
http://www.riflebarrels.com/articles/default.htm
http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/Rapid...ommon/viewPage.cfm&PageId=2558&CompanyId=1246
http://www.jamescalhoon.com/
http://members.cox.net/benchrest/Rimfire_notes.html

I say, the way i do it, I thorough, thoroughly, clean it out before i shoot it. now most peeps won't do what i do to clean it. so I won't tell you what i do.
but what you could do, is fill it with foam cleaner, plug both ends, the let it sit, for 20 minutes, repeat, let sit for 30 minutes, repeat. let sit for a day. then brush out , with just about 20 passes with a brass brush.then patch it all out. once it is squeaky clean. put in some sytnetic lube , or moly lube, plug the ends, leave it in a warm environment, for a week plugged up. then empty out, patch it out, and your done.

 

[ETXhiker]

Thanks for all the links, everyone. I didn't realize there were so many different approaches. I'll re-read and try to digest it all.

 

[mswestfall]

I really don't have anything to add...

This is good stuff. I will use it in a few weeks.

Thanks!

 

[erict]

I usually break a new barrel in. Mostly because I was waiting for a good piece of glass to come in so I figured I'd go out in the yard and shoot/clean a few times, then shoot 5 or so, clean, and put it back in the safe. That way when the glass arrives I'll be ready to shoot and get it sighted in.

 

[Savage3006]

Check also this one:
http://www.savagearms.com/cs_barrel.htm

 

[.38 Special]

I think it's wise to be skeptical, especially considering how many top shooters and ultra-accurate rifles there are that aren't impressed by break-in.

A true cynic can claim that some of the barrel manufacturers push break-in as a hedge against complaints. "Well, did you break in the barrel with one shot/cleanX10, 2 shots/cleanX10, 3 shots/cleanX20, 5 shots/cleanX50, 10 shots/cleanX100, and then wave a dead chicken over the muzzle? No? Well then of course it won't shoot! Not our fault!"

My POV? I used to spend agonizing days and weeks breaking in new barrels. Eventually I quit. Fifteen years of range notes showed ZERO difference, although I find that almost all my rifles got easier to clean after they'd been cleaned many times -- especially after I switched to JB on a patch rather than liquid solvents. As far as I'm concerned, the only thing break in does is accelerate a process that's going to happen anyway. You can do it all right now or let it occur naturally; doesn't really make any difference to the gun, or to the amount of work that ultimately goes into it.

The warnings of ruined barrels and life-long accuracy woes are complete BS, as far as I'm concerned.

HTH!

 

[Zero_DgZ]

I categorize "barrel break in" under the same heading of pointlessly flat-discharging battery packs: Useless, waste of time that could be spent shooting at targets or otherwise more enjoyable, and you've just worn out your barrel by whatever percent when you could have put that time and ammo to better use.

If barrel break in were required, at least some manufacturer would mention it somewhere, but to my knowledge none of them do.

 

[USSR]

Does anyone actually do this?

Yep, with every new barrel. It seems like the guys with high expectations as to accuracy do it, while ...

Don

 

[.38 Special]

It seems like the guys with high expectations as to accuracy do it, while ...

Tell it to the benchrest boys, who have been arguing the topic for years. The ones who don't break in win just as much as the ones who do.

Or does 5 shots in point-zero-something not meet your criteria for "accuracy"?

 

[jlmurphy]

I have a number of quality barrels ( Hart, Shilen , Krieger) and a bore scope. I recently used the break in procedure on a Shilen Select Match in .308, and I must admit there was considerable copper fouling on the first three rounds, but after the fourth group, the fouling stopped. I have used JB paste many times and I can actually see how well it works, but I am beginning to think it is possible to get a barrel too clean. I only used chemicals and a bronze brush on this barrel, and after reading about a burnished finish, I am beginning to believe. Obviously a barrel can only get bigger over time, and abrasives will speed that process, so for now , I will leave the JB compound in the range box.

 

[USSR]

jlmurphy,

Yeah, put the abrasive JB away. All you need is a good copper remover such as Montana Extreme's 50 B.M.G. The leade, or throat, is the only part of a new barrel than cannot be finish lapped by the barrelmaker. All you are trying to do during barrel breakin is remove any reamer marks in the throat which will strip jacket material from your bullet. Unless you have a poorly made barrel, JB's is unnecessary.

Don

 

[.38 Special]

JB claims that it cannot remove steel from the barrel. The idea being that the abrasive in JB is harder than copper but softer than steel. I know I've used it for more than a decade in several of my bores and slugging reveals no dimensional change -- at least not that I can measure with a .0001 mic.