ShatoDavis

Yes, absolutely break the barrel in properly.

My gawd people you make it sound like slave labor.

Clean thoroughly before your range session.
After every 3 shot group clean again.

If you're shooting properly you will be allowing your rifle to cool before the next group anyway. What are you going to do while you wait for it to cool? Run a few patches of bore solvent through it. patch dry. Run some copper removal (sweet 7.62 is the best). Patch dry. run patch with light oil through. After that 10 minutes of slave labor. You will still need to let the bore cool for another 10 most likely.

If you take the time to follow these steps, you will end up with a rifle that is easy to clean. You won't get a more accurate rifle, but you will end up with one that doesn't foul as badly.

Most of the folks that mock the break in process cant see the forest for the trees. They don't want to go to the trouble so they say its rediculous. I build semi custom rifles for myself and friends. Altogether we probably built 15 rifles last year. All with custom barrels and all where broken in. Its not difficult, you just do it during the sighting in and load development.

wis_bow_huntr

Actually recent studies show that cleaning your gun during its break in period is good for the gun, but after its broken in and you have it sighted in right before season DONT CLEAN IT. it will actually be more accurate. I will have to find the article and post it on here. This came from some of the top shooters in the US.

eldeguello

The folks at the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, who provided all the active duty Army competitiors for national and international level rifle competitions, RARELY, if ever, cleaned their rifles at all. And to the best of my knowledge, they didn't go thru one of these break-in drills either!

I will admit that such a procedure MIGHT benefit a poorly-made, rough mass-produced rifle bore,but it will do nothing for a bore that was made properly to begin with, except to start in wearing it out sooner.

With a rife like that Tikka, regular cleaning after a range session is sufficient!

early

Yup.
Just shoot it, and clean it when your done before storage.

Proper procedure has already been covered, all I'll add isuse hearing and eye protection, make sure your ammunition is correct, and very often if you ask folks at the range will help with proper technique for shooting from a bench.

early

Retaks

When i was in the Marine Corps we only properly cleaned our rifles about every 500-1000 rounds. Other then that we would just run a patch with CLP through the bore and clean the areas of metal we hold every few days. I had a brand new rifle and put about 700 rounds through it before its first cleaning.If its so important to do a proper break in why didnt they teach us to do that in the Marine Corps? I have 2 Sub-Moa rifles of my own and have never done any of the break in procedures. I just go shoot and cleanbetween 10 and 20 rouds. Even if im staying to shoot more.

Briman

In the manual that came with my Bushmaster AR-15 its states something along the lines of not cleaning the rifle until several hundred rounds are fired through it- something about polishing the oxidation off the chrome lining.

I've been called a heretic and even a lazy slob, but I don't clean rifles very often. I'll run a patch with some hoppes or CLP down the bore then put it away. .22 rimfire bores never get cleaned unless on the off chance they get wet somehow- its only happened to me once while shooting NRA rimfire sihouette in the rain.The M1 garand I used for several seasons of high power rifle only got cleaned at the end of the season- there's no point in cleaning it as the first 2-3 shots will be off after a cleaning- they might not be off by much but the first one will become a complete throwaway round instead of a sighter, the second would be a sighter that would be off- not doing me much good, and the 3rd and/or 4th shot would score a 9 instead of a 10- and that's only if I ignored the the deviation in my sighters and trusted my zero.

ShatoDavis

Check out this thread, it may shed some light:

http://benchrest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46802&highlight=barrel+break

I have a very, very, very hard time believing that the Army marksmanship team rarely cleans their rifles. I'm borderline on calling BS on that!!! I know a fellow that was on the team and he is one of the most anal people I know when it comes to cleaning his rifle.

I know several BR competitors and they all clean there rifles between strings. At a BR match there is always two things going on.... People loading ammo trying to match conditions, and competitors cleaning their rifles.

Does a custom barrel that has been hand lapped require break in? maybe, maybe not but I do it anyway.Would a mass produced factory rifle barrel benefit from a break in? You bet!

Briman

I once knew this girl in high school who got a hotdog stuck in her... ah nevermind, I'm notsure if it actually happened because I wasn't there to witness it.