new pistol break in period, ammo suggestions

[mekender]

i am getting a new 9mm in about 3 weeks... im planning on putting at least 250-500 rounds through it as a break in... and suggestions on fmj ammo?

is it ok to use blazer or wolf right off the bat or should i go with WWB or umc bulk... or something more epxensive?

 

[WAID]

My ammo preference is Blazer brass for .45 acp. Way cleaner than the WWB. I can't comment too much about the other ammo.

 

[qbpc]

If you are going to depend on it for personal defense break in is good but make sure it works with the ammo you are going to keep it loaded with.
MY .02
BB

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

WWB, CCI Blazer brass or aluminum, MagTech, Independence and Federal American Eagle have all worked well for me as "blastin'" ammo. Wolf is "second tier" ammo IMO. Some guns like it, some do not, and the powder is quite odiferous and dirty.

 

[skywarp_]

I take it home and clean my new purchases.

Then i dont clean them for about 2k rounds ( i reload so it's still sane to do this).


If there are problems. I get rid of it.



Thats my break in

 

[mekender]

I take it home and clean my new purchases.

im planning on cleaining it in the lounge area of the gun store that i buy it from, then walking through the door on the south wall to the range...

If you are going to depend on it for personal defense break in is good but make sure it works with the ammo you are going to keep it loaded with.

i already plan on shooting at least 2 boxes of my sd ammo, but i dont need to spend $25 a box on break in ammo

 

[10-Ring]

Lately, I've been shooting WWB, Magtech & Independence for range use. For a new gun, I'll also throw in a few 100 of the defensive rounds I plan on using to insure reliability

 

[garrettej8]

I plan on breaking in my new xd9 with some speer gold dot. I was just going to use about 25 rounds and then switch to remington or the winchester white box after that.

 

[possum]

when i get a new gun i initianlly clean and lube it, then fire 200rds in the first range session and then another 200-300rds before i call it good for carry/defense etc. i noramlly use a miss of various weight bullets, jhp's fmj etc. i use wwb, umc, blaser brass and aluminum cased.

 

[Mad Magyar]

im planning on cleaining it in the lounge area of the gun store that i buy it from, then walking through the door on the south wall to the range...

Where is that? I must live in a locale with 3rd World accommodations...Didn't know establishments like that existed?

 

[mekender]

Where is that? I must live in a locale with 3rd World accommodations...Didn't know establishments like that existed?

meh its not super fancy, but there are 4 cushioned seats sitting around a table, and a big screen tv that is always playing the college games on saturdays...

http://thesportsmanslodge.org/

 

[Rinspeed]

I've used Rem. UMC to break in a few pistols. You will hear a lot of people who have fired thousands of rounds of Wolf through their pistols without issues but I won't fire it through any of mine. I guess I'm an ammo snob.

 

[Old Fuff]

It depends on the make and model, but most pistols, other then some 1911 style guns don't require any breaking in. Being on the cheap side if I do get an extra-tight pistol (which is unlikely) I hand cycle it about 500 times, which should break it in nicely, and at far less cost. After that shoot it with your ammunition of choice. Reliability is far more important then any particular brand, bullet weight or load.

 

[Mad Magyar]

(which is unlikely) I hand cycle it about 500 times,

Old Fuff, you've mentioned that before and sometimes I forget this good advice....It makes some sense and in my case; strengthen my hand-wrist for a good, clean rack...Yeah, I admit it...Con.#3 most of the time in my 1911's..Please no comments on that; don't want to hijack a good thread....

 

[Tberger688]

My 9MM perfers Blazer ammo.

Beretta 92FS

 

[possum]

im planning on cleaining it in the lounge area of the gun store that i buy it from, then walking through the door on the south wall to the range...

Where is that? I must live in a locale with 3rd World accommodations...Didn't know establishments like that existed?

yep thats what i did when i bought my sa mc operator. locked the slide open, put some lube down the rails and went to town. not 10ft from the counter is thier range.

 

[RobertFBurnett]

Sig Break in.

I am looking into getting a Sig 226 9mm, and the person working the range told me that it had to have a 500 round break in with full power loads (they sell reloaded range ammo that is 5% less powerful according to him.)

Any input from Sig owners?

RFB

 

[johnle]

My break in, take my pistol home and get to know it intimately by stripping it, cleaning it and lubing it throughly. Then I put in whatever movie is lying around and enjoy two hours of "load, rack, click, repeat" with some snap caps, after the movie I disassemble and look for even wear and see if theres any issues.

By my first range session my trigger would already be mastered, and I would already know the mechanical quirks of the gun.

Also allows you time to reacquaint yourself on fine motor skills like jam clearing, etc/

 

[Quoheleth]

RobertFBurnett,

Sir - I am not a SIG owner, but if it were me breaking in a new pistol, I would go with regular, commercial ammo and not reloads for this purpose. Why? So you know what your pistol can & will do and not worry about someone else's reloading ability. If you want to go reloaded ammo down the road, be my guest, but for getting to know you stuff, get inexpensive commercial ammo.

By the way...if anyone is near Academy, try their Monarch ammo. Priced right there with Blazer. And is brass case = reloadable!!!
Q

 

[Rinspeed]

I am looking into getting a Sig 226 9mm, and the person working the range told me that it had to have a 500 round break in with full power loads (they sell reloaded range ammo that is 5% less powerful according to him.)

Any input from Sig owners?

None of the four Sigs I've owned needed any break in what so ever.

 

[Old Fuff]

If I was selling the ammunition I'd tell you that it would take at least 5,000 rounds to break in your new pistol - even if it was used and had previously been shot 10,000 times.

Such a deal I have for you...

 

[Constantine-p89]

Winchester white box.

 

[ZeSpectre]

My stock break-in method for semi-auto pistols (and rifles) is to take it home and completely disassemble, clean, and inspect. Then lube and re-assemble. Doing this I have found a few flaws along the way, most of which were easily correctable but which could have become major issues if I hadn't caught them (milling burrs, tailings and debris in the lockwork and so forth).

After that I mark the magazines so I can tell 'em apart and then try to go for about 500 rounds (generally only doing basic cleaning with a bore snake if possible).

Assuming that the gun ran fine for the 500 rounds, I then detail disassemble, clean, and re-inspect. This is the point at which I do any "tuning" I feel necessary such as polishing high wear spots and so forth.

About the only thing I try to avoid during this initial break in is all-lead ammo.

Hope that helps.

 

[robctwo]

I'm a hand cycler as well. My new S&W 952-2 was very tight to the point that it had a bit of trouble going into battery with my hand loads. A little bit of slurry on the rails and top of the frame and 500 to 1,000 hand cycles, some with and some without the recoil spring fixed it right up. I've hand cycled with slurry on most of my guns when new, just seems to smooth them out nicely. Search slurry on the gunsmithing section here.

I reload so I shoot a lot. I get confused about whether I'm breaking in a new gun, practicing my shooting, evaluating the current batch of reloads or just screwing around.