I've read different articles about how to "season" a barrel. And articles that say that's BS. Any thoughts on what you should do with a new gun with respect to the break-in period? I read one article that said fire a round or two, then clean. a few more rounds then clean. Do that several times. Another article spoke of a special gel that coated the inside of the barrel and the heat of the rounds made it harder than the original coating. And a hundred other things. Thoughts? If nothing else, I have a new gun and would love to hear the debate.
Process for first time fire
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Jackal
Member
This is going to get ugly... I say just do what I have done with everything from rifles/handguns to motorcycles, small engines. Screw the "gentle break in" and go for the drive it like ya stole it method. Use it from the first round like you will use it for the next 5,000.
Clipper
Member
Yup.
CajunBass
Member
Buy ammo.
shoot.
Repeat.
Somewhere in there, you can toss in a cleaing or two.
shoot.
Repeat.
Somewhere in there, you can toss in a cleaing or two.
For what it's worth, there was an article in one of the recent issues of American Rifleman where the author spoke to a barrel manufacturer. While I don't recall it word for word, the manufacturer said barrel break-in isn't necessary, and the only reason they have any sort of instructions for it with their barrels, is that customers demanded it.
briansmithwins
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Clean and lube the rifle like you normally would before shooting. I've seen dust and swarf in new guns, along with thick preservative oil and grease.
Shoot it normally and clean when you're done shooting. BSW
Shoot it normally and clean when you're done shooting. BSW
skidooman603
Member
To be on the "safe side" I fall in between the total type A break in and the I Dont give a S**T break in. I clean every round for 5. Then every 5 for 20. No big science behind it but it has served "Me" well. Makes me feel better if nothing else 
skidooman603
Member
And yes...these break in threads tend to get nasty. Take most of it with a grain of salt
sarduy
Member
this is what i do with every firearm i own.
1. Once i open the box of a new gun, the first thing i do is clean it (just like a fresh start)
2. buy ammo
3. go to the range
4. shoot the heck out of it.
5. go home and clean it.
1. Once i open the box of a new gun, the first thing i do is clean it (just like a fresh start)
2. buy ammo
3. go to the range
4. shoot the heck out of it.
5. go home and clean it.
colonelhogan44
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Uncle Mike
Member
A bit from lilja Rifle Barrels...I tend to agree with this one but there are other barrel manufacturers that are 180 off this idea....Liljas offers:
It is important to break-in a barrel though. The jacket material must be removed after every shot during the initial few rounds. If this isn't done the areas of the barrel that fouled will tend to pick up more fouling and it will build on itself. It is important to get a layer of powder fouling on top of the lands & grooves. This hard deposit will prevent the copper from stripping off the bullets. However, if the internal finish of the barrel is too rough the barrel will never be completely broken-in and fouling will always be a problem. Some barrels can't be broken-in.
Yet a different view from one, if not 'the' rifle barrel guru...McMillan says:
The break in fad was started by a fellow I helped get started in the barrel business . He started putting a set of break in instructions in ever barrel he shipped. One came into the shop to be installed and I read it and the next time I saw him I asked him What was with this break in crap?. His answer was Mac, My share of the market is about 700 barrels a year. I cater to the target crowd and they shoot a barrel about 3000 rounds before they change it. If each one uses up 100 rounds of each barrel breaking it in you can figure out how many more barrels I will get to make each year. If you will stop and think that the barrel doesn't know whether you are cleaning it every shot or every 5 shots and if you are removing all foreign material that has been deposited in it since the last time you cleaned it what more can you do? When I ship a barrel I send a recommendation with it that you clean it ever chance you get with a brass brush pushed through it at least 12 times with a good solvent and followed by two and only 2 soft patches. This means if you are a bench rest shooter you clean ever 7 or 8 rounds . If you are a high power shooter you clean it when you come off the line after 20 rounds. If you follow the fad of cleaning every shot for X amount and every 2 shots for X amount and so on the only thing you are accomplishing is shortening the life of the barrel by the amount of rounds you shot during this process. I always say Monkey see Monkey do, now I will wait on the flames but before you write them, Please include what you think is happening inside your barrel during break in that is worth the expense and time you are spending during break in.
I tend to think that 'some' break in is due, I,or I should say we, here at the shop follow the Lilja rule and it has worked well for us...
The problem arises when one arbitrarily insists on over cleaning, and cleaning using bad methods.
Think 'Knock back', not take it out, but one pass with a patch soaked with copper remover followed by a solvent soaked patch then a dry patch or two, and you are finished.
Do this for the first 5 rounds or so and then hammer down...shoot it like your defending the mother land...just keep that barrel as cool as possible!
Once your groups start to open up, that is a sign that your fouled and the copper fouling needs to be 'knocked back', not completely removed.
Between the fouling 'Knocking Back Sessions', run a solvent soaked patch(NOT copper solvent, but something like Hoppe's #9) through the bore, followed by a dry patch, then an oil soaked patch and finally a 'loose' fitting dry patch, put away till next time!
It is important to break-in a barrel though. The jacket material must be removed after every shot during the initial few rounds. If this isn't done the areas of the barrel that fouled will tend to pick up more fouling and it will build on itself. It is important to get a layer of powder fouling on top of the lands & grooves. This hard deposit will prevent the copper from stripping off the bullets. However, if the internal finish of the barrel is too rough the barrel will never be completely broken-in and fouling will always be a problem. Some barrels can't be broken-in.
Yet a different view from one, if not 'the' rifle barrel guru...McMillan says:
The break in fad was started by a fellow I helped get started in the barrel business . He started putting a set of break in instructions in ever barrel he shipped. One came into the shop to be installed and I read it and the next time I saw him I asked him What was with this break in crap?. His answer was Mac, My share of the market is about 700 barrels a year. I cater to the target crowd and they shoot a barrel about 3000 rounds before they change it. If each one uses up 100 rounds of each barrel breaking it in you can figure out how many more barrels I will get to make each year. If you will stop and think that the barrel doesn't know whether you are cleaning it every shot or every 5 shots and if you are removing all foreign material that has been deposited in it since the last time you cleaned it what more can you do? When I ship a barrel I send a recommendation with it that you clean it ever chance you get with a brass brush pushed through it at least 12 times with a good solvent and followed by two and only 2 soft patches. This means if you are a bench rest shooter you clean ever 7 or 8 rounds . If you are a high power shooter you clean it when you come off the line after 20 rounds. If you follow the fad of cleaning every shot for X amount and every 2 shots for X amount and so on the only thing you are accomplishing is shortening the life of the barrel by the amount of rounds you shot during this process. I always say Monkey see Monkey do, now I will wait on the flames but before you write them, Please include what you think is happening inside your barrel during break in that is worth the expense and time you are spending during break in.
I tend to think that 'some' break in is due, I,or I should say we, here at the shop follow the Lilja rule and it has worked well for us...
The problem arises when one arbitrarily insists on over cleaning, and cleaning using bad methods.
Think 'Knock back', not take it out, but one pass with a patch soaked with copper remover followed by a solvent soaked patch then a dry patch or two, and you are finished.
Do this for the first 5 rounds or so and then hammer down...shoot it like your defending the mother land...just keep that barrel as cool as possible!
Once your groups start to open up, that is a sign that your fouled and the copper fouling needs to be 'knocked back', not completely removed.
Between the fouling 'Knocking Back Sessions', run a solvent soaked patch(NOT copper solvent, but something like Hoppe's #9) through the bore, followed by a dry patch, then an oil soaked patch and finally a 'loose' fitting dry patch, put away till next time!
MachIVshooter
Member
Pretty much the way I do it, guns and engines alike. That said, I'm careful not to let either overheat.....
A good barrel is a good barrel, and a crap barrel will always be a crap barrel. No break-in process is gonna change that. However, some barrels will begin to shoot better after they get a few rounds through them, because there is some lapping effect and the repeated expansion and contraction (stressing & relieving) will eventually cause the metal to find it's happy spot. Cryo treated barrels tend to shoot better out of the box because that treatment hastens molecule alignment. Likewise, cut-rifled barrels do not undergo the extreme stress and later de-stressing that button-rifled barrels do. A very homogenous barrel that is properly cut-rifled is hard to beat. Unfortunately, because it takes about 50 times as long to cut rifle as it does to push/pull a button, we have to pay dearly for it most of the time.
And please, let's leave hammer-forged tubes out of this. There is a reason they're not popular in long range shooting, but are great for applications like MG barrels.
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Uncle Mike
Member
But, it sound so...manly! Meez gun barrel beat inta shape wit zee big hammah! Strong like ox!
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
As near as I can tell from the real world, what actually "breaks in" in any firearm are the various mating surfaces which rub against each other. The slight amount of wear is a smoothing process.
Sure, there will be some burnishing of the surface of the barrel, but a bunch of shoot'n'clean between one or three shots isn't likely to make much difference. Might be some help to a barrel cut with poor tools, maybe, but not for anything that starts out with decent quality.
Lemme be all grumpy and say this about that: My family has been in the centerfire shooting business since around 1926. I personally know of a bunch of sub-MOA rifles since around 1947 or so; I got into it in 1950. I never ever heard of this "break-in" stuff until I got on the Internet in 1998 and the subject came up on TFL in 1999. Even Gale McMillan called it hooey, and SFAIK his benchrest group record is still the world record.
Sure, there will be some burnishing of the surface of the barrel, but a bunch of shoot'n'clean between one or three shots isn't likely to make much difference. Might be some help to a barrel cut with poor tools, maybe, but not for anything that starts out with decent quality.
Lemme be all grumpy and say this about that: My family has been in the centerfire shooting business since around 1926. I personally know of a bunch of sub-MOA rifles since around 1947 or so; I got into it in 1950. I never ever heard of this "break-in" stuff until I got on the Internet in 1998 and the subject came up on TFL in 1999. Even Gale McMillan called it hooey, and SFAIK his benchrest group record is still the world record.
Shadow Man
Member
So eloquent. I like it.
MachIVshooter
Member
Haha. But what about the other side........
My barrel was pitted against a mandrel 1/4 of it's size and lost.
Maverick223
Member
As he put it: "it will stand forever"...and right or wrong, like it or not, it still stands today. That said, I think I will sit this one out...but tag for an interesting argument to come.
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