Break-in

Y

YTL424

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I'm a new guy in search of information. The Army gave me my first 45 in 1968 & after all these years,I am amazed at how much I still don't know.

Today, while hanging out and drinking coffee at the LGD, the FedEx delivery man came in with armloads of treasures. One of those boxes was a Les Bear Concept 6 45 ACP. Pretty thing! It's mine now.

I ran home with it, grabbed a couple hundred rounds of reloads and headed for the range. Turns out the pistol is everything everyone says they are. 170 rounds with no problems other than the gun not liking 200 gr. SWC to much. Hoping to get back to the range Sunday to finish the breakin.

My question is, should one do the recommended 300 breakin rounds with full-power loads or is a milder reloaded round OK?
 
No. If it's made right you can just shoot it. Look after it, clean it. but don't kowtow to hysterical BS. For as long as there are some who want to buy snake oil, there is going to be a seller. And there's always going to be someone to tell you how to do things better... you know... their way. Just like now.
Relax, and enjoy that awesome gun.
-SS-
 
In general, I've found that following the manufacturer's recommendations is a good idea--especially when there's no good reason not to.
 
My only experience with break in has been on a 1911, usually suggested to fully mate parts but specifically to polish out the feed ramp. If it's only seeing ball ammo, I'd say it's working just fine! The real test is if it feeds hollow points.
 
Les Baer's tend to be "very tight" - overly so, in my opinion - and they do need some break in period in order to run 100%. The one Baer I had was a Monolith model in 9mm...and it took 20 - 30 boxes before it would run reliably ( so 1,000 - 1,500 rds ).

Just follow the recommendations ...for Baer.../ last I knew he recommended about 300 rds...or you can send them an email or call them.
 
I have never fired "break-in" rounds with a new pistol with the exception of ones made specifically for target shooting and which are made exceptionally tight for that reason. I do, however, like to fire at least 200 rounds with a "new to me" gun before feeling it is reliable enough for serious purposes. With collectors items, of course, such firing is not necessary or desirable and may be impossible, as with the .30 RF Sharps I acquired recently.

Jim
 
Don't know if Baer provides instructions with any model other than a SS finish (he wants you to shoot it "factory wet" for several hundred rounds), but the Baer experts on the web believe a Baer should be shot, without cleaning, for 300 to 600 rounds. With a little spray lube on the rails every 50 to 100 rounds.


I'm a little OCD and usually clean after each range trip; but I followed this advice on my last two Baers and it has worked out well.
 
Another 150 rounds thru the Baer 45 today and all seems to be going well. The gun was so dirty I couldn't stand to be seen with something so unkept looking. SS gets dirty looking fast.

The only difficulty so far is with the ammo feed. Using McCormick or Baer magazines, loaded to eight rounds, the first round wouldn't load. Same problem with SWC or RN. The McCormick also failed to feed occasionally with the factory or reloaded RN's, but did well with the SWC.

I'm hoping these problems will go away with another couple hundred rounds. I'm wondering what cartridge length you guys load for your 45's. I am setting the COL to 1.265. Good length on my other 45's. Don't know if the Baer is going to digest the length.
 
Break in to me means the gun is extra tight. I would use full power ball ammo to ensure it fed everything. Then full power hp make sure those ran, then dial bsck the power as the gun smooths out.
 
My Springfield loaded model has had 2 failures in its lifetime of 800-1300rds. They both occurred with the same dirty Springfield 7rd magazine and they both occurred using cheap "blemished" gun show reloads. They were failures to feed. That is the only time I have shot reloads through it. I have fired a box of magtech 200gr swc lead loads and they shot very very well and fed perfect. I have heard that magazine follower and spring can have a lot to do with feeding. Some say GI type followers feed swc best. I have 2 factory blued Springfield mags, which work great, 1 kimber stainless 8rd mag and 1 Wilson combat 7rd stainless mag with polymer furniture. I don't like the Wilson mag that much and use it less just because it has a plastic follower and was really expensive.

Your reloads are probably the issue. Every gun is different. I bet if you shot factory ammo through it it would not malfunction at all
 
My WC Professional recommended 300-500 rounds to break in, all I did was drop some lube in the barrel hood and rails and had no problems. I have put around 1000 rounds down the barrel since with no issues. Doesn't hurt to follow the manufactures instructions.
 
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