Breaking in a new barrel
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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 Lilja's explanation about barrel break in.
"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... Most barrel makers say something on their websites.
Factory barrels are considerably different than custom match grade hand lapped barrels.
...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 Lilja's explanation about barrel break in.
"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... Most barrel makers say something on their websites.
Factory barrels are considerably different than custom match grade hand lapped barrels.
Mystic Precision
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Summerland, BC
With all due respect to Mr. Lilja, in all the years I have cleaned barrels, copper is the LAST layer I remove. Doesn't matter what type of barrel, manf, cal, chambering, bullet, powder used, number of rds fired. The top layer is ALWAYS black soot from the powder fouling.
So, I do not believe that barrel break in does much of anything except use up the finite lifespan of every barrel.
Barrel erosion happens from the very first rd. Any rough machine/tooling marks will either be quickly worn 'smooth', or fill with fouling and stabilize. If a bore has a real rough spot, copper jackets are no where near as hard as the steel it rides through so that will be a problem for the duration of the barrel.
If above surface, maybe lapping can help but accuracy will never be all that special. If below surface, it will quickly fill with jacket material and fouling and level off to some degree. Cleaning will always show copper which some will try and fully excavate, leading them to fire many fouling shots to return back to where they were.
Let the target tell you what you need to do and how much you need to clean.
Shooting is about delivering a bullet onto a target - not how shiny ones barrel is.
Jerry
Some will, some won't, go with whatever floats your boat
So, I do not believe that barrel break in does much of anything except use up the finite lifespan of every barrel.
Barrel erosion happens from the very first rd. Any rough machine/tooling marks will either be quickly worn 'smooth', or fill with fouling and stabilize. If a bore has a real rough spot, copper jackets are no where near as hard as the steel it rides through so that will be a problem for the duration of the barrel.
If above surface, maybe lapping can help but accuracy will never be all that special. If below surface, it will quickly fill with jacket material and fouling and level off to some degree. Cleaning will always show copper which some will try and fully excavate, leading them to fire many fouling shots to return back to where they were.
Let the target tell you what you need to do and how much you need to clean.
Shooting is about delivering a bullet onto a target - not how shiny ones barrel is.
Jerry
Some will, some won't, go with whatever floats your boat
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Lilja would know. My .243 has a 1:10 Lilja pipe that I did brake in and the thing is still a bear to clean to bare metal. I finally went the Moly route which Lilja does not recommend.
I think barrel break in is usually a good idea with a custom barrel. These barrels are much smoother than their factory counterparts, so why not use a short break in period to iron out the very fine ridges left from reaming the chamber, which is most often performed by a gunsmith and not by the barrel manufacturer. The cost of the break in is negligible, and the benefits in terms of reduced cleaning time, which also has an effect on barrel life, might pay off. At worst the break in will make no difference in which case you haven't lost anything, as you were going to work up loads for that rifle anyway.
I pose the challenge:
Someone show me one piece of objective evidence-based research carried out in a proper controlled experiment that demonstrates the efficacy of barrel break in. My opinion is no more valid that anyone else's. Evidence rocks, BS walks.
Someone show me one piece of objective evidence-based research carried out in a proper controlled experiment that demonstrates the efficacy of barrel break in. My opinion is no more valid that anyone else's. Evidence rocks, BS walks.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
As soon as you produce empirical evidence that demonstrates that running a patch wet with Sweets through the bore after each shot for say 20 shots reduces barrel life when: a bore guide is used, with a good quality one piece rod, a proper fitting jag, a proper cotton patch of the correct size, and the bore is patched dry before the Sweets can dry.
Go into your shop and cut off a piece of steel in a chop saw. When you observe the cut, you will see minute metal hairs along the line of the cut. Heat those hairs red hot with a cutting torch then brush them off with a steel brush. Repeat the heating brushing regiment a number of times. Are the hairs gone?
In the meantime I'll take John Krieger's word for it that there is a benefit in terms of reduced fouling to be had from a short break in period. His thoughts are as follows -
From John 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."
The results are there for the shooter to see in terms of reduced fouling. If no improvement is observed, stop and shoot normally. Now onto the next debate . . . Does the use of Moly or Gun Juice extend barrel life? Is cut rifling the best choice? Do fast twist barrels degrade accuracy with light bullets? Should match bullets be used for big game hunting?
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I'll go with this one..when my rifle was completed I asked Ian what the correct procedure was to break in my new Krieger......well as I recall it was Just shoot the thing clean when you think of it and so far I still can't hit much ...so in MHO it doesn't make any sense to waist time, so I just keep shooting.
Warning: reading of gun rags and manufacturers claims may cause one to think they are some sort of quasi-metallurgical/quasi mechanical engineer.
Do not overlook the importance of properly lubricating the bolt if you are a high volume shooter.
Do not overlook the importance of properly lubricating the bolt if you are a high volume shooter.
