New RIFLE OWNER'S
10-17-2014, 09:26 AM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 115
New RIFLE OWNER'S
I just came across an article about barrel break in on sniper's hide.
When the bullets pass through the bore , it deburrs the lands and burnishes the bore and thats what we want, according to this article the burnish acts like a lube for the bore.
Manufacturers want to keep selling barrels, so by taking it down to bare metal (removing the burnish) begins to ruin the barrel when you fire more rounds.
They say, just remove the powder and then oil
remove the copper if needed with shooters wipe out.
When the bullets pass through the bore , it deburrs the lands and burnishes the bore and thats what we want, according to this article the burnish acts like a lube for the bore.
Manufacturers want to keep selling barrels, so by taking it down to bare metal (removing the burnish) begins to ruin the barrel when you fire more rounds.
They say, just remove the powder and then oil
remove the copper if needed with shooters wipe out.
10-17-2014, 11:08 AM
#2
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: West TN
Posts: 847
Realistically, with today's incredible machining capabilities & technology barrels are better than ever before. What used to take decades of learning, a keen eye & a learned touch to once produce target grade barrels by hand is now easily surpassed with a computer controlled, laser guided machine with the touch of a button & easily replicated multiples of times.
With any new gun I've always just bought a cheap box of anything (Rem, Win, Fed plain janes etc...) & after thoroughly cleaning the rifle from the box, I then shoot an entire box through the gun. I pace myself so as to warm the barrel but never get it hot. Then between each round I run a dry Boresnake through the barrel. I then consider that barrel "broke inish" & usually proceed at a later date to sight it in with whatever chosen hunting ammo for that gun.
I read about all these guys claiming you MUST strip it with this, coat it with that, lap it with this, shoot it x-numbers of time & do so while Pluto & Mars are in the lower quadrant, while your wife offers sacraments over a boiling pot of witches brew...
Sheesh, it's just a hunting rifle we're talking about. The gun isn't going to be used to set records at Camp Perry with!
With any new gun I've always just bought a cheap box of anything (Rem, Win, Fed plain janes etc...) & after thoroughly cleaning the rifle from the box, I then shoot an entire box through the gun. I pace myself so as to warm the barrel but never get it hot. Then between each round I run a dry Boresnake through the barrel. I then consider that barrel "broke inish" & usually proceed at a later date to sight it in with whatever chosen hunting ammo for that gun.
I read about all these guys claiming you MUST strip it with this, coat it with that, lap it with this, shoot it x-numbers of time & do so while Pluto & Mars are in the lower quadrant, while your wife offers sacraments over a boiling pot of witches brew...
Sheesh, it's just a hunting rifle we're talking about. The gun isn't going to be used to set records at Camp Perry with!
10-17-2014, 11:25 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,905
I just came across an article about barrel break in on sniper's hide.
When the bullets pass through the bore , it deburrs the lands and burnishes the bore and thats what we want, according to this article the burnish acts like a lube for the bore.
Manufacturers want to keep selling barrels, so by taking it down to bare metal (removing the burnish) begins to ruin the barrel when you fire more rounds.
They say, just remove the powder and then oil
remove the copper if needed with shooters wipe out.
When the bullets pass through the bore , it deburrs the lands and burnishes the bore and thats what we want, according to this article the burnish acts like a lube for the bore.
Manufacturers want to keep selling barrels, so by taking it down to bare metal (removing the burnish) begins to ruin the barrel when you fire more rounds.
They say, just remove the powder and then oil
remove the copper if needed with shooters wipe out.
Or equally, welcome to the rumor-mill... Lots of folks have lots of ideas that are based on what SOUNDS like logical arguments, but there's often a lot of bad science behind it...
How about the legend that firing the rifle aligns all of the grain structure in the barrel, and brushing interrupts that alignment.
Now, as to whether there's a grain of truth any of this stuff or not...
Think about what you just said....
If shooting bullets "polishes" or "burnishes" the bore, then why would shooting MORE bullets ruin the barrel?
Sniper's hide is often NOT a good resource on this type of information. While there are a lot of cats over there that know their stuff, there are a lot more folks that don't...
For what it's worth, there IS at least some semblance of truth that running metal brushes through the bore - a small wire points = high pressure against the surface - does tend to cause more damage than good, but again, steel is harder than copper/brass/bronze. Whether that really degrades accuracy still remains a topic of debate. I personally tend to believe that if fouling is stubborn, it will be more prone to guide a soft bristle brush into a channel around itself, rather than letting the bristle overtake it. You see so many threads on "I scrubbed the bore and scrubbed the bore with a brush, then put solvent and it still came out blue." That's why. Once the loose stuff comes free, the stubborn stuff isn't going to brush out anyway, and it's just going to scratch around itself.
Then again, scratched/toolmarked bores don't always indicate inaccurate bores, and mirror polished bores don't always indicate accurate ones.
Moral of the story: Keep the powder fouling down, and get the copper out when your groups open up. Nothing more, nothing less. That'll give you a long and happy barrel life.
10-17-2014, 11:32 AM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,905
Oh yeah, and Hatchie hit another critical point...
Factory bores and custom bores have nothing in common. I read so often about guys wanting to learn how to neck-turn, or want to get their bolt or firing pin sleeved, then you find out that all they have is a trued face receiver and a factory barrel/chamber.
Putting race fuel in a bone-stock Honda Civic won't do anything but burn up your valves and rings. Worrying too much about a factory bore will only give you heartburn...
Factory bores and custom bores have nothing in common. I read so often about guys wanting to learn how to neck-turn, or want to get their bolt or firing pin sleeved, then you find out that all they have is a trued face receiver and a factory barrel/chamber.
Putting race fuel in a bone-stock Honda Civic won't do anything but burn up your valves and rings. Worrying too much about a factory bore will only give you heartburn...
10-17-2014, 11:36 AM
#5
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 115
Realistically, with today's incredible machining capabilities & technology barrels are better than ever before. What used to take decades of learning, a keen eye & a learned touch to once produce target grade barrels by hand is now easily surpassed with a computer controlled, laser guided machine with the touch of a button & easily replicated multiples of times.
With any new gun I've always just bought a cheap box of anything (Rem, Win, Fed plain janes etc...) & after thoroughly cleaning the rifle from the box, I then shoot an entire box through the gun. I pace myself so as to warm the barrel but never get it hot. Then between each round I run a dry Boresnake through the barrel. I then consider that barrel "broke inish" & usually proceed at a later date to sight it in with whatever chosen hunting ammo for that gun.
I read about all these guys claiming you MUST strip it with this, coat it with that, lap it with this, shoot it x-numbers of time & do so while Pluto & Mars are in the lower quadrant, while your wife offers sacraments over a boiling pot of witches brew... Sheesh, it's just a hunting rifle we're talking about. The gun isn't going to be used to set records at Camp Perry with!
With any new gun I've always just bought a cheap box of anything (Rem, Win, Fed plain janes etc...) & after thoroughly cleaning the rifle from the box, I then shoot an entire box through the gun. I pace myself so as to warm the barrel but never get it hot. Then between each round I run a dry Boresnake through the barrel. I then consider that barrel "broke inish" & usually proceed at a later date to sight it in with whatever chosen hunting ammo for that gun.
I read about all these guys claiming you MUST strip it with this, coat it with that, lap it with this, shoot it x-numbers of time & do so while Pluto & Mars are in the lower quadrant, while your wife offers sacraments over a boiling pot of witches brew...
Sheesh, it's just a hunting rifle we're talking about. The gun isn't going to be used to set records at Camp Perry with!I have a 90 blr 308 lever action that won't hit the bull until it warms up. It has only been used for hunting.
But if I'm going to spend good money, it should be a little more accurate than that.
At least moa.
10-17-2014, 12:04 PM
#6
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 115
Haha, welcome to 1990 (or earlier for some cats)... This ain't anything new...
Or equally, welcome to the rumor-mill... Lots of folks have lots of ideas that are based on what SOUNDS like logical arguments, but there's often a lot of bad science behind it...
How about the legend that firing the rifle aligns all of the grain structure in the barrel, and brushing interrupts that alignment.
Now, as to whether there's a grain of truth any of this stuff or not...
Think about what you just said....
If shooting bullets "polishes" or "burnishes" the bore, then why would shooting MORE bullets ruin the barrel?
Sniper's hide is often NOT a good resource on this type of information. While there are a lot of cats over there that know their stuff, there are a lot more folks that don't...
For what it's worth, there IS at least some semblance of truth that running metal brushes through the bore - a small wire points = high pressure against the surface - does tend to cause more damage than good, but again, steel is harder than copper/brass/bronze. Whether that really degrades accuracy still remains a topic of debate. I personally tend to believe that if fouling is stubborn, it will be more prone to guide a soft bristle brush into a channel around itself, rather than letting the bristle overtake it. You see so many threads on "I scrubbed the bore and scrubbed the bore with a brush, then put solvent and it still came out blue." That's why. Once the loose stuff comes free, the stubborn stuff isn't going to brush out anyway, and it's just going to scratch around itself.
Then again, scratched/toolmarked bores don't always indicate inaccurate bores, and mirror polished bores don't always indicate accurate ones.
Moral of the story: Keep the powder fouling down, and get the copper out when your groups open up. Nothing more, nothing less. That'll give you a long and happy barrel life.
Or equally, welcome to the rumor-mill... Lots of folks have lots of ideas that are based on what SOUNDS like logical arguments, but there's often a lot of bad science behind it...
How about the legend that firing the rifle aligns all of the grain structure in the barrel, and brushing interrupts that alignment.
Now, as to whether there's a grain of truth any of this stuff or not...
Think about what you just said....
If shooting bullets "polishes" or "burnishes" the bore, then why would shooting MORE bullets ruin the barrel?
Sniper's hide is often NOT a good resource on this type of information. While there are a lot of cats over there that know their stuff, there are a lot more folks that don't...
For what it's worth, there IS at least some semblance of truth that running metal brushes through the bore - a small wire points = high pressure against the surface - does tend to cause more damage than good, but again, steel is harder than copper/brass/bronze. Whether that really degrades accuracy still remains a topic of debate. I personally tend to believe that if fouling is stubborn, it will be more prone to guide a soft bristle brush into a channel around itself, rather than letting the bristle overtake it. You see so many threads on "I scrubbed the bore and scrubbed the bore with a brush, then put solvent and it still came out blue." That's why. Once the loose stuff comes free, the stubborn stuff isn't going to brush out anyway, and it's just going to scratch around itself.
Then again, scratched/toolmarked bores don't always indicate inaccurate bores, and mirror polished bores don't always indicate accurate ones.
Moral of the story: Keep the powder fouling down, and get the copper out when your groups open up. Nothing more, nothing less. That'll give you a long and happy barrel life.
I've been into it for 3 years now and bought a couple of rifles and break in is all I've read and heard about.
I'm glad I didn't follow suit !
I was throwing this out there for other folks that maybe just getting started .
I don't think they meant that bullets polished the bore.
You put enough miles on anything and it'll be go south sooner or later.
