Breaking in a new rifle,advice please.

[farmer7]

I have ordered a new Steyr .223 which i will get on wednesday, i have never 'broken in' a rifle barrel before and i wondered how is it done? And what advantages does it have? Is there a quick way, i want to get hunting! Thanks for any advice.

 

[rangerruck]

the purpose of breaking in a bbl is primarily for this, to remove from inside the bbl, any machine/ tooling marks, plus any other junk left over, since it was proly not cleaned before you got it. Most use this as a typical break in: after each shot, clean and lube and dry for 5 shots. then do 5 shot strings or groups, clean after the 5th shot, do this for 5 sets. After the last set , clean and lube real good, dry patch it, then shoot till your hearts content. the first cleaning and lubings before this last one? Just one pass with a brass brush, and push out with dry patch, then lube with one patch, then dry out with one patch.

 

[rangerruck]

oh yeah, since steyr is nicer than your avg bear, they may have a specific routine for theirs. Give them a email first, they will answer.

 

[farmer7]

thanks for that rangerruck. Appreciate your advice.

 

[ojibweindian]

Read this thread, and pay very close attention to what a very distinguished gentleman in the world of rifle craft, Gale McMillan, has to say on the subject of barrel break-in.

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12582

 

[USSR]

ojibweindian,

For every Gale McMillan, there's 10 other distinguished shooters who say to break-in your barrel.

Don

 

[ojibweindian]

They may say it, but I'll bet they can't prove it.

 

[Il Duca]

Shooters can argue whatever they want but Gale Mcmillan was a top barrel PRODUCER. His barrels won countless competitions, God rest him.

I have never gone through any type of procedure for shooting a new barrel and have gotten nothing but stellar accuracy. Personally I think barrel break in is a bunch of hooey. My factory plain-Jane Winchester M70 in .300WSM will put 3 rounds through one hole at 100yds. The only thing I did to it is exactly what I do with my other rifles. Clean it when I bring it home from the store, clean it when I get home from shooting it.

 

[USSR]

They may say it, but I'll bet they can't prove it.

And neither can Gale or anyone else who says it's "hooey". There's simply no way of determining how a rifle would shoot differently if you did, or did not, do something differently.

Don

 

[DWARREN123]

Go to their web site and see what they recommend.

 

[bogie]

My gunsmith says to break 'em in with the shoot/clean, etc., etc., method.

Another fellow, who routinely outshoots him, says "shoot it, and see if it shoots. If it doesn't, stake it and screw on a new one!"