Howa 1500s and barrel break in

[KsSkaEnthusiast]

For those out there that have howa 1500s, how has it broken in for you and how are you enjoying the rifle? They come with a pretty extensive barrel break in process they recommend, did you follow that or just go your own route? Did they get more accurate as you shot them? I just got one in 6.5 prc in the gamepro configuration and am hoping to do it justice as I like it so far.

 

[Hugger-4641]

I have one in 30-06. I did my own thing breaking it in. Same thing I do with all my hunting rifles. Cleaned the bore with copper solvent after the first sight in, which usually takes me about 6 rds plus a couple cold bore tests, so somewhere between 6 and 10rds total before 1st cleaning. I always shoot a couple fowling shots after cleaning or before hunting with it again. After that I clean the bore and chamber about once during a box of shells, usually after checking zero with each new box of shells.

On mine, accuracy definitely did improve after 50rds or so. It started at about 1- 3/4 moa with factory Precision Hunter and it's down to about 3/4 moa now. That's with 3 shot groups. If I shoot 5 shot groups or more, the group starts opening up. Mine is a hunting barrel profile, so this is to be expected. If you have a heavy barrel or carbon wrapped, you may not have that issue.

 

[jmr40]

My thoughts on barrel break-in. Regardless of who made the barrel.

All barrels shoot more accurately after a few rounds have been through them. Some may only need 10-20 rounds; some may need 100-200 before the true accuracy potential can be seen. IME better barrels need fewer shots to get there.

The concept of going through a complex routine of cleaning after every shot for X number of rounds, then after every 5 shots for X number of rounds, and so on is a waste of time IMO. The only advantage I can see is that a rough barrel will be easier to clean initially if it is cleaned more often. As the barrel is worn in it will be easier to clean. But if it is going to get more accurate after 50 rounds, it doesn't matter how often you clean it between round #1 and round #50.

I've had a few Howa's as well as the Weatherby Vanguard, which is made by Howa and all parts are interchangeable. They were all solid, dependable rifles that shot very well for me. The only negative I had is that they are one of the heaviest rifles on the market and the weight doesn't fit my hunting style. Otherwise, they are great rifles.

 

[MarshallDodge]

I just shot it then cleaned it once in a while.

 

[LoonWulf]

Im in the clean spotless before initial use, then clean spotless after the next couple range trips crowd. By then my load work ups should be about done, and I should be on dedicated accuracy testing, and mechanical tinkering.

 

[JmacD]

Mine is not quite “broke in” yet. I ran about 20 rounds through it, then cleaned. Then 10 more and cleaned. It’ll shoot 1/2 -3/4 moa with precision hunter. Handloads aren’t all worked up yet, but easily closing in on 1/2 consistently. Scope getting changed out soon. And the Hogue plastic stock has had some troubles. So it’s getting a Boyd’s or something else anyway.

 

[denton]

I have a 1917 milsurp Swedish Mauser that copper fouled more than I liked. Thoroughly cleaned it down to bare steel, and did a break-in: 1 shot, clean, repeat until patches were showing very little blue, then repeat with 3 shots. Now it goes a long time between cleanings.

OTOH, I have a commercial 7x57 that was clean right from the start.

Some barrels go longer between cleanings than others. If you are getting too much fouling, a proper break-in is helpful. Otherwise, don't solve a non-problem.

 

[adcoch1]

My 30-06 got a good scrub down, then 15 rounds or so to get zeroed, then a good cleaning. The next cold bore shot was right on target, so I let that be the fouling shot and hunted it all season. Cleaned again in 20 round increments for the next three range sessions, and after the first 15 and second cleaning it was right about moa accurate. Only put about 150 through it though before trading it, it was heavy and the houge stock squeaked when it got wet. Should have kept it for a range rifle though, it was very comfortable to shoot.

 

[kwb377]

I bought my 1500 used, have no idea how it was broken in or how many rounds total is has through it, and I probably run a brush down the bore every 100 rounds or so if I'm not being lazy.

It's still a pretty consistent sub 0.5 MOA gun.

 

[Varminterror]

Howa 1500’s are Cold Hammer Forged barrels. Like any barrel, they’ll break in and will behave slightly differently, up, down, or both, as they do - as opposed to almost unilaterally speeding up for cut rifled and hand lapped custom barrels - but in general, if she doesn’t shoot straight out of the box, she never will. A rifle barrel breaking itself into a node with factory ammo is less likely than a barrel breaking itself out of the node.

I do subscribe to the paradigm of laying grains down in early firing especially for barrels which weren’t hand lapped by the maker. Hammer forged barrels typically aren’t benefited as much as especially push button rifled barrels, but I do like to shoot a little, clean to bare metal, shoot more, clean to bare metal, repeat for about 100 rounds, up to around 150. Then I’ll usually leave copper alone for 500-1000 rounds, depending on the cartridge, just using carbon solvents every 300-400 rounds, or any long layover.

Honestly, for a Howa, I would put more energy into avoidance of overthinking than any energy spent overthinking it.

 

[lightman]

I don't know what Howa recommends but about all I do with a new factory gun is to run a wet patch and a few dry patches down the barrel to remove any machining residue and try to not get it blistering hot for the first 10-12 rounds. I'll also break the bolt down and clean it.

On a custom barrel I'll also run a wet path followed by a few dry patches down the barrel. Then I'll shoot it once and patch it out, shoot it again and patch it out and continue to do this until the patch shows no copper residue. On my Krieger barrels this usually happens within the first 6 or so shots. I saw this method recommended by some benchrest gunsmith who's name I don't remember. Speedy Gonzales maybe???

 

[hunt127588]

I followed their process. I usually don't but thought I'd give it a go. I can tell no difference. My usual method is clean when new and then go shoot. I then clean after every range session.

 

[Howa 9700]

This was mentioned, but not referenced. Their break in procedure at the bottom of the page.

https://www.howausa.com/faq/

Am in custody of a 1500. Also have no clue how or if it was broken in. Interesting they actually talk about purpose and what happens if you don't follow it.

Talked to a gunsmilth recently about Howa barrels, and his comment was they are both good and bad. Now wondering how much of that is following break in process......or not.

 

[Bottom Gun]

I hope we are allowed to post links to other gun forums because here is a collection of posts by the late Gale McMillan which include this subject.

https://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60102

 

[ford8nr]

Interesting read ...

But if it is going to get more accurate after 50 rounds, it doesn't matter how often you clean it between round #1 and round #50.

Unless you pack the machining marks full of copper between 1 and 50. Good / custom barrels need less break in as most are hand lapped. I had a SW MP15 that was so rough when new it would pull fibers off a cleaning swab. Good break in practice and so.e hand lapping fixed that. Now it have very little copper fouling and is a solid moa rifle.

 

[JCSC]

I have a walnut stock 6.5PRC. I have about 200 rounds thru it. It’s shoots sub MOA and I wipe the bore out with some Hoppes 9 when I get home.

My gun heats up like crazy, so usually shoot 4-5 and sit it off to the side while I play with my other rifles.

 

[d2wing]

It doesn't hurt to follow the manufacturer's instructions in my opinion. In my experience clean barrels shoot better and fouling is harder to remove the more you let it build up.

 

[z7]

There are lots of ways to break in a barrel, but only a few ways to screw it up

1. run a patch or two before use to make sure there is nothing in the bore from manufacturing and shipping

2. shoot it a few times (5-50 ish rds)

3. clean it again

4. shoot it some more

5. clean when accuracy suffers or when it will sit for 30+days without being shot, environment depending (Florida/coastal humid air, more frequent, western dry air, maybe less)

6. always use a bore guide and good rod to ensure that cleaning the rifle does not damage anything. Cleaning rods and harsh chemicals can damage the barrel/crown.

shoot the rifle some more. A 6.5prc will last 2-3k rounds before the barrel is shot out, if you can feed it that much, you can get a new barrel

 

[hq]

As a sidenote, I warmly recommend learning the process of hand lapping a barrel. It's very straightforward once you've done it a couple of times and it's by far the best way to realize its full accuracy potential and dramatically reduce copper deposits and fouling in the future. And it more or less eliminates the need of a break-in at all. Not to mention gaining a few fps at the muzzle at the same time.

It may feel awkward to pour a lead tap into a pre-heated barrel of a brand new rifle at first but once you've seen the improvement first hand, you'll soon run out of guns to hand lap and start looking for more to buy, just to work your magic on them.