Breaking in a barrel?

[shield20]

I never worried about this before, until I bought a new .243 varmint rifle a while back and wanted to do it right as far as breaking the barrel in (shoot- clean- shoot-clean etc) for top accuracy.

OK - so getting a new .41 Redhawk - is there any worry about breaking the barrel in? If so, how?

Thanks!

 

[Black Majik]

Clean the gun before you shoot, shoot the gun, clean the gun after you shoot.

 

[P95Carry]

No break-in required!! Well not IMO ... just do as Black Majic mentioned.

We are not talking rifle velocities here and even if loads quite hot - really very little to do other than shoot the snot out of it!

 

[BioDemon]

Allot of target shooters looking for 1/4 MOA accuracy or better break in a barrel cleaning every 10-20 rounds or so but just for the first 60-100 rds or so. Most rifles break in at 500-1000 rds to reach best accuracy. Then around the 7000-10000 rds mark it starts to drop a little. Not enough that any normal shooter like myself would ever notice though. Handguns are totaly differant and seam to break in for best accuracy at 6000-10000 rds or so. Handguns only need to be cleaned after each outing during and after break in.

 

[colima]

Handgun cleaned after each outing during and after break in

I don't clean my guns more than twice a year - even the Kimber that does 3-4K rounds of .45 ACP reloads a year. A little lube - one of those pull through cleaners every now and then - and thats it. My old Smith 66 gets tight after a while, but a few drops of CLP does the trick.

I seriously doubt that I'm losing any accuracy or weapon lifetime.

 

[caz223]

I think varmint al had a few break-in tips.
I just use flitz to clean it the first time, then shoot bullets with a hard jacket.