Barrel break-in ...

[MattMoser]

Barrel break in is a myth. Clean it, shoot it, clean it when you're done.

TDC

Also give it a real good overheating!

 

[guntech]

For copper fouling is Remington 40X good?
Anyone tried it?

I am using Hoppe's #9 Benchrest and it's write on the bottle COPPER SOLVENT...Is it realy a copper solvent?

And all factory HB .308 I have tried(a lot) Where shooting tighter groups when fouled???

Hoppe's #9 Benchrest is a copper solvent as marked on the bottle.

Groups usually get better when the barrel is powder fouled but if copper fouling builds up groups will deteriorate. At least that has been my experience with very accurate Benchrest rifles although copper fouling never gets established with them.

 

[Jamie]

LOCK-EEZ sounds alot like gun juice hmmm wonder if its the same thing?


i used gun juice in my LTR and speed went up and the gun was very easy to clean after ,never hurt the groups

 

[Tikka223]

Lots of product names being thrown out there. Where would I buy something like Sweets? The local shops around here have never had the greatest selection of stuff.

 

[MattMoser]

I am going to the US in a week or so, if you want me to pick up someting for you and mail it let me know (PM)

dont get caught up in barrel break in, most of it is crap, 20 shots with cleaning between each shot will do nothig metallurgically to your barrel.

most sniper rifles are considered 'broke in' when they're too hot to touch!

 

[911alertme]

You guys didn't read the whole thread before jumping in suggesting that the rifling in the barrel is the problem. The Krieger procedure from earlier in the thread makes very logical sense. Take it or leave it but here it is

Krieger - Break-in Procedure
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.

 

[Winchester 1886]

I am going to the US in a week or so, if you want me to pick up someting for you and mail it let me know (PM)

dont get caught up in barrel break in, most of it is crap, 20 shots with cleaning between each shot will do nothig metallurgically to your barrel.

most sniper rifles are considered 'broke in' when they're too hot to touch!

Barrel too hot to touch...

I am lost again

 

[aikidoforever]

Interesting, thanks.

 

[Kryogen]

My point of view :

 

[HKMark23]

Lots of product names being thrown out there. Where would I buy something like Sweets? The local shops around here have never had the greatest selection of stuff.

Gord at Blue Mountain Sports in Browns Flats will fix you up. Sweets is a bench mark product for this kind of thing but any product that reeks of ammonia and/or turns soaked patches bright blue is doing the trick.

You should consider 2 products. One general cleaner like Hoppes #9 to use before and after using a second product containing lots of ammonia or other copper eating stuff. You'll need an aggressive copper solvent for this kind of procedure so products that require overnight soaking won't be much good. Opinions and product claims do vary but I sure wouldn't leave an aggressive product like Sweets in a barrel more than 15 minutes before swabbing it out and following up by thoroughly cleaning the bore with an all purpose cleaner/preservative (Hoppes 9 or equiv.).