Breaking in a new rifle - Advice please.

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ernestoK

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Hi all

I couldn't find a more relevant forum and my rifle is a hunter so here goes.

I have a brand new Browning X-Bolt in .270 Win. Shortly I'll be in a position to start breaking it in (just waiting for my scope to arrive). I'd appreciate advice from the forum experts about how to best break in the rifle.

I've heard people talk of running a jag through it after each round initially which kind of makes sense to me in order to remove any small particles knocked off the barrel/chamber to prevent them scoring the bore but...

1. Is this necessary (for a rifle that I want to be long lived and enjoyed)?
2. If so, for how many rounds?
3. What would be your recommended protocols for the break in?

Thanks in advance all.
 
ernestoK said:
Hi all

I couldn't find a more relevant forum and my rifle is a hunter so here goes.

I have a brand new Browning X-Bolt in .270 Win. Shortly I'll be in a position to start breaking it in (just waiting for my scope to arrive). I'd appreciate advice from the forum experts about how to best break in the rifle.

I've heard people talk of running a jag through it after each round initially which kind of makes sense to me in order to remove any small particles knocked off the barrel/chamber to prevent them scoring the bore but...

1. Is this necessary (for a rifle that I want to be long lived and enjoyed)?
2. If so, for how many rounds?
3. What would be your recommended protocols for the break in?

Thanks in advance all.
Click to expand...

If this is a brand new rifle, I would follow the instructions in the box it came in.
Personally, I would clean the machining crap out of it, fire a couple of rounds, clean it again and consider it done.
I'm not an expert, but they'll be along shortly
 
I've read the tiny booklet from cover to cover a few times now and there is no advice ref breaking in. As you say, I suspect/hope that there will be expert advice along in due course.

Thanks anyhow.
 
I think this depends on the intended use. For target shooting, (imho) you will want to go through the pain of performing a proper break in. I suggest you go to you tube and look up Long Range 101 part 43 for a good explanation of how and why. I always go through the copper equilibrium procedure but YMMV... it sucks yes, but you only need to do it once.
 
Clean it initially and make sure there is no oil in the bore and chamber when you first shoot it. Then clean it well when you're finished. I would say the most important thing would be to let your barrel cool between shots. Lots of rapid firing will bugger up a barrel and of course use a good quality cleaning rod, brass jag and rod guide when cleaning.
 
I had instructions from Shilen on a new barrel, clean after every shot for 5 shots, then clean after 5 shots for 50 shots, but even their website says that the only reason they have a procedure is because their customers wanted one.
 
Interesting.

kcwcc, thanks for the sniper 101 pointer and Shell Shucker for the 6mmBR link. Good advice from all it seems to me.

In terms of intended use it will be target shooting to some extent as prep of both me and the rifle for hunting and, of course, for fun. Then there's the hunting aspect (not many rounds there sadly).

The bottom line is that I want the barrel, therefore the rifle, to last and to perform to it's max ability for accuracy for as much of it's life as possible. As a military member (most of which was not in Canada) for 28 years now I've been used to a fairly rigorous cleaning regime but not using copper solvents.

I'm NOT keen on using JB and wearing the barrel that fast. I feel that a reasonable compromise is to clean it very thoroughly before first firing (I intend to give Froglube a try and there's a tube on the way to me right now) leaving it fully dry before shooting. As I see it this will get any loose fouling/swarf out. I'll then run a bore snake or a patch down the barrel after each round with a mild CLP and dry again for a box of ammo or so. This should fit nicely with zeroing the scope and getting the feel for the gun.

A big take-away is the care with which I need to treat the crown and the throat. Now it's my rifle rather than a company one I have rather more incentive to be careful with it.

I quite like the concept of Cu equilibrium and may work towards that.

Thanks so far and I'll see what other advice comes in but does my plan seem sensible?
 
ernestoK said:
I'm NOT keen on using JB and wearing the barrel that fast.
Click to expand...

I don't know where you got that information from but JB Bore cleaning paste will not wear a barrel whatever. It removes fouling and does not affect steel. If you doubt that measure a piece of steel accurately to the ten thousands of an inch, then rub JB Bore cleaning paste on a patch on one spot of that steel for a week or two. You will not see or measure any difference.

As advertised JB Bore cleaning paste is non abrasive to steel.

Bore snakes drag fouling, carbon, etc. across the crown, I wouldn't use one. (period)
 
guntech said:
I don't know where you got that information from but JB Bore cleaning paste will not wear a barrel whatever. It removes fouling and does not affect steel. If you doubt that measure a piece of steel accurately to the ten thousands of an inch, then rub JB Bore cleaning paste on a patch on one spot of that steel for a week or two. You will not see or measure any difference.

As advertised JB Bore cleaning paste is non abrasive to steel.

Bore snakes drag fouling, carbon, etc. across the crown, I wouldn't use one. (period)
Click to expand...

I've not enough knowledge but the sniper 101 series is moderately convincing and it is an abrasive. In fact it's sold as a lapping compound and is to take off roughness in the bore (from the Brownell's video).

How do boresnakes drag anything across the crown any more than patches? Surely as long as they are pulled straight they shouldn't do.
 
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J-B® NON-EMBEDDING BORE CLEANING COMPOUND is not abrasive to steel. It is abrasive to copper and powder fouling.

The original, time-proven formula developed by Jim Brobst and produced under exclusive license. J-B has been getting burned-on, caked-in powder residue and copper jacket fouling out of gun barrels since the 1960’s, and hasn’t damaged an inch of rifling yet. Today, J-B once again proves itself a champion by the way it easily cleans the dirtiest, moly-fouled barrels.

JB does not sell it as a steel lapping compound as it is useless as a lapping compound. My friends and I have used it for 45 years... it does not lap steel, it is a non embedding cleaning compound. Sniper 101 doesn't know squat about JB Bore Cleaning compound. They obviously are confusing it with a bore polishing compound.

Bore snakes may pick up grit, carbon, debris and drag it for the length of the snake across the crown... you can not pull it all straight out the muzzle. It will wear somewhere on the 'edge' of the crown eventually. A patch is simply pushed straight out...
 
Just shoot it. The best barrel makers do not recommend any special regimen of cleaning/shooting. Of course these are probably already hand lapped. Though the surface of factory barrels is not by any means rough. More harm is done by obsessively cleaning (and improper) than regular shooting and cleaning.

As for the bore snake, I don't mind them. Pretty hard to mess up a crown with a soft piece of fabric and some copper bristles.
 
Off Brownings website...


Question:What is the recommended procedure for breaking in a new barrel?Answer:For the first ten shots we recommend, if possible, using jacketed bullets. #After firing each bullet, use a good copper cleaner (one that has ammonia) to remove copper fouling in the barrel. We do NOT recommend anything with an abrasive in it since you are trying to seal the barrel, not keep it agitated. If you look into the end of the barrel after firing a shot, you will see a light copper-colored wash in the barrel. This must be removed before firing the next shot. Somewhere in the procedure, around shot 6 or 7, it will be obvious that the copper color is no longer appearing in the barrel. Continue applications through shot 10.If you have any ammunition left, you then may shoot two rounds and clean it for the next ten shots. This is simply insurance that the burnishing process has been completed.In theory what you have just accomplished is the closing of the pores of the barrel metal which have been opened and exposed through the cutting and lapping procedures.After following the procedure, your barrel's interior surface will be sealed and should shoot cleaner and develop less fouling for the rest of its shooting life.


http://www.browning.com/customerservice/qna/detail.asp?id=112
 
nomad 68 said:
To be honest, i have followed break in procedures from various guru's and the rifles i didn't break in shoot just as good as the ones i did. Take it for what it's worth.
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I agree with this...

Factory barrel is a crap shoot, they aren't hand lapped, or probably even closely inspected(borescoped)....so is "breaking one in " going to make it shoot???

Rather than worrying about barrel break in...make sure to use bore guide, and all the other proper tools....more damage has probably been done to barrels with improper tools and cleaning procedures over the years....then NOT following a "break in " procedure....
 
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