Breaking in a barrel?

medicblue · 06-08-2006, 06:59 PM

I have two new levers that I need to take to the range and try out. Well three but the Puma .454 has a new rear sight...

Anyway, has anyone heard of breaking in a new barrel? I just heard about firing one round, then brush and swab the barrel, then fire three shots and brush n swab and so on. I understand the idea behind it and it doesn't sound like all that much of a hassle but ???

#40Fan · 06-08-2006, 07:11 PM

I found this on armalite.com about match barrels.

Quote:

Fire 11 single shots, each followed by about 20 strokes of a tight fitting patch bearing bore cleaner. Use a Parker Hale or other wrap-around style jag rather than a slotted jag. From 12 to 30 shots, clean after each 3 shots. From 31 to 50 shots, clean after each 5 shots. Clean thoroughly with a high quality bore cleaner every 10 shots until 100 shots. This time-consuming process will allow the barrel to smooth out without an accumulation of copper fouling in the pores of the steel. The barrel should thereafter be cleaned every 20 rounds for best match accuracy. Accuracy continues to improve for several hundred rounds.

duckdog132 · 06-08-2006, 07:28 PM

do you need to break in a barrel if its not match grade? i have a model 12 stainless. does it?

#40Fan · 06-08-2006, 09:59 PM

I just got done reading on another forum where opinions were mixed on the subject of breaking in a barrel. One person said that with a factory barrel that you should break it in because they are made so fast that the machining isn't done with the greatest of care. Others said, clean the gun, shoot it to sight it in, clean again, shoot the piss out of it.

Then with match barrels, some said don't even worry about it because they are made with such tight tollerances and the barrel is so perfect that nothing is left to do but shoot it.

It seems to be just a, do what you think is best, kind of a deal. I personally think breaking in a barrel should be done. Even if it is just cleaning every five shots for the first 50 or so rounds.

Solitary Man · 06-09-2006, 07:39 AM

It would be a waste of time if you ask me and I've done it a few times. There's no evidence that it improves accuracy, so the only benefit might be a reduction in copper fouling, but that's going tooccur eventually anyway.Just shoot 'em and clean 'em after each range session. That would be my advice. However, this should all be fun, so if it increases your enjoyment of owning them, then by all means do it.

If you wereinvesting money inan expensive match grade barrel my advice would be to follow the manufacturer's recommendations. At this time I'm having a rifle rebarrelled with a Lilja and even though I'm not too crazy about the idea,when I get it back I'll grudgingly go through the break-in procedure that Dan Lilja recommends. The new barrel and installation is going to run me about $700, so with that kind of money involved I guess I better follow the instructions.

Mike Hill · 06-09-2006, 08:52 AM

I just want you to think about this a min.

When you fire a brand new gun you are breaking in the groves and lands and you are actualy shaving tiny peices of metal off the barrel. So with this knowledge would you keep shooting or would you take a patch and clean those bits out of your barrel. I'm cleaning them out of mine. And it is reccommended for the first 100 rounds.

Does it do any good? I don't know but I'm not taking any chances.
thats my 2 cents take it for what its worth.
Keep shoting and have fun thats the most important part. Mike

hardcorehunter · 06-09-2006, 12:10 PM

Here ya go. This is whatPrecision Shooting magazine recommends http://www.savagearms.com/cs_barrel.htm

oldelkhunter · 06-09-2006, 12:23 PM

Quote:

When you fire a brand new gun you are breaking in the groves and lands and you are actualy shaving tiny peices of metal off the barrel.

Hopefully before you fire your gun you clean it carefully and remove all the gunk left from the factory proof test and any bits of packaging that may be in the bore. I think breaking in a boret is a good thing and hasn't hurt any of my guns and in fact makes them clean easier but you have to be thorough. First 10 shots run patches down the bore every shot until they come out clean. The next 10 every 2 shots and then the next 30 shots every 3 shots. That will remove most of the copper buildup and smooth out the bore and polish some tooling marks. You can use any good bore solvent and or copper cleaner or both, just follow directions. FWIW

Solitary Man · 06-09-2006, 03:51 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Hill

I just want you to think about this a min...............

When this subject comes up, which it does on a regular basis, the thing that I think about is this: In 35+ years of hunting I've never, not once, missed an animal because my barrel didn't receive a so called "proper" break-in. In fact I kill deer on a regular basis with my old 1891 Mauser that has a bore that resembles a cheese grater. Therefore the thought that crosses my mind is.........what possibly could I be missing out on? Theonly thing I can come up withis a tedious and unneccessary prodecure, which to me ain't a bad thing at all.

I actually went through a periodseveral years ago when I bought into this idea and I "broke in" 3 or 4 brand new rifles. I hated every minute of it and when these rifles didn't shoot any better than any of my others I had to question whether this effort was worth it. For me the answer is noand like I said earlier, I'lldo whatever Lilja recommends, but I won't like it.

Squirreldog · 06-11-2006, 06:45 PM

I break mine in using a similar procedure to the ones above, and I will say that Ive never seen it hurt one, even though you could if you somehow damaged the crown, so when ever possible always clean from the breach end.

I can also tell you like oldelkhunter says it will clean easier down the road, I have learned this from two rifles same caliber one blue one stainless one I followed a break in proceedure one I did not but I did keep it clean, that one because I did not have a proceedure to follow I just cleaned ever so many rounds because out of the boxI got a ton of crud out of it,before I ever fired it, and I know it cant be good to shoot it with machine cuttings and other crud in it. I dont think all that junk combined with the heat and friction would be good on it. I know that there are different proceedures for making barrels and some might not have maching cuttings in them, I quess QualityControll has a lot to do with the barrel when it leaves thefactory, any way to each his own!!!! IMHO