new barrel break in? What say you?

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david doyle

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Got my first new to me rifle here and am wondering if there is black magic voodo I can perform to make myself feel more confident;)
The tikka manual makes no mention of break in (but warns against using a brush:confused:)

Did some reading and the internet seems divided on the issue. Be happy to hear opinions from a more trustworthy bunch of BSers and anyone who might actually know something
thanks
 
its all a matter of opinion and magical voodoo, the "barrel break in" comes from

when a barrel is made and the rifling cut, if the tool is dull, there will be machineing marks left, by shooting/cleaning, shooting/cleaning the theory is that the bullet will wear down these marks and cleaning every shot prevents copper build up and allows the tool marks to be "worn down" and the barrel smoothed out

an after market hand lapped barrel there is no need for this as the lapping smooths them, while other manufacturese recoment a break in procedure. and on the other hand you may have a factory barrel that cant be broken in, if the tool was at the end of its life when the barrel was made. my tikka t3 barrel fouls after 6 or 7 shots, and iv never been able to ger it clean, it still shoots sub MOA (its a t3 lite hunting rifle) even when fouled


asking about break in is like asking chevy or ford
 
Break-In and Cleaning
by Jack Krieger
BREAK-IN

With any premium barrel that has been finish lapped -- such as your Krieger Barrel --, the lay or direction of the finish is in the direction of the bullet travel, so fouling is minimal. This is true of any properly finish-lapped barrel regardless of how it is rifled. If it is not finish-lapped, there will be reamer marks left in the bore that are directly across the direction of the bullet travel. This occurs even in a button-rifled barrel as the button cannot completely iron out these reamer marks.

Because the lay of the finish is in the direction of the bullet travel, very little is done to the bore during break-in, but the throat is another story. When your barrel is chambered, by necessity there are reamer marks left in the throat that are across the lands, i.e. across the direction of the bullet travel. In a new barrel they are very distinct; much like the teeth on a very fine file. When the bullet is forced into the throat, copper dust is released into the gas which at this temperature and pressure is actually a plasma. The copper dust is vaporized in this gas and is carried down the barrel. As the gas expands and cools, the copper comes out of suspension and is deposited in the bore. This makes it appear as if the source of the fouling is the bore when it is actually for the most part the new throat. If this copper is allowed to stay in the bore, and subsequent bullets and deposits are fired over it; copper which adheres well to itself, will build up quickly and may be difficult to remove later. So when we break in a barrel, our goal is to get the throat polished without allowing copper to build up in the bore. This is the reasoning for the "fire-one-shot-and-clean" procedure.

Barrels will vary slightly in how many rounds they take to break in because of things like slightly different machinability of the steel, or steel chemistry, or the condition of the chambering reamer, etc. . . For example a chrome moly barrel may take longer to break in than stainless steel because it is more abrasion resistant even though it is the same hardness. Also chrome moly has a little more of an affinity for copper than stainless steel so it will usually show a little more "color" if you are using a chemical cleaner. (Chrome moly and stainless steel are different materials with some things in common and others different.) Rim Fire barrels can take an extremely long time to break in -- sometimes requiring several hundred rounds or more. But cleaning can be lengthened to every 25-50 rounds. The break-in procedure and the clearing procedure are really the same except for the frequency. Remember the goal is to get or keep the barrel clean while polishing out the throat.

Finally, the best way to break-in the barrel is to observe when the barrel is broken in; i.e. when the fouling is reduced. This is better than some set number of cycles of "shoot and clean" as many owners report practically no fouling after the first few shots, and more break-in would be pointless. Conversely, if more is required, a set number would not address that either. Besides, cleaning is not a completely benign procedure so it should be done carefully and no more than necessary.
 
ganderite, thanks I did not understand about the throat being the source of fouling. Sounds like a god excuse for an 8 hour day at the range.
 
I break in by shooting one shot and cleaning. Repeat twice more. Then 2 and clean, 3 and clean and 5 and clean. It is then broken in.

In this process there is a shocking amount of fouling for the first few shots. then suddenly, nothing.
 
from Shilen's FAQ's

How should I break-in my new Shilen barrel?
Break-in procedures are as diverse as cleaning techniques. Shilen, Inc. introduced a break-in procedure mostly because customers seemed to think that we should have one. By and large, we don't think breaking-in a new barrel is a big deal. All our stainless steel barrels have been hand lapped as part of their production, as well as any chrome moly barrel we install. Hand lapping a barrel polishes the interior of the barrel and eliminates sharp edges or burrs that could cause jacket deformity. This, in fact, is what you are doing when you break-in a new barrel through firing and cleaning.
Here is our standard recommendation: Clean after each shot for the first 5 shots. The remainder of the break-in is to clean every 5 shots for the next 50 shots. During this time, don't just shoot bullets down the barrel during this 50 shot procedure. This is a great time to begin load development. Zero the scope over the first 5 shots, and start shooting for accuracy with 5-shot groups for the next 50 shots. Same thing applies to fire forming cases for improved or wildcat cartridges. Just firing rounds down a barrel to form brass without any regard to their accuracy is a mistake. It is a waste of time and barrel life.
Click to expand...
 
When I got my Shilen from Mystic the advice was shoot 20, clean, shoot until accuracy falls off and clean again. Seeing as I don't come close to shooting to its potential yet, its gonna be a while!:eek:

This ISN"T benchrest level accuracy requirements, but food for thought none the less.
 
david doyle said:
Got my first new to me rifle here and am wondering if there is black magic voodo I can perform to make myself feel more confident;)
The tikka manual makes no mention of break in (but warns against using a brush:confused:)

Did some reading and the internet seems divided on the issue. Be happy to hear opinions from a more trustworthy bunch of BSers and anyone who might actually know something
thanks
Click to expand...

Abso-you-know-what-lutely!!!!



Just shoot 20-60rds letting barrel cool 1-3 sec between shots. Clean the gun when you get home.
Scope will make greatest difference for you. Don't take first 5-10 shots into consideration as for how accurate the gun is.
 
You will find varying opinions about barrel break in... or how often you should clean it...

...some say do it
...some say don't do it
...some even go so far as to say it is recommended by barrel makes so you will wear your barrel out faster... (That’s a myth - you will not wear a barrel out faster)
...some even get pissed off talking about it

I particularly like what Lilja has to say about it.
"It is important to break-in a barrel though. The jacket material must be removed after every shot during the initial few rounds. If this isn't done the areas of the barrel that fouled will tend to pick up more fouling and it will build on itself. It is important to get a layer of powder fouling on top of the lands & grooves. This hard deposit will prevent the copper from stripping off the bullets. However, if the internal finish of the barrel is too rough the barrel will never be completely broken-in and fouling will always be a problem. Some barrels can't be broken-in. "
...there are breaking in procedures if you wish to do it.

Factory barrels are considerably different than custom match grade hand lapped barrels.

I am going to post one method.

Breaking In A Barrel - Read fully before starting the procedure

When cleaning, always use a good bore guide and a good rod.

Start with a clean, lightly lubed barrel, fire one shot, then run a loose patch through with Sweets 7.62 or any other solvent that will “eat” jacket fouling. Saturate the bore and let it sit a few minutes. Sweets indicate jacket fouling with a blue colour.

Run patches through to dry the bore and then wet patch it again and saturate the bore. After a few minutes dry patch it again. Repeat until the jacket fouling is removed (no blue patches). That means the barrel is clean.

After cleaning with Sweets, brush with Hoppes #9 and dry patch the bore and then leave it slightly lubed with a wet patch of Hoppes #9 before firing.

Then fire one more shot, and repeat the above procedure. Do this for a total of 10 shots, and then proceed to fire 2 shots and then clean as above, for 10 more shots. (For a total of 20.) The barrel is now broken in. It should be cleaned after every 20 or 30 shots there after if possible, or less often if fouling is not a problem.

You will find when the bore is broken in properly; the cleaning procedure is very quick, because there is very little jacket fouling in the bore.

I prefer Sweets 7.62, because it shows “blue” if there is any jacket fouling. I never use a copper or bronze brush with Sweets, because it will eat them, and give a false blue indication of fouling. I never let any other chemicals mix with Sweets. That is why there is a lot of dry patching and swabbing with rubbing alcohol and dry patching between switching chemicals.

For storage after cleaning with Sweets, dry patch and then swab the bore with several patches using rubbing alcohol; this will dissolve any remaining ammonia. Then lightly oil the bore.

Here are some links to various barrel maker's break in procedures:

http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/Break_...246-wp2558.htm

http://www.shilen.com/faq.html#question10

http://www.riflebarrels.com/articles...el_fouling.htm

http://www.pac-nor.com/care/


I have posted this information in the last 10 or 15 inquiries about "breaking a barrel in"... good luck with what ever you decide...

No one has mentioned when you do clean your barrel, the equipment and procedure is very important so you do not damage your barrel.
 
How to Break-in a Barrel
-- A Dissenting Point of View

Gale McMillan, of McMillan Stocks fame, was one of the finest barrel-makers and benchrest shooters of all time. Here he argues that elaborate barrel break-in procedures do more harm than good.

Comments collected from Gale's Gun Forum postings.

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.

Another tidbit to consider--take a 300 Win Mag that has a life expectancy of 1000 rounds. Use 10% of it up with your break-in procedure. For every 10 barrels the barrel-maker makes he has to make one more just to take care of the break-in. No wonder barrel-makers like to see this. Now when you flame me on this please [explain] what you think is happening to the inside of your barrel during the break in that is helping you.

Consider this: every round shot in breaking-in a barrel is one round off the life of said rifle barrel. No one has ever told me the physical reason of what happens during break-in firing. In other words what, to the number of pounds of powder shot at any given pressure, is the life of the barrel. No one has ever explained what is being accomplished by shooting and cleaning in any prescribed method. Start your barrel off with 5 rounds and clean it thoroughly and do it again. Nev Maden, a friend down under that my brother taught to make barrels was the one who came up with the [one shot one clean] break-in method. He may think he has come upon something, or he has come up with another way to sell barrels. I feel that the first shot out of a barrel is its best and every one after that deteriorates [the bore] until the barrel is gone. If some one can explain what physically takes place during break-in to modify the barrel then I may change my mind. As the physical properties of a barrel don't change because of the break-in procedures it means it's all hog wash. I am open to any suggestions that can be documented otherwise if it is just someone's opinion--forget it.

It all got started when a barrel maker that I know started putting break-in instructions in the box with each barrel he shipped a few years ago. I asked him how he figured it would help and his reply was if they shoot 100 rounds breaking in this barrel that's total life is 3000 rounds and I make 1000 barrels a year just figure how many more barrels I will get to make. He had a point; it definately will shorten the barrel life. I have been a barrel maker a fair amount of time and my barrels have set and reset benchrest world records so many times I quit keeping track (at one time they held 7 at one time) along with High Power, Silhouette, Smallbore national and world records and my instructions were to clean as often as possible preferably every 10 rounds. I inspect every barrel taken off and every new barrel before it is shipped with a bore scope and I will tell you all that I see far more barrels ruined by cleaning rods than I see worn out from normal wear and tear. I am even reading about people recommending breaking-in pistols. As if it will help their shooting ability or the guns'.
 
I've done it both ways and firing and cleaning a pile of shots did absolutyely zero to make the rifle shoot any better. My latest rifle I fired 50 shots on the first day. It's at about 450 rds now and its been cleaned once. I was out today doing some bullet testing and when I got to the right bullet they were going into half an inch at 200m.
 
Gale should talk to Dan...

I sure do agree about poor cleaning procedures doing harm to barrels though.
 
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