Well, there is no such thing as one recipie for every barrel. You shoot, you clean, you shoot, you clean until there is no copper fouling, and then move to 3 shots, clean, 3 shots clean until no copper, and then move to 5 or 6 shots. By that time you might decide fouling you recieve is fine. Some move to 10 shots at that point.
No set rules for every barrel. Some barrels I have had had no fouling from the start, some remington's fouled every shot, and you couldn't break it in.
This subject got tossed around pretty thoroughly a few weeks back. You might go into the archives and do a search. As a custom gunsmith, I use a lot of premium rifle barrels. All the preimum barrel makers recommend a break in. The most common procedure is to clean it every shot for the first ten rounds. A bullet with a long bearing surface is optimum, even if the twist in your rifle won't stabilize it.
By cleaning it, we mean one wet patch with Shooter's Choice - then ten strokes of a brass brush saturated with Shooter's Choice - then wet patches of Shooter's Choice until the patches come out clean - they a dry patch. Shoot another shot. Repeat.
After the first ten, you can go to cleaning every three or every 5 shots. At about the 50 round point, just clean and shoot as normal. Expect the barrel to be fully "broken in" at the 100 round point.
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A man has got to know his limitations . . . . .
All the preimum barrel makers recommend a break in.
That's not really true.Most do, for sure, but there are some that don't.Here's what Hart says: "We do not believe that a break in procedure is required with our barrels." The guys at Shilen don't think it's a big deal either. And the late custom barrel maker Gale McMillan was absolutely against it.
I've done it a few times myself, but I eventually concluded the time and effort wasn't worth it for me. I just didn't see anyreal benefits. Okay, maybe copper foulingwent away sooner, but so what.My non-broken in rifles shotjust as good as the ones that were "broken in".Instead of dedicating a half day or so tediously breaking in a rifle, I now prefer to spend15 or20 minutes after each shooting session (15 to 20 shots) to throroughly cleanit.
All the preimum barrel makers recommend a break in.
The guys at Shilen don't think it's a big deal either..
So I guessthose "Recommended Break In Procedure" instructionsheets that Shilen sends in the tubewith every one of their barrels was put there by aliens??
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A man has got to know his limitations . . . . .
So I guessthose "Recommended Break In Procedure" instructionsheets that Shilen sends in the tubewith every one of their barrels was put there by aliens??
No, I don't think legal, illegal or even extraterrestrial aliens had anything to dowith it.OnShilen's old website,which is now down apparently while a new one is under construction, they made mention in their FAQ section that they didn't think barrel break-in was a big deal. Theysaid they included break-in instructions with their barrels only because that's what their customers wanted.
I've emailed Shilen to find out what their position on it is now. It may be the same or it may be different, but I'll post their reply if they send me one. I don't know where exactly in Texas they're located, they may have bugged out due to the hurricane, but if and when they reply I'll post it if it supports my position or not.
You may be right about Hart. I have been screwing barrels on rifles for about 35 years now, and I know that all of them discuss (or at least used to) a break in procedure. In the past three or so years, however, I have been using Krieger barrels almost exclusively - so if Shilen or Hart recently changed their position on the break-in, I wouldn't know it.
Practically speaking, some of these top drawer barrels shoot great right from the start - particularly at 100 yards. It's the 500 and 1000 yard grouping that often improves as the barrel gets 50 or 100 rounds through it. I'm going to keep doing it - it sure doesn't seem to hurt anything.
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A man has got to know his limitations . . . . .
Well, my interest in rifles just isn't what it used to be. I find I enjoy someotheractivities just as much if not more now.So for me personally, I just plain got tired of doing a tedious break-in since my heart wasn't in it and since practically all of my hunting and shooting is done at a range of 300 yards and less, Idon't think any accuracy advantage offered by this process (if there is any at all) is going to benefit me. More than anything else, though, here's what really convinced me it really wasn't needed for what I do: in 30 some odd years of hunting deer with riflesI've managed to miss only 1 deer and that one miss was totally my fault, not the rifle's.I'm not saying that to brag, I only take shots that I'm 99.9% sure of. So, for my style of hunting, shooting rifles that weren'ttediously broken in has never, ever cost me a single animal.Therefore, why should I bother? Anyway, that's my thinking on it.
barrel break-in
