New rifle
- Thread starter NHSHOOTER
- Start date
Don't want to start any controversy, but I personally don't believe in 'breaking in' new barrels. Yes, rifles to seem to gain a little accuracy after 100 or so rounds, but barrels either shoot well, or they don't, period. If you have a rough finished chamber or throat (lots of copper fouling) hit it with some flitz.
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
Gigglesnort. 
I like to field-strip and clean/oil before shooting, just to make sure everything is righteous.
I do a sort of casual cleaning after a session, but I don't often shoot more than a few rounds to sight in, or a few rounds in load development. Every now and then, I'll run a brush through the barrel as well as patches.
Shooting burnishes a barrel, so somewhere between 50 and 200 rounds I figure a barrel will be as smoothed-out as it will ever be, cleaning or no cleaning.
I like to field-strip and clean/oil before shooting, just to make sure everything is righteous.
I do a sort of casual cleaning after a session, but I don't often shoot more than a few rounds to sight in, or a few rounds in load development. Every now and then, I'll run a brush through the barrel as well as patches.
Shooting burnishes a barrel, so somewhere between 50 and 200 rounds I figure a barrel will be as smoothed-out as it will ever be, cleaning or no cleaning.
I cant say enough about properly breaking in a rifle barrel. Its hard to say if it makes it more accurate as you cant go back in time and try the other way, but every barrel I've taken the time to break in properly always clean easier and quicker. You don't have to go to a range to do this either...you'd be surprised at how quiet a rifle is with a rolled carpet around the barrel and placed against a stump 
I've broken in a few barrels in my basement...you're just running a bullet through the barrel between cleaning. It's a nice thing to do on a rainy Saturday and you'll be glad you did it later on when cleaning goes quickly and you don't have to keep soaking it to remove jacket fouling.
My method is to clean the barrel well and assume it's already been shot. If you reload, load up some under powered rounds with the crappiest bullets you have...pulled bullets, or just cheapies. I fire a round, then pop a bore guide in, clean it as you normally would and then soak it with patches of Hoppes letting it sit 15 mins or so and keep doing it until you get clean patches with no blue or green color. Fire another shot and repeat to 10. At this point you can fire two rounds and repeat the cleaning. You'll start noticing it getting easier to clean compared to the first rounds that you sent through it. When you get to 20 rounds you'll know if it's done or if it's worth it to keep going. You're likely going to be sighting in the rifle so you can shoot 3 shot groups and clean which continues the break in. By the time the gun is sighted in you should be done and ready to hunt.
Nice choice on your new rifle.
I've broken in a few barrels in my basement...you're just running a bullet through the barrel between cleaning. It's a nice thing to do on a rainy Saturday and you'll be glad you did it later on when cleaning goes quickly and you don't have to keep soaking it to remove jacket fouling. My method is to clean the barrel well and assume it's already been shot. If you reload, load up some under powered rounds with the crappiest bullets you have...pulled bullets, or just cheapies. I fire a round, then pop a bore guide in, clean it as you normally would and then soak it with patches of Hoppes letting it sit 15 mins or so and keep doing it until you get clean patches with no blue or green color. Fire another shot and repeat to 10. At this point you can fire two rounds and repeat the cleaning. You'll start noticing it getting easier to clean compared to the first rounds that you sent through it. When you get to 20 rounds you'll know if it's done or if it's worth it to keep going. You're likely going to be sighting in the rifle so you can shoot 3 shot groups and clean which continues the break in. By the time the gun is sighted in you should be done and ready to hunt.
Nice choice on your new rifle.
As far as breaking in goes, its importance varies with the initial condition of the new barrel.
Button or cut-rifled barrels for example need a more extensive break-in than a hammer-forged barrel will require, simply because they start off with more roughness and inconsistencies.
Having said that, my most accurate rifle by far is button-rifled, and when viewed with the bore-scope, the barrel interior looks a lot like corrugated iron.
( Click image to see it larger )
Note the chatter from button rifling. Note also that it is as clean as a whistle and burnished to relative smoothness because I very carefully broke the barrel in.
This rifle will put five rounds into 1/2" if I do my part, and now days does not require careful or frequent cleaning... More often than not, what it gets now is a quick go-through with a bore-snake wet with Hoppes #9 every third shot or so.
Initial break in for this gun: Clean thoroughly, soaked with Hoppes #9 and then clean patches until they come out clean after every round for 20 rounds, then after every third round for 20 rounds, then after every ten rounds for 40 rounds, then after every three rounds with a bore-snake thereafter.
The rifle has a heavy barrel. I have found that running a bore-snake soaked with Hoppes #9 through every three rounds keeps it clean and makes it cool off a lot faster.
Wherever this gun goes, a gallon-sized ziplock baggie with a bottle of Hopes, a bore-snake, and a microfiber cloth goes with it. - The baggie controls the Hoppes stink and keeps the stuff together for me
Here on the other hand is another rifle I own which has a hammer-forged barrel:
Note how this barrel is a lot smoother internally - but still has managed to pick up a little copper. Since it started off so smooth, I broke it in by running a bore-snake through it every three rounds, and that is all the attention that it has ever had. The gun has never had a cleaning rod in it. Note also that this rifle produces 2" groups on a good day, but it's a lever gun with a thin barrel so what can one really expect?
YMMV, but what this tells me is that break-in can be very important, depending upon what condition the barrel was in to start with.
Also note that both barrels looked alike when lit up with a bore-light while I squinted down the barrel. - Only a bore-scope will tell you what is really going on in there, don't fool yourself by peering down the length of the bore with a little LED flashlight.
Here for example is the throat area of a 7mm Rem mag that looked A-OK when examined with a bore-light and a peek down the bore:
Turns out it was fried. This rifle never produced better than a 3" group, despite all efforts, as somebody had once played "the rifleman" with it, firing a lot of shots rapidly without giving it a chance to cool down.
Since it's not going to hurt you to properly break in a new barrel and it sure might help your pricey new gun to deliver the best accuracy, my advice is to break it in right, no matter what somebody who doesn't know any better might say.
Sure, you might get 1or 2 MOA accuracy out of a gun without breaking in the barrel - and miss out on the 1/2 MOA accuracy that it would have been capable of, if you had taken the time to treat your new gun right.
It's your gun, and you busted your butt to rake up the cash to buy it. - Do what you think is best.
Kind regards,
PVL
Button or cut-rifled barrels for example need a more extensive break-in than a hammer-forged barrel will require, simply because they start off with more roughness and inconsistencies.
Having said that, my most accurate rifle by far is button-rifled, and when viewed with the bore-scope, the barrel interior looks a lot like corrugated iron.
( Click image to see it larger )
Note the chatter from button rifling. Note also that it is as clean as a whistle and burnished to relative smoothness because I very carefully broke the barrel in.
This rifle will put five rounds into 1/2" if I do my part, and now days does not require careful or frequent cleaning... More often than not, what it gets now is a quick go-through with a bore-snake wet with Hoppes #9 every third shot or so.
Initial break in for this gun: Clean thoroughly, soaked with Hoppes #9 and then clean patches until they come out clean after every round for 20 rounds, then after every third round for 20 rounds, then after every ten rounds for 40 rounds, then after every three rounds with a bore-snake thereafter.
The rifle has a heavy barrel. I have found that running a bore-snake soaked with Hoppes #9 through every three rounds keeps it clean and makes it cool off a lot faster.
Wherever this gun goes, a gallon-sized ziplock baggie with a bottle of Hopes, a bore-snake, and a microfiber cloth goes with it. - The baggie controls the Hoppes stink and keeps the stuff together for me
Here on the other hand is another rifle I own which has a hammer-forged barrel:
Note how this barrel is a lot smoother internally - but still has managed to pick up a little copper. Since it started off so smooth, I broke it in by running a bore-snake through it every three rounds, and that is all the attention that it has ever had. The gun has never had a cleaning rod in it. Note also that this rifle produces 2" groups on a good day, but it's a lever gun with a thin barrel so what can one really expect?
YMMV, but what this tells me is that break-in can be very important, depending upon what condition the barrel was in to start with.
Also note that both barrels looked alike when lit up with a bore-light while I squinted down the barrel. - Only a bore-scope will tell you what is really going on in there, don't fool yourself by peering down the length of the bore with a little LED flashlight.
Here for example is the throat area of a 7mm Rem mag that looked A-OK when examined with a bore-light and a peek down the bore:
Turns out it was fried. This rifle never produced better than a 3" group, despite all efforts, as somebody had once played "the rifleman" with it, firing a lot of shots rapidly without giving it a chance to cool down.
Since it's not going to hurt you to properly break in a new barrel and it sure might help your pricey new gun to deliver the best accuracy, my advice is to break it in right, no matter what somebody who doesn't know any better might say.
Sure, you might get 1or 2 MOA accuracy out of a gun without breaking in the barrel - and miss out on the 1/2 MOA accuracy that it would have been capable of, if you had taken the time to treat your new gun right.
It's your gun, and you busted your butt to rake up the cash to buy it. - Do what you think is best.
Kind regards,
PVL
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Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
From Gale McMillan:
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12582&highlight=break+in
Who was Gale? What did he know?
http://www.shootingtimes.com/2010/09/23/longgun_reviews_st_legacyofps_200911/
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12582&highlight=break+in
Who was Gale? What did he know?
http://www.shootingtimes.com/2010/09/23/longgun_reviews_st_legacyofps_200911/
^^there it is.
I personally love PO Ackley. He was of the belief barrels shoot well or they don't. Until someone who believes in barrel break in can show BEFORE bore scope photos compared with after (which really only shows it's burnishing the barrel, that happens anyway) as well as groups that back up the claim, (since there is plenty of evidence to the contrary) I'm just going to keep shooting like I normally do, weather the gun is new or old.
For your new gun, take it out and shoot some groups, get familiar with it, enjoy it, then clean and oil it properly (always use a bore guide!).
I personally love PO Ackley. He was of the belief barrels shoot well or they don't. Until someone who believes in barrel break in can show BEFORE bore scope photos compared with after (which really only shows it's burnishing the barrel, that happens anyway) as well as groups that back up the claim, (since there is plenty of evidence to the contrary) I'm just going to keep shooting like I normally do, weather the gun is new or old.
For your new gun, take it out and shoot some groups, get familiar with it, enjoy it, then clean and oil it properly (always use a bore guide!).
A bore guide is a toll that protects the chamber and throat of a barrel. Usually aluminum or plastic. You remove the rifles bolt, insert the bore guide and it in turn guides your cleaning rod into the barrel preventing you from entering at an angle. It keeps the cleaning rod straight in the barrel preventing damage to the chamber and throat.
tahunua001
New member
I'm bookmarking that thread Art. everytime I claim that it's a waste of time I get flamed... I guess coming from mcmillan you'd think some people might get wise.
Mcmillan who? Break your barrel in if you want, or don't if you dont want to put forth the effort. If it's your rifle do what you want with it. I'm always surprised at how little effort people want to put into their new barrel (or entire gun). It's funny that the people who pick on others for properly breaking in a barrel, have never actually tried doing it. It's an argument that will keep going on for ever.
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tahunua001
New member
as in mcmillan benchrest, the gold standard of accurate products.
http://www.mcmfamily.com/mcmillan-rifles.php
http://www.mcmfamily.com/mcmillan-rifles.php
Mohave-Tec
New member
I clean'm. I never consider weather I'm a fool or not; don't care. I shoot one, clean the bore, shoot one, clean the bore,shoot one and again then I go 5 clean 5 clean 5 clean then 20 clean then I let it rip. Can't hurt and gives me a warm fuzzy.