Is this how you "break in" in a barrel?

[Sheldon J]

A very good gun smith taught me this...

I have always been told the proper procedure to breaking in a new barrel to insure maximum accuracy, you always do the shoot once, N clean, then proceed to the shoot twice N clean routine....

Something about breaking in the rifling and smoothing any Sharp edges properly... that is if you want a sub MOA gun...

 

[BhmBill]

It seems like more bullets down the barrel would be more beneficial. Give it a taste for ammo, not the boresnake.

 

[Moondoggie]

I haven't bought too many brand new rifles in my lifetime, but I did plunk down some serious $ for an Alexander Arms 6.5 Grendel Overwatch upper with some very pricey glass.

I decided to use a break-in process for the first time in my life (56 yrs) every 5 rds with Kroil, bore paste, boresnake, and very thorough cleaning after a 20 round session. I don't know if it actually helps, but I'm sure that it did nothing to damage the bore. I spent 28 yrs in the Marines, so I'm pretty up to speed on rifle cleaning. Also a smidgen OCD about weapons cleaning.

BTW, the rifle easily prints a sub-MOA group at 100 yds with Alexander Arms ammo. With Wolf, not so great. I bought a set of dies, and look forward to seeing how small a group I can load to and how far I can stretch it out to.

 

[Hk91-762mm]

I bought a NEW M1A -NM 7.62mm
I did the routine Cleaning shooting cleaning --It would not print inside 3 in !!!
Finally I dumped a 20rnd mag full down range as fast as I could twitter the trigger, After that it SHOT MOA!

 

[Mr.510]

I think unless it's some triple whammy, double throw down, uber-match barrel you should clean it once before the first shot..... Then shoot it like you stole it!



If it IS uber-match do whatever the manufacturer tells you to, but only to insure you don't void the warranty. IMHO any gun part that leaves a factory requiring "break in" was a part the factory didn't bother to properly finish.

 

[mljdeckard]

I won't say barrel break-in is total bull, but I will say that the bulk of the benefit probably comes from the first ten rounds. The idea is that you are burnishing the rifling, deburring the machining.

I have done it for bolt rifles, but for higher-grade stainless barrels it isn't necessary, some custom barrels come already polished. It's a matter of removing microscopic flaws in the barrel, so I might worry about it for a AR I planned to use for varminting, but not a defensive rifle. It's one of many things you should do if you're trying to make a 1 MOA rifle a 1/2 MOA rifle.

 

[hadmanysons]

Some people say it's a hoax, some say it's dogma. I say, do it anyway. Then you never have that nag in the back of your head saying "you'd probably get .2 MOA better if you had JUST broke it in right". Better safe than sorry in my book

 

[jerkface11]

Although I'm not sure how a cotton patch, brass jag, and/or solvent would wear down a hardened steel bore.

Thoughts? or snarky comments if that's all ya got.

Barrel steel ISN'T hardened that's why the military uses chrome lined bores.