Barrel Break-in...necessary or not needed?

[Mikecr]

I use 10 shots of Tubb's Final Finish (fire lapping), and that's it,, done.
I do this whether factory or aftermarket barrels, as it doesn't hurt anything.

 

[jrock]

Not necessary but strongly encouraged. If you ignore potential shooting benefits, it at least makes the gun a heck of a lot easier to clean.

 

[nmbsniper]

Barrel break-in is important. I use the barrel marker or rifle builders instructions. They all seem to be slightly different but have the same goal in the end. I hate the process because it is time consuming. I recently purchased a Ruger American 7mm-08 for hunting. I used a rifle builders process for it this weekend.
As another poster mentioned, use bore snakes. I use 3 of them and brake/carb/choke cleaner. Spray the snakes to clean them between rounds and lay them in the sun, they dry quickly. I use each snake for a different purpose; solvent, clean, JB

 

[Mike 338]

I generally do some type of break-in. I generally don't spend an entire afternoon doing it though. You can bundle some of your load development into the break-in. One of the first things on a new load you want to find out is your maximum powder charge. You can chronograph each shot/clean as you increase your charges. You don't even need to shoot at a target for this although again, there's no sense in not getting it on paper while your breaking in your barrel.

 

[jrock]

...You can bundle some of your load development into the break-in.

This is what I do as well but don't say it too loudly as others prefer not to do load development until all the brass is fire formed etc.

 

[Pdyson]

I would follow the barrel makers procedure on an expensive rifle. But I hate cleaning anything. I haven't hand washed my truck in over 20 years... I take my truck through the drive thru car wash. A bore snake is the drive thru car wash of the firearms world and I love em. For Ruger, savage, Remington rifles I would pull a bore snake wet with hoppes or your favorite solvent and call it done. I'd pull it though again 3 or 4 times after about 15 rnds then give it a good scrub with the traditional Tipton jag and brush at 60. It has worked for me and I sure haven't ruined a gun that I can tell. Your mileage may vary.

 

[jrock]

I focus on getting the barrel perfectly clean between the first few shots/strings. I tried the bore snakes and Otis pull through system and couldn't get them clean enough for the same amount of effort as using a cleaning rod/soaked patch system. There is a noticeable difference if the barrel is not perfectly clean, especially on factory guns.

 

[3800fps]

Gotta spend my 2cents...
I'm 67 had alotta barrels...
Several of the old barrel makers who have won many bench rest matches with their own barrels...generally have said, "More barrels are ruined by cleaning than getting shot out"
I've done so many of the above breaking in methods...we all have the highest hopes for our new barrel...and wanna do something to coax it along...
here's what I do now
Clean out the manufacturing debris first...shoot 3 to 5 shots..swab it out (no brushes) then shoot it.
Your barrel wil get plenty of scrubbing and patching in the future...it will naturally "season" itself...if you have to "improve" the makers bore finish then radical steps (D.Tubbs stuff) would be necessary.

 

[Pappabear]

I have 6 or so custom guns and more stock rifles. I did barrel break in for the first couple then watched Hodnets video on LR shooting where he suggest its a waste of time. I run a couple patches before I shoot it then clean it every 300 rounds or when I lose accuracy. Ive seen no advantage of barrel break in.

One theory that supports my belief is back in the day, barrels where crudely cut and desperately needed some "smoothing out the rifling" per se.

As said before, many opinions on this issue.

PB

 

[jasonco]

As a Team Savage guy, if it's a Savage carbon steel barrel, minimal break-in is required, I like to get a box of 20 down the pipe, clean/evaluate. Then you can go to shooting groups.
If it's custom barrel, a proper break-in should be done.

 

[ThrdKllr]

Well I might as well chime in also. I start with a vigorous cleaning. I mean clean. Then 1 and clean for 5 shots. If I get much metal fouling after the 5th shot, I'll do 5 more 1 and clean. Let the fouling tell you when it is time to move on. Be sure to clean it down to bare metal each time. Some factory barrels clean up quickly and some never slick up. Good luck and enjoy what ever route you go.

 

[freddiej]

I use a hybrid method and it works for me. I am not saying it will work for everyone but it works exceptionally well for me. here are the methods I know are used by certain barrel manufacturers.

clean after every round for 50 rounds (simple, long, time consuming and you really need a range at your house.)

next method: clean after every shot for 25 rounds, strings of 5 rounds then clean for 3 strings, then shoot the remaining 10 rounds then clean.

next one is weird and I tried it once with dismal results. strings of 3 shots for 15 rounds. strings of 5 for 25 rounds, strings of 10 rounds for 50 rounds.

next method, shoot one round and clean for 25 rounds, shoot 2 strings of 10 rounds cleaning in between strings.

last method is mine: start in your cleaning room, run a patch of fine oil or hoppe's #9 down your bore, fill a patch of J-B bore paste, use the correct jag, run the patch down your bore breech to muzzle until the patch is black. Clean the bore and re-oil, get an new patch full of J-B and go until the patch is black again, then clean, re-oil, new patch of J-B. keep going until it's black again.. repeat. I say 200 strokes minimum because you are hand polishing/burnishing the bore. also known as hand lapping the bore. I have found this to be the best starting to a great bore. at the range; clean in between each shot for 25 rounds, strings of 5 for the next 25 rounds and you should be done. your recoil should feel less and your rounds should not drop as much at 300 yards. your muzzle velocity should be 25 to 50 FPS faster than the first round. your brush should go through the bore easier, and your carbon build up should be significantly less.

I forgot the method that has you polishing the bore prior to shooting. here it is.
saturate a patch with light oil (hoppe's #9 works very well in this scenario) and J-B bore paste. on a properly sized jag run the patch breech to muzzle for 200 to 500 strokes. refreshing once the patch is black (translation: clean bore, saturate patch with oil/hoppe's and J-B bore paste and start again), and repeat as necessary for 200 to 500 strokes or until the patch can be run down the bore 10 times without being black. at the range shoot strings of 5 shots for 25 rounds, cleaning in between, shoot 10 shot strings twice, cleaning in between.

these are the methods I know. Use which ever you wish to.
as for the need.. I think it is the best start to a great hunting rifle and a must for any target rifle.

 

[3800fps]

8 yrs ago...4 shot break-in
Bought a $400 Savage 111 2506 from local Walmart on a bet....ran a patch through it, bore sighted it...1st shot was on paper at 50 yds...moved out to 100yds....
3 shots in 3/8" (with ammo loaded for my Cooper)

That was the break-in for that gun...centered the group and done.

 

[Remmy700]

Most of the guns I get I trade into and have already had some rounds down the tube. The others that I have had built, I clean initially to get all stuff out and I roll with it. I have never had a break in process and I scope all my bores and have never seen any negative effects. Maybe I just been lucky but have never had an issue with groups.