Anyone NOT break in your rifle with the one shot/one clean method?!?!
- Thread starter chiz45
- Start date
i was originally curious about actual group sizes that you have shot, and what, if any, your barrel break in procedures were. It appears that good groups can be achieved with EITHER method, as long as the operator does his part. Anyone read the responses different than I?
Maybe my standards are low, but 1/2 MOA seems damn good to me!!!
chiz45
Maybe my standards are low, but 1/2 MOA seems damn good to me!!!
chiz45
Point Blank
New member
Does anyone know how the test firing process is carried out by gun manufactures??I wouldnt think they clean between each shot while testing....your so called "virgin barrel" may have been shot multiple times before final cleaning,oiling,and boxing her up.The maker of a custom gun may go thru the one shot/clean,etc. procedure,but i doubt those that are mass produced.
Factory barrels are definately test fired I believe it's 10 rounds before shipping them out and they don't clean them. That's why the first thing you do when getting a new rifle is clean it very thoroughly before breaking it in. Even custom barrels are test fired before sending them out. There's no such thing as a virgin barrel unless you put it on yourself.
Chiz45, as for group size, my .308 custom's smallest 5 shot group so far has been .192" and my stock 700P will shoot about .5-.6" at 100 yards. I wouldn't know how they would shoot without the break in because I do it to all my rifles. I'm sure you can get good groups from both methods at first but with break in you will get less fouling longer which will lead to better multi group accuracy and easier cleaning.
Truthfully it's up to the rifles owner whether they want to do it or not. Personally i think it's worth it and that's why I will continue to do it.
Chiz45, as for group size, my .308 custom's smallest 5 shot group so far has been .192" and my stock 700P will shoot about .5-.6" at 100 yards. I wouldn't know how they would shoot without the break in because I do it to all my rifles. I'm sure you can get good groups from both methods at first but with break in you will get less fouling longer which will lead to better multi group accuracy and easier cleaning.
Truthfully it's up to the rifles owner whether they want to do it or not. Personally i think it's worth it and that's why I will continue to do it.
my observations of my rifles, my friends' and the posts of those who appear to have experience would lead me to conclude the following:
1. use of aggressive abrasives is risky and probably not necessary or benefical, except in unusual circumstances
2. consistent cleaning with proper equipment and technique after every few shots is probably beneficial for accuracy and ease of cleaning (or at least will do no harm) to a new barrel, both cheap ones and really high quality ones.
3. It probably doesn't matter whether you do it every shot or every 3-10 shots.
4. For maximum accuracy, after your "break-in" period, you should continue to clean your rifle after a small number of rounds are fired (you can decide what a small number is, and it will be ammo and rifle dependent)
I read Mr. McMillan's comments to be primarily directed towards the use of abrasives and his no doubt correct opinion that high quality barrels are relatively smooth to begin with. I doubt that he would disagree that you are likely to wear a barrel out significantly more quickly by a carefully done initial periodic cleaning every few shots.
1. use of aggressive abrasives is risky and probably not necessary or benefical, except in unusual circumstances
2. consistent cleaning with proper equipment and technique after every few shots is probably beneficial for accuracy and ease of cleaning (or at least will do no harm) to a new barrel, both cheap ones and really high quality ones.
3. It probably doesn't matter whether you do it every shot or every 3-10 shots.
4. For maximum accuracy, after your "break-in" period, you should continue to clean your rifle after a small number of rounds are fired (you can decide what a small number is, and it will be ammo and rifle dependent)
I read Mr. McMillan's comments to be primarily directed towards the use of abrasives and his no doubt correct opinion that high quality barrels are relatively smooth to begin with. I doubt that he would disagree that you are likely to wear a barrel out significantly more quickly by a carefully done initial periodic cleaning every few shots.
FireForged
New member
Less Fouling because of your barrel break-in method?? What the!??
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
Never having heard of breaking in a rifle until I read about it at TFL...
My pet .30-'06 rifle is now some 30 years old. It has somewhere in the vicinity of 4,000 rounds through it.
I've always just run a patch or two through it with WD 40; maybe a dry patch afterwards. Group size began to degrade after some 25 years or so. I used this new copper-removing stuff on it in 1997.
The next three-shot group was 1/2" center-to-center.
Made me plumb confident on an antelope hunt.
Plumb tasty.
Art
My pet .30-'06 rifle is now some 30 years old. It has somewhere in the vicinity of 4,000 rounds through it.
I've always just run a patch or two through it with WD 40; maybe a dry patch afterwards. Group size began to degrade after some 25 years or so. I used this new copper-removing stuff on it in 1997.
The next three-shot group was 1/2" center-to-center.
Made me plumb confident on an antelope hunt.
Plumb tasty.
Art
I'm one of those people that just pulls the rifle from a box, runs a patch through the barrel and starts shooting.
I bought a 700 BDL in 1999 chambered in the 300 Ultra Mag. Put a scope on it, bore sighted it and went to the range. It took four shots to find my zero at 100 yards. The next three shots held a half inch group. Each year since I shoot it before and during the gun deer season with the same results. All I every do is clean the barrel at the end of the season with a series of patches.
I did the same thing with my full rifled slug barrel. It too shoots consistent groups, although not as tight as a rifle.
I bought a 700 BDL in 1999 chambered in the 300 Ultra Mag. Put a scope on it, bore sighted it and went to the range. It took four shots to find my zero at 100 yards. The next three shots held a half inch group. Each year since I shoot it before and during the gun deer season with the same results. All I every do is clean the barrel at the end of the season with a series of patches.
I did the same thing with my full rifled slug barrel. It too shoots consistent groups, although not as tight as a rifle.
Yes Fireforged there is less fouling because of a proper break in. It smooths the rough spots out which inturns makes the barrel pick up less copper. If you don't clean between the shots then all you are doing is gilding the inside of the barrel and piling copper on top of copper which effects accuracy as well. I'll use the example I used earlier...a factory barrel unbroken in properly is like 60 grit sand paper and a custom handlapped barrel is like 400 grit. Which do you think will pick up more copper? The 60 of course. Breaking in the barrel properly turns the 60 into maybe 120 or 180 so it will be easier to clean. Did you not understand that or is it that you don't believe it?
If you're like WiFAL and just use the rifle a few times a year and put it away, which is fine because I have alot of hunting friends like that, then you don't really need a break in. But if you are shooting all the time and looking for match grade accuracy consistantly then you should properly break in the barrel.
If you're like WiFAL and just use the rifle a few times a year and put it away, which is fine because I have alot of hunting friends like that, then you don't really need a break in. But if you are shooting all the time and looking for match grade accuracy consistantly then you should properly break in the barrel.
Never. Bought my Bushmaster and put 500 rounds through it non-stop before thinking about cleaning it. I wanted to make sure it worked. 
My SKS went through about 1,000 before it's first cleaning. And I have no idea how many .22s have gone through the Marlin, without a cleaning.
sks
My SKS went through about 1,000 before it's first cleaning. And I have no idea how many .22s have gone through the Marlin, without a cleaning.
sks