Break-in of new bolt-action rifles

[peacebutready]

I'm familiar with breaking in a pistol but not rifles. How many rounds goes through the typical bolt-action rifle before it is broken-in?

 

[ford8nr]

Should have asked "Ford or Chevy?" There have been numerous threads on the procedure and debate IF it needs to be done. I do it with all my centerfires, usually done within 20 rds of shoot/clean-decopper/shoot...repeat. If the bore looks rough on a new rimfire, I'll hand lap it to minimize leading. You can always refer to the mfg instructions. Most say you don't need to, most won't guarantee accuracy.

 

[Geno]

ford8nr gave a good answer. The only real info I would add is that those who do believe in break-in periods agree, it takes more rounds to break-in carbon steel than stainless steel. If you want an interesting read, look into why Remington uses parkerizing of 100% of all steel surfaces in the police (special purpose) firearms, including centerfire rifles' chamber and bore. That process is why the bore on an M700 Police rifle remains dark after a thorough cleaning. I have a post somewhere around here that details my conversation with the tech department at Remington.

Is a break-in period necessary? I don't know. I doubt many if anyone can point to definitive data in support of either argument, pro or con. I say it can't hurt. I do break-in my own barrels, and as ford8nr suggests, check what the manufacturer recommends.

Geno

 

[dprice3844444]

check krieger barrels break in info
http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/Break_In__Cleaning-c1246-wp2558.htm

 

[skidooman603]

There will be as many answers as there are people...John Hollinger (White Oak Arms) Says "take it to the range, shoot it, take it home and clean it..Some say shoot 1 clean..shoot 1 clean..shoot 1 clean..up to 10..then shoot 5 clean..shoot 5 clean..ect..I use a system in between..has always worked out and don't know as you can get a test to prove which is best..too many variables

 

[Hummer70]

The fastest break in we have come up with is:

Run patch through with Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil on it and leave it wet.

Fire one round and defoul with ammonia based solvent and save your patch for reference.

Run another Mobil 1 patch through and leave it wet.

Shoot another round and defoul and save patch.

Again do the Mobil 1 thing and leave wet.

Shoot two rounds and defoul and save patch. By now you should be seeing less blue on your patches than the first one you shot.

Again do the Mobil 1 thing and leave wet.

Fire five rounds and defoul. You should seeing a marked decrease in the amount of blue on your patches by now.

You can make your own defouling solution called Humpy's White. Go to Ace/tru value and get a quart of Janitors Strength 10% ammonia. Add two ounces of Ivory dish detergent to the quart and you have a quart+ of copper removing cleaner for about three bucks. You can also get get the 10% ammonia in gallons for like 5.00 a gallon and be set for the next 20 years.

I used to use Sweet's Bore Cleaner exclusively but I got with a couple chemistry professors at local university lab who were gun lovers and they told me to add dish detergent to ammonia cleaner to make it a surfactant and it worked like a champ.

 

[Sav .250]

All these years and weapons and I missed that memo. Who would have thought.

 

[HexHead]

I use the method recommended by Weatherby. Use 40 rounds. For the first 10, allow the barrel to cool and clean between each shot. For the next 30, allow the barrel to cool and clean after each 3 shot group. I use this stage to also sight in my scope.

That barrel's only new once.

 

[Elkins45]

I don't know that breaking in the barrel of a bolt action differs from a semi-auto or lever rifle. I have no idea if it makes any difference at all, but I use the procedure Midway recommended for their A&B barrels. Clean after every shot for the first five, after every five for the first 50, then as needed thereafter.

I have a couple of new guns that have only fired cast bullets for the first few hundred rounds. I wonder if they are anywhere near as broken in as the ones that have seen 50 jacketed rounds.

 

[BoilerUP]

1. Run boresnake or patch down new barrel
2. Shoot. Vigorously. Repeat until accuracy degrades.
3. Clean barrel deeply, removing all copper & carbon.
4. Repeat steps 2-4 as necessary.

For the typical factory barrel, I would guess 40-50 rounds would be sufficient though some will be less and some will be WAY more before they stop holding copper like a mine.

 

[MCMXI]

How many rounds goes through the typical bolt-action rifle before it is broken-in?

It depends on the barrel and bullet being used. My definition of "broken in" means that the barrel has reached steady state i.e. no difference betweeen clean bore shot or fouled bore shot. My Krieger barrel in .308 Win took only five rounds to polish the throat (cleaned between each round using a copper removing solvent). My Krieger in .300 Win Mag took only three rounds to reach steady state i.e no fouling. I wasn't so diligent with my hunting rifles and used a copper removing solvent after extended load development sessions. It took more than 100 rounds over four sessions before my Kimber Talkeetna was "broken in". Now it shoots to the same point of aim regardless of whether it's the first shot from a clean barrel or the twentieth shot from a fouled barrel. Here's three shots at 100 yards from a cold, clean bore.

 

[Geno]

1858:

That was the same experience I had with my Kimber LPT (Light Police Tactical) chambered in .308 Win. It didn't matter if I was firing the first shot from a cold, clean, dry bore or the 30th round. Point of impact was very consistent.

Geno

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I just don't believe in all that break in stuff. The better the barrel maker the better the barrel. The inexpensive ones will have more tooling marks and probably need to be shot more before all the flaws are gone. Other than that I think all that cleaning between 1 and 5 rounds is a bunch of junk! (all IMO of course)

 

[MachIVshooter]

My break-in regimen is:

1: Load
2: Fire
3: Repeat

 

[jmr40]

Most rifles shoot more accurately after a few rounds have been down the tube. Some need 20-30, some need 100-200. It doesn't matter if you clean it between each shot, or after 100 shots.

 

[Art Eatman]

I figure that a fella oughta do whatever he thinks is righteous.

I never heard of "break-in" until around 1999. That's 49 years of centerfire, plumb ignorant! But I somehow managed a bunch of sub-MOA groups, through those years.

Shooting burnishes barrels. Just like water eroding rock. As near as I can tell from reading posts about break-in and cleaning, I do a lot less cleaning during my first few hundred rounds, and don't do near as much scrubbing and worrying about copper build-up.

Still manage good groups, though.

 

[Bezoar]

if you have a rifle that shoots 3 rounds of BULK fmj into a .5 inch group or less at 100 yards, right after you take it out of the box and deep clean it.

Does it truly need this "break in period"?

 

[Doc7]

The break in as I understand it is to reduce copper fouling over the lifetime of the rifle not necessarily accuracy.


Anyway - for those of you doing a break in process, what solvent are you using and are you following the directions? For my Buffalo bmg extreme it says leave in bore 15 mins before removing, that means I am looking at almost 3 hours just of waiting time for my first 12 shots if I clean copper after every one?

 

[taliv]

i like shooters choice. it's easy to find in most gun stores. does a good job. you don't have to wait too long

 

[ArchAngelCD]

i like shooters choice. it's easy to find in most gun stores. does a good job. you don't have to wait too long

I also like Shooters Choice, it works... (both Lead and Copper removers)

Just a note, I can't remember who but a few years ago I remember reading an article about barrel break in from an "insider". He said match barrels have a limited life and if we can get the shooters to fire 100 or more rounds in a barrel as a "break in" it reduces the barrel life by that much. He will buy a mew barrel sooner and hopefully from us again. Sorry I can't remember where I read that and I know there are some who will doubt it, that's OK since I can't prove it...

 

[RainDodger]

I'm also an odd-man-out here... "break in" a barrel? Hogwash. Shoot it then clean it as usual. Never had a problem in decades and I've had every sort of firearm imaginable other than personally owning a fully automatic one. I've shot and cared for them though.

I've had a number of high-end barrels also. I shot them and cleaned them. Never bothered with some weird method of breaking them in.

 

[peacebutready]

From OP

I didn't ask the initial question clearly. I was referring to breaking in the action.

 

[FiveInADime]

I believe in what Gale McMillan had to say about barrel break-in. Do you really think you can improve a custom hand-lapped match barrel with a cleaning rod and patches? Or a mild abrasive?

He said it's BS and I believe him.

 

[FiveInADime]

I didn't ask the initial question clearly. I was referring to breaking in the action.

There's nothing to do other than to shoot it.

 

[Sunray]

A break in period for either a handgun or rifle is unnecessary. The only break in that is required is a normal cleaning before shooting to get the factory preservative out. The action doesn't need anything else either.