Hey everybody I just bought the new Ruger American rifle in 308 . Im taking it out on friday. This is my first larger caliber rifle and im not sure what the best barrel break in method is . When I say barrel break in I mean right after you shoot the very first shot you clean the barrel . Then you shoot one more shot and clean the berral . After the first couple of times you maybe shoot 3 to 5 shots then clean the barrel . My ? is for how many rounds and in what increments does this need to be done . Some say 20 rounds ,others say 50 . My plan is to shoot 1 round and clean it then shoot 2 rouns and clean it Finaly shoot 3 or 4 rounds clean it and be done . Is this to few of shots or is it not even necessary to bore break a new rifle
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Barrel break in
- Thread starter Metal god
- Start date
You're going to lots of different answers to this question. Mine is clean it before you first shoot it and after you get home from the range. If there is a recommendation in the owner's manual, follow that. If nothing else, it may help with any warranty issues later. But I doubt that cleaning it after every round will make it any more accurate or help it last longer. I've never seen evidence that this "break-in" is effective - plenty of theories, but no proof. To be fair, it would be pretty expensive and time consuming to conduct a proper experiment. I'd love to see it done, though, and if anyone is aware of such a study I'd like to read about it.
FoghornLeghorn
New member
http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/Barrel_BreakIn.asp
Gale McMillan
Senior Member posted September 25, 1999 10:10 AM
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Gale McMillan
Senior Member posted September 25, 1999 10:10 AM
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The break in fad was started by a fellow I helped get started in the barrel business . He started putting a set of break in instructions in ever barrel he shipped. One came into the shop to be installed and I read it and the next time I saw him I asked him What was with this break in crap?. His answer was Mac, My share of the market is about 700 barrels a year. I cater to the target crowd and they shoot a barrel about 3000 rounds before they change it.
If each one uses up 100 rounds of each barrel breaking it in you can figure out how many more barrels I will get to make each year. If you will stop and think that the barrel doesn't know whether you are cleaning it every shot or every 5 shots and if you are removing all foreign material that has been deposited in it since the last time you cleaned it what more can you do?
When I ship a barrel I send a recommendation with it that you clean it ever chance you get with a brass brush pushed through it at least 12 times with a good solvent and followed by two and only 2 soft patches. This means if you are a bench rest shooter you clean ever 7 or 8 rounds . If you are a high power shooter you clean it when you come off the line after 20 rounds. If you follow the fad of cleaning every shot for X amount and every 2 shots for X amount and so on the only thing you are accomplishing is shortening the life of the barrel by the amount of rounds you shot during this process.
I always say Monkey see Monkey do, now I will wait on the flames but before you write them, Please include what you think is happening inside your barrel during break in that is worth the expense and time you are spending during break in.
IMHO,,,I don't think it matters about barrel break in. If you are hunting or are a sniper, you are shooting cold bore shot. The first shot should not have heated up the barrel to the point that a quick follow up shot (if needed) changes your POI that much.
Benchrest shooters have their own opinion & I respect that, I punch paper each weekend. I have learned that consistency in cleaning (however you want to do it), loading your ammo & recording the results is the most important thing.
Temps, humidity & loading components also have a major play in performance as well as having a good nights rest and not consuming too much coffee, or soft drinks before a shooting session. In other words we have to do our part too. It's not all the firearm or ammo.
Benchrest shooters have their own opinion & I respect that, I punch paper each weekend. I have learned that consistency in cleaning (however you want to do it), loading your ammo & recording the results is the most important thing.
Temps, humidity & loading components also have a major play in performance as well as having a good nights rest and not consuming too much coffee, or soft drinks before a shooting session. In other words we have to do our part too. It's not all the firearm or ammo.
Kreyzhorse
New member
I don't really buy into break in either. Clean it, shoot it and clean it again when done.
There are of course lots of opinions on this and I really doubt that following a break in schedule will hurts any thing if you are so inclined to do so.
There are of course lots of opinions on this and I really doubt that following a break in schedule will hurts any thing if you are so inclined to do so.
ghengiskhan
New member
Just shoot and clean it as you would any other firearm. I've found this barrel break-in thing to be myth.
The common factor in all these break-in procedures is that they're trying to keep the bore clean so that the bullet passage can burnish the bore and smooth it instead of gliding over metal fouling without making good contact with the bore.
One can argue about how effective a bullet is at burnishing the bore to smooth it, but I consider it moot.
Just clean it down to the bare rifling (remove ALL fouling including metal fouling) after every range trip and you're accomplishing the same thing. Sure, it might take a little more time, but you're getting the same result without the expenditure of additional ammunition and without having to do a bunch of extra cleaning.
The only reason I would consider doing anything different would be if I had a rifle with a bore that built up metal fouling very rapidly to the point that accuracy fell off noticeably during the course of a normal range session. Even then, I'd be inclined to take a more direct approach and look at something that would be more rapid and effective at smoothing the bore than using soft copper jacketing to accomplish the task one shot at a time.
One can argue about how effective a bullet is at burnishing the bore to smooth it, but I consider it moot.
Just clean it down to the bare rifling (remove ALL fouling including metal fouling) after every range trip and you're accomplishing the same thing. Sure, it might take a little more time, but you're getting the same result without the expenditure of additional ammunition and without having to do a bunch of extra cleaning.
The only reason I would consider doing anything different would be if I had a rifle with a bore that built up metal fouling very rapidly to the point that accuracy fell off noticeably during the course of a normal range session. Even then, I'd be inclined to take a more direct approach and look at something that would be more rapid and effective at smoothing the bore than using soft copper jacketing to accomplish the task one shot at a time.
Mass produced factory barrels pale in comparison to more expensive precison machined, hand lapped aftermarket match barrels.
Why do you think you can do something with a simple cleaning rod, bore solvent, and a few patchs that positively impacts accuracy that aftermarket barrel makers aren't doing right now to improve their product to sell more barrels.
I would go out and shoot the gun and worry about cleaning it when it gets too foul for you to stand. Modern ammo primers are not corrosive so a dirty barrel can still for years in a dry enviroment with hardly a problem. Most rifles shoot a little better with a "fouled" bore anyway than a sweaky clean barrel.
Why do you think you can do something with a simple cleaning rod, bore solvent, and a few patchs that positively impacts accuracy that aftermarket barrel makers aren't doing right now to improve their product to sell more barrels.
I would go out and shoot the gun and worry about cleaning it when it gets too foul for you to stand. Modern ammo primers are not corrosive so a dirty barrel can still for years in a dry enviroment with hardly a problem. Most rifles shoot a little better with a "fouled" bore anyway than a sweaky clean barrel.
TheNatureBoy
New member
Like most everyone else has said, take it to the range, have some fun, clean it when you get home. Shooting once, twice, three times and clean the barrel? Never made any sense to me.