I have read that big ole thread from Gale several times over the last few years. These are guys who cater to the precise of the precise. These are guys who is looking for perfection. They are the 1% of shooter or less. Its like talking to Pat Tryson (Mark Martins crew cheif) and asking him about using Walmart Pennzoil 10W30 in his race car or a AC Delco filter in his car. Of course he is going to feel its inferior. But for us peons, it works fine for our uses. Most of us anyway. But we are not shaving away .01MOA off our groups either.

Ol' Gale also thought it was true BULLS_ _T to put anything abrasive down the barrel, ie; JB' s or Flitz

Well, I have to agree with him when it comes to one of my customs with Dan Lilja or Krieger barrels. Which is the type of barrels he shot. You know the ones that cost 350 dollars for the barrel alone and is handlapped with a lead mold. I wouldn' t dare put JB' s down it.

But with these rough factory barrels, whats a man to do but to try to smooth them out a little. I really down ol' Gale had to put up with the stuff us peons had to put up with. I am not a big advocate of putting the abrasives all the way down the barrel either. Just consentrating on the throat. I believe thats where most of your copper fouling is from.

I do break in my barrels from regular manufacturers. The main difference I do see is the ease of cleaning compared to not doing it. I never compared the accuracy prior to breaking in, vs, after breaking in. But every sniper or sharpshooter I' ve talked to (both military and police) follow a break-in ritual. It' s usually like this: ( I got this from a police sharpshooter that I worked with )

Shots 1-10 clean after each shot.
Shots 11-25 clean after every 3rd shot.
Shots 25-100 clean after every 5th shot.

It' s a pain in the butt, and I usually find the cheapest ammo I can to use during this period. But every rifle I' ve had except for one Remington, would shoot 3/4" groups or less at 100 yards once I found the ammo it liked after breaking them in. So, I keep doing it.

Ask 10 people get 10 answers
When I get a new bbl to work with the first thing I do is scrub it out good with MPro-7, after that I clean it every 5 shots.


http://www.mp7.com/index.htm

When I bought my Rem. 700 Mtn. Rifle in 99 I followed a break in procedure. I found that early on I would remove a lot of copper fouling after each shot. By the time I had fired about 50 rounds only a minimal amount of copper fouling would be present and could easily be removed.
I don't know if following a proper break in procedure improves accuracy but I do believe that as the burrs and rough spots are being smoothed out by firing the gun, you are not imbedding copper deposits within these areas which would be much harder to remove down the road.

IMHO barrel "break in" is a thing of the past. Just sight the rifle in and find the ammo the gives you the best groups. I've never had a rifle in over 30 years that couldn't deliver a 1" group or less with factory ammo and have never followed a break in procedure.
The last two being both Remingtons 700's one in a 7mag dbm and the other a 22.250 vs ,both deliver 1/8" groups with Ferderal 140 tbbc and horandy custom 139's and hornady 55gr moly v max.

I wish I'd been that lucky. I generally consider 1 1/2" acceptable with the more affordable factory sporter weight rifles, i.e. Ruger, Winchester, Remington, etc., and I've had a number of factory rifles that wouldn't do that well. Although in all fairness I've had some that were tack drivers.

But back to his break-in question. I've tried various methods though the years, but I gave up on them. I never saw any real improvement.

I used to do it, but now I don't. Any benefit (and it's questionable if there is any) is outweighed by the cost in time and effort if you ask me. It made the sport of shooting less enjoyable for me. Now I just make sure the new rifle has a clean bore then I shoot it for groups. After each session (20 shots or so) I thoroughly clean it.

Single most important thing regarding break-in is to not to try and shoot too far too quickly. You need to go gradually in steps. Maybe 20 shots at 50 yards, clean it, 20 shots at 75 yards, clean it, 20 shots at 100, clean, 20 shots at 125 yards, cleain it again, 20 shots at 150, etc., etc., etc..

Nice and easy or you'll wind up with what's known as a "short shooter", these are the ones lining the used rifle racks at the shops.

Uncle Matt (in IL)