Barrel break in

Mike G

Mike G

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Hey guys couldn't figure out were to put this so I'll try it out here, recently purchased a new rifle and want to break it in properly. I've talked to a few guys and opinions vary. So I'm just wondering what the majority of you CGNers are doing. Any help or opinions are appreciated.


Thanks Mike
 
The procedure on the Savage site is as good as any:

Break-In Procedure

The only change I would make is to adjust the number of repeats on what you are seeing for copper. No point of the frequent cleanings if you are not seeing any blue indication on the second or third patch. I would use Barnes CR-10 for a solvent. It is a very good copper solvent.
 
x2 on the savage break in procedure. more or less..

my personal one is

fire single shot with clean x10
fire one 5 shot group then clean
fire 5 single shots with cleaning between
fire 2 5 shot gropus with cleaning between
fire 5 singles with cleaning
fire 3, 5 shot groups cleaning between

total - 50 shots

but really it depends on the barrel, the whole "break in procdure" is really ment to smooth out the tooling marks left fron cutting the rifleing, if you got a barrel with a sharp tool when cut the "break in" will be much quick then one cut with a tool at the end of its life.. iv owned rifles that would have a very noticable copper lining within 5 shots regarless of the extent i went of breaking in the barrel..
 
This gets covered exhaustively very few weeks... if you do a search on this website you should find hundreds of posts...

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)
...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.

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.

Many prefer Sweets 7.62, because it shows “blue” if there is any jacket fouling. Never use a copper or bronze brush with Sweets, because it will eat them, and give a false blue indication of fouling. 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/

... 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.
 
I am for the barrel break in procedure. I followed the Krieger process on their site.

With my last break in, and after numerous shots afterward, I found that cleaning and removing fouling became much easier.

To this point I have very little copper fouling at all which was greater at the beginning.

If it didn't get easier to clean as time went on I would have been skeptical, but in my experience it makes a difference and it does help.I do recommend a break in procedure.
 
LOL Guntech! That looks almost like a copy/paste of the info you posted in the thread I started about 6 months ago about barrel break in!

Still havent gotten that gun out to the range yet. Stoopid winter! :(
 
The most scientific method I know

Clean the gun before your first range trip.
First time out sometimes I shoot 8 to 12 rounds and clean the barrel. Sometimes I shoot 30 or 40.
Then clean after every range trip say 30 to 60 rounds for the next 2 or 3 trips.

Finally clean as you see fit.
 
The way I look it breaking barrel is simple. Some recommend it some say no needed. My question is this, what I loose to shoot and clean after one shot fired?
What can I gain? Well, this what top shooters do, at least that's what I learnt from them.
 
There is a fairly good article from the "don't break in" camp at http://www.6mmbr.com/gailmcmbreakin.html

I don't break-in, as I haven't seen any compelling arguments for why you would do it. Most "scientific" arguments for it seem to believe that somehow you are smoothing out the bore -- in effect that you're doing a very inefficient form of fire-lapping. But rubbing copper on steel without an abrasive isn't lapping.

With a new rifle, I would clean it very thouroughly before the first range day (the Savage LRPV I just got was actually fairly dirty out of the box), and then be a little aggresive on the cleaning for a while. I only clean at the range for two reasons; (1) groups are opening up (i.e. I am seeing actual evidence of fouling) or (2) I'm waiting for the barrel to cool and I'm bored.
 
This might also be of some interest to you. It's from the M24 operator's manual


BARREL BREAK IN
The M24 comes from Remington ready to shoot, however it is recommended that the gun be broken in to enhance the life and accuracy of the weapon. Should you need to immediately employ or use the weapon you may disregard the break in procedure; however weapon life may suffer depending on how it is used. In order to break the weapon in follow the following steps;
1. Clear the weapon.
2. Remove the bolt.
3. Insert the bore guide.
4. Dry patch the barrel to remove any obstacles.
5. Remove the bore guide
6. Reinsert the bolt
7. Load one round
8. Fire one round
9. Clean the weapon (see ROUTINE MAINTENANCE)
10. Repeat this (firing 1 round and cleaning) until you have fired 10 rounds
11. Load and fire 3 rounds
12. Clean the weapon (see ROUTINE MAINTENANCE)
13. Repeat this another 9 times (10 iterations total) (firing 3 rounds and cleaning) for a total of 40 rounds being fired through the rifle (1 round x 10 and 3 rounds x 10)
14. Load and fire 5 rounds
15. Clean the weapon (see ROUTINE MAINTENANCE)
16. Repeat this another 9 times (10 iterations total) (firing 5 rounds and cleaning) for a total of 90 rounds being fired through the rifle (1 round x 10, 3 rounds x 10 and 5 rounds x 10)
17. Load and fire 10 rounds
18. Clean the weapon (see ROUTINE MAINTENANCE)
19. This should be 100 rounds total fired through the rifle, the M24 is now broken in.

ROUTINE MAINTENANCE
1. Clear the weapon.
2. Remove the bolt.
3. Insert the bore guide.
4. Dry patch the barrel to remove any obstacles.
5. Using a copper or bronze brush and carbon solvent scrub the bore 3-5 times ensuring that the brush remains wet (it may be necessary to add a small amount of solvent to the brush in the middle of this process).
6. Remove the brush, install the jag onto the rod, wrap a patch around the jag and run patches through the bore until the patches are coming out reasonably clean.
7. Soak a patch in copper solvent and scrub the bore 3 – 4 times ensuring that sufficient copper solvent is left in the bore. Leave the bore wet for no longer than 5 -10 minutes before removing the copper solvent.
8. Remove and wipe down the rod.
9. Clean the bolt by wiping down the exterior of the bolt with carbon solvent, clean the bolt face by using a patch wet with copper solvent (it there are brass deposits) ensuring to dry the bolt face. Approximately every 300 – 500 rounds disassemble the bolt and clean off old lubrication and reapply a light lubrication to the firing pin spring and pin reassemble the bolt.
10. Dry patch the bore until the patches come out reasonably clean.
11. If putting the rifle away for an unknown amount of time, leave a light amount of a non-PTFE (Teflon) based lubricant or solvent (carbon solvent) in the bore to inhibit rust and corrosion. If using the weapon within a day, leave the weapon bore dry
12. ALWAYS DRY PATCH THE BORE BEFORE FIRING!!
13. The exterior of the optics should be wiped off with a dry rag. They can be wiped with a semi-dry lubricant if needed. The lenses should always be covered more so when cleaning the weapon (if mounted) to keep solvents from spraying onto them. The lenses can be wiped off with lens paper in a circular motion starting in the middle working out. If working in a humid or wet environment tissue can be placed into the lens caps to absorb moisture
14. The trigger assembly should never be lubricated more than just a drop if in an environment where corrosion or rust is a problem (lubricant only attracts dust and dirt)
15. The magazine follower should be wiped off with a rag and light lubricated if rust and corrosion is a problem
16. The magazine spring should be wiped off with a rag and light lubricated if rust and corrosion is a problem
 
The M24 operators manual calls for 31 cleanings, comprising 155 scrubs with a brass brush, 124 wet patches (and probably a greater number of dry patches) and 150 - 300 minutes (2.5 to 5 hours) of waiting for solvent work.

While shooting only 100 rounds.

Maybe it's me, but I don't get it. I'd need some pretty compelling (and non-anecdotal) evidence that I'm getting something fairly significant out of that much work. It sounds more like one or two really crappy days at the range and 100 rounds off my barrel life to me.

And I don't like the odds of what I might accidentally do to my spanking new throat and crown pushing that many rods through the thing.

(And the break-in recipe above is pretty tame. I've seen ones with a lot more work, and things like putting abrasive pastes in your brand-new bore).
 
ajarmst - bingo.

Break in is another in a long list of rituals that are practiced without any scientific or repeatably-quanitfiable substantiation.

One would think that break-in would be a topic extensively and properly studied - and published. It aint. Yes, there are educated opinions. Well, I have an educated opinion too. It is a waste of time.

Until someone disproves my theory, it remains as valid as those who have concocted this voodoo of shoot-and-clean ritual.
 
Actually I don't think much study is needed on break in. Everyone that does it can do their own study. You just have to check and see how many patches it takes to remove all the copper (white patch, no blue). All barrels are going to be different based on how well finished the bore surface is. Hand lapped custom barrels that have not been over polished will clean up the fastest -- as little as two or three shots. Rough factory non lapped barrels will clean up the slowest, and some will never clean up. Of the latter you may as well just shoot them.

So "break-in" needs to be barrel specific. Get a good ammonia based cleaner like Barnes CR-10, and let the colour of the patches tell you when the barrel is broken in. It might be one or two shots, or never! I suspect that is why there is controversy about the subject. It is not a one size fits all process.
 
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