I just bought a Ruger .338 and am curious what is the proper way to break in a barrel?? I have never owned a brand new rifle so have never had to it. Thanks for any help you can give me!!
Marty
__________________
ALWAYS CHECK YOUR ARROWS BEFORE SHOOTING THEM.....TRUST ME!!
Clean your bbl before shooting. Than clean thorougly between each shot for about 20 shots. Than 10 shots. Than clean as normal. Also let your bbl cool right down between shots.
Personally, I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Just make sure the bore is good and clean before firing it for the first time. Then clean it thoroughly after ever 20 rounds or so.
I do it. I believe it saves you time and lets you get into load development quicker than shooting 5 box of shells until the velocities spreads have settle down. I also do a initial cleaning with JB Borecleaner. I run about 200 strokes thru a barrel. Concentrate on the chamber. This also speeds it up. Some guns, this matters, some don't. Sometimes, nothing you do can get a barrel broken in. They are rough and going to stay that way forever. For custom Dan Lilja, barrels, it depends on you gunsmiths reamer job.
Your going to hear alot of it doesn't matter, to its a waste of time, to you will ruin your barrel if you don't. Most all I feel are hear-say, to just plain ludicrous. But I suggest you try it for yourself, and make your own decision. Or if you don't let us know how it turned out.
Hi I have a 338 Ultra mag and I did not break in the barrel and I can shoot a 1 inch group at 100yrds but if you want a better group than that you might want to break it in.
Look at it this way. Barrel break in is probably just a myth. for a hunting gun, the difference you will see is pretty small. but consider it cheap insurance. So what if it does nothing. All you did was kill an afternoon playing at the range. but what if there is really somthing to it?????????
I've started to believe that the obsessive break-in proceedures aren't as necessary as some believe. All barrels are to some degree porous and rough, even the finest hand-lapped custom barrel, and a small bit of copper fouling will always find its way into these little pores creating a smoother surface. Copper (gilding metal actually) is much softer than the steel used to make your barrel, so it's somewhat absurd to believe that a mere 20 shots will smooth out the barrel a significant amount. All cleaning to bare metal does is take the rifle back to square one rather than letting it fill those pores with a nominal amount of copper fouling like it's going to do anyway.
I did a break-in proceedure with my Ruger and found that while I was cleaning every shot my accuracy was very erratic. Once I let the rifle go without cleaning for several shots the accuracy settled down and it shot very well. I did lap the bore with JB Bore Paste before shooting, so I don't have terrible troubles with excessive fouling. I usually can go as many as 25-30 shots before fouling starts to open up the groups. Then I'll clean it and after cleaning the accuracy becomes a bit erratic for a few shots before settling back to normal. But the fact is that the rifle likes to shoot with a fouled bore, as long as it's not excessively dirty.
I'd say just take your rifle out and shoot it, cleaning whenever accuracy starts to degrade and you'll do fine. The most important thing is to keep the barrel cool to prevent throat erosion. If you shoot two or three shots and then can't hold your finger on the barrel by the chamber for a 10 count, the bore is too hot and you should allow it to cool for several minutes before shooting again.
Got a question on barrel break-in/copper fouling. What about moly-coated bullets? More fouling, less fouling, clean more often, less often?
I have a new .243 w/stainless barrel. Moly is all I've ever shot in it. Any repercussions with switching to non-coated bullets?
Barrel Break in??
