Rem 700 break in queston

All my 700s I just clean them well when I buy them, sometimes from sitting in the store so long some light rust may appear inside so a wire brush may be necessary to run through but not usually. Just a few patches and 5 shots or so and then clean it well and shes good to go after that. Never had a issue
 
You'll find that most say that break in is not necessary for accuracy. But, I find barrel break-in to really help in cleaning. I definately believe that it does not hurt the bore.
 
This has been covered many times. Just shoot it and clean it after your done. There is no such thing as "barrel break in".
 
bigautomatic said:
You'll find that most say that break in is not necessary for accuracy. But, I find barrel break-in to really help in cleaning. I definately believe that it does not hurt the bore.

I have a 700 in 06 that I purchased in the early 70's. I cleaned it then shot 20 or so rounds and cleaned it. I cleaned it every time I went shooting. It's a bear to get really clean. I just got a 308. Cleaned it fired one shot cleaned it. Did that for the first 10 shots. Then cleaned it ever three shots for the next 12 shots. It cleans very easily and comes cleaner than the 06. I think the "break-in" was worth it. Your mileage may vary.
 
I agree with the rest of the guys. I bought my 700, took it home and cleaned it immediately, went to the range with 2 boxes of ammo and cleaned it when i was done. No issues.
 
My opinion comes from an article I read many years ago. Cant remember were it was. It stated that most accuracy changes during the "break in" process was from the action seating in the stock and had very little too do with the inside of the barrel. Sounds logical to me. There won't be much of a change if the action is glass bedded or on a synthetic stock.
 
Thanks for all the info.... I'm switching the stock for an HS Precision with flush cup I already have!!! I will post pics after the project is complete!
 
Barrel Break in myth by Gale McMillan

Go shoot it, don't waste your time with barrel break in unless you just really want to. My point is your not going to hurt anything shooting it.

Also running a patch with solvent on it isn't going to physically alter the barrel to shoot better.

It's personal preference really, but i've yet to "break in" any of my rifles and they shoot better than i can. So for me and from my experiences, i don't break in.

Gale McMillan said:
As a barrel maker I have looked in thousands of new and used barrels with a bore scope and I will tell you that if every one followed the prescribed [one shot, one clean] break-in method, a very large number would do more harm than good. The reason you hear of the gain in accuracy is because if you chamber a barrel with a reamer that has a dull throater instead of cutting clean sharp rifling it smears a burr up on the down wind side of the rifling. It takes from one to two hundred rounds to burn this burr out and the rifle to settle down and shoot its best. Any one who chambers rifle barrels has tolerances on how dull to let the reamer get and factories let them go longer than any competent smith would.
 
Last edited:
I owna 700 Police. Asked the same questions in another forum and finally I went to the range and shot it. Decided I did want to break it in.
I fired 15 shots went home and cleaned it. I do the same thing every session. I clean with Hoppes 9 and bronze brush through a bore guide. Once in a while I use another solvent to remove copper fouling.
The accuracy is incredible. I can't imagine it being better. With 168gr SMK handloads it has 5 shots touching at 150 meters at 8 milimiters apart. That is almost 1/4 inch apart at around 165 yards out.

My suggestion to you is don't waste your time with those cleaning rituals and break in proceadures.
 
plexinico claims:
With 168gr SMK handloads it has 5 shots touching at 150 meters at 8 milimiters apart. That is almost 1/4 inch apart at around 165 yards out.
Does it shoot groups that size all the time, or was this the only time it shot that well and all the other groups are larger?
 
barrel break in is a myth. here is your break in procedure:
shoot a box of bullets/however many you can shoot in a day
clean it when you get home
shoot another box of bullets/however many you can shoot in a day
clean it when you get home
shoot it as much as you want and be sure to clean it before hunting season...

no further breakin required.
 
Bart,

That was my best group. But I've never had a group larger than an inch at 150m. Not once.

I regularly shoot half inch groups at that distance with handloads no problem.

Really really really accurate rifle out of the box with no break in needed
 
According to a bench rest shooter, he said clean, then shoot one shot. Clean after each shot with shooter choice. do this 5 to 7 times. Then shoot a three shot group. I have done this with 2 remington 700 varmint rifles, and they were tack drivers. I don't know if this is myth or fact, but these guns are shooters.
 
It is good to get rid of old powder residue near the throat. If left for too long, and you decide to shoot a few times it can get ironed on into a material harder than the barrel steal making it impossible to remove. It then will deform the bullet at the throat, and cause your group size to enlarge. This is a fact. My advise is to keep it clean.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top