Break In and Cleaning?

T

TrxR

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Going to be picking up a Savage LRPV in a .223 in the next few months and was wondering if there is any good how tos on the proper break in and cleaning procedure for this gun as well as what I should have to properly do the break in and cleaning.

Thanks
 
You will find varying opinions about barrel break in...

...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.

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_In__Cleaning-c1246-wp2558.htm

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

http://www.riflebarrels.com/support/centerfire_maintenance.htm

http://www.pac-nor.com/care/
 
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Tipton rods and bore guide, I only use brushes on severe fouling and if possible look for gunslick nylon brushes as these clean fouling and dont put more cpper in the bore.
 
from my own experience :)

my first rifle was a Tikka 695 in .270 :) first rifle ever :) and the first barrel cleaning was done after about 250 rounds fired....I spent 6 hours removing all copped and carbone accumulated in the barrel.....one guy even told me that the barrel is "... up" ....
ok, now it`s about 600 rounds and 5 years....27 deer and one antelope....this rifle shoots 1.5" groups at 200m with factory round nose ammo (Federal)

the end of the story: yes, now I do break-in for all of my rifles....gust because :))))
 
If nothing else, it`s an excuse to shoot your rifle more.

I did and am pleased with the results.
 
Whether it helps or not I still do it. Hasn't hurt one of my match barrels yet to shoot and clean during the first 20 rounds.

Gives me a chance to get it sighted in and test my starting load at the same time.
 
I honestly think its pure hog wash when it comes to braking in barrels. I highly doubt if you take two new barrels and you brake the one in and shoot the other with out brake in that you will see a defiance.

The problem i see with guntech's method is. Once you run a cleanse through its going to remove the powder residue as well. You will always have copper in the barrel before you will have powder fouling. Simply becaus the bullet is being pushed by the burning powder. Once you removed the copper your powder fouling is gone as well. A bullet can wear a barrel becaus its softer than the steel barrel. When a barrel wheres out its generally the throat that will wear out.

Unless there is proof that I am wrong I will still think braking in a barrel us a waist of time.
 
Breaking in is a waste of barrel life and a waste of increasingly expensive components.

I once again challenge (every time this subject trediously comes up....) someone show me ONE proper controlled study that provides one piece of quantifiable evidence that barrel break-in accomplishes anything that simply shooting and cleaning (normally) will not accomplish??

Why won't the barrel makers themselves do this? All you read are anecdotes and "...from my experience, or a gunsmith once told me" type comments.

99% of what people do in shooting is because they saw someone else do it and they have copied it.
 
Obtunded said:
Breaking in is a waste of barrel life and a waste of increasingly expensive components.

I once again challenge (every time this subject trediously comes up....) someone show me ONE proper controlled study that provides one piece of quantifiable evidence that barrel break-in accomplishes anything that simply shooting and cleaning (normally) will not accomplish??

Why won't the barrel makers themselves do this? All you read are anecdotes and "...from my experience, or a gunsmith once told me" type comments.

99% of what people do in shooting is because they saw someone else do it and they have copied it.
Click to expand...

I agree with you. There are soooo many different "experts" opinions on how to properly break in a barrel that is pure hogwash.
I see more damage from some of these cleaning regimes that needs be.
 
i just recently picked up a sendero in a 300 rum and had the exact same question as you. i shot it. and cleaned it. and shot it and cleaned it. did all the right things. turns out that my barrel likes to be dirty. shoots way better. everyone says that the RUM is an overbore cartridge yaddda yadda yadda. Break it in however you want. The rifle will tell you how it likes to be cleaned.
 
Every time I see a thread like this I invariably do this:
facepalm.jpg
 
LILJA AND KREIGER have a break in process

Like I said in my first post, breaking barrels in is very controversial...

some of the links did not work but I think I have corrected them...

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

http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/

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

http://www.riflebarrels.com/

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

I copied and pasted text below from Lilja and Kreiger, both top quality barrel makers...

Centerfire Maintenance

We recommend that your new Lilja rifle barrel be properly broken-in to obtain the best accuracy. A proper break-in will help ensure that your barrel will clean easily in the future and that you will achieve maximum accuracy potential. Please follow these important instructions.
We are concerned with two types of fouling: copper fouling, which is caused by bullet jacket material being left in the barrel, and powder fouling. During the first few rounds a lot of copper fouling will be left in the barrel. It is important to remove this fouling completely, after each shot, to help prevent a build-up later on. Powder fouling is ongoing, but easy to remove. Do not use moly-coated bullets during the break-in procedure.
Break-in Procedure
For an effective break-in the barrel should be cleaned after every shot for the first 10-12 rounds or until copper fouling stops. Our procedure is to push a cotton patch that is wet with solvent through the barrel. This will remove much of the powder fouling and wet the inside of the barrel with solvent. Next, wet a bronze brush with solvent and stroke the barrel 5-10 times. Follow this by another wet patch and then one dry patch. Now soak the barrel with a strong copper removing solvent until all of the blue mess is removed from the barrel. The copper fouling will be heavy for a few rounds and then taper off quickly in just one or two shots. Once it has stopped or diminished significantly it is time to start shooting 5 shot groups, cleaning after each one. After 25-30 rounds clean at a normal interval of 10-25 rounds. Your barrel is now broken-in.
Normal cleaning
For a normal cleaning (after a string of 10-25 shots) after break-in, the above procedure should be used, but stop short of soaking the barrel with the strong copper remover. A good rule of thumb is to stroke the barrel with a brush, one cycle for every shot fired.
Periodic cleaning
It is probably a good idea to use a strong copper removing solvent every 200 rounds, or so, to check the barrel for copper fouling. We do not recommend the routine use of abrasive cleaners for normal cleaning. However they can be used every 500-1000 rounds to remove the carbon build-up (caused by powder fouling) in the throat area of the barrel. To use, wrap a cotton patch around a worn out brush or a cleaning jag and liberally apply the abrasive cleaner to the patch. Short stroke the abrasive for 6" or so in the throat area

and one or two full length passes through the barrel. Do not clean the barrel like this for more than 1-2 minutes.


KREIGER BARRELS - BREAK-IN & CLEANING
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.


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I never broke in the factory barrel on my 204, never even heard about barrel break-in till reading more about precision and varmint shooting.

My accuracy has been superb though, so can't really complain but when I install my new Shilen barrel I will follow their procedure. I will take a little longer for the first 50 rounds but then I weigh every charge when reloading so I am a very detail oriented guy.

Get a good bore guide and one piece cleaning rod (I love my Dewey products) I would agree with others that a good regular cleaning program is more important. Make sure the rod is clean before entering the bore and clean from the breach if possible. I have recently switched to Whip-Out foaming bore cleaner so while it takes longer it is very little work.
 
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