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

[3800fps]

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.

Part of the break-in method mythology that I've garnered is that "if not broken in properly your barrel's gilt edge potential is fore ever lost."
The "modern" day benchresters (Shillen, Hart, Warren Page etc) may have started this break-in thing as spoof or wives tale knowledge from the Harry Pope days.
These bench guys thought some barrels simply just shot better than others (hummer barrel) and no amount of breaking in could make a barrel into a hummer...it was or it wasn't.
That's been my experience also...

 

[ThrdKllr]

Part of the break-in method mythology that I've garnered is that "if not broken in properly your barrel's gilt edge potential is fore ever lost."
The "modern" day benchresters (Shillen, Hart, Warren Page etc) may have started this break-in thing as spoof or wives tale knowledge from the Harry Pope days.
These bench guys thought some barrels simply just shot better than others (hummer barrel) and no amount of breaking in could make a barrel into a hummer...it was or it wasn't.
That's been my experience also...

I don't think it is forever lost. Depending on the shot count of the barrel, it could be cleaned back down to the bare metal and then broken in properly. The op is talking about a factory Savage barrel. Not a hand lapped custom barrel. Bore scope a few factory barrels and you'll see what I'm talking about. You can tell just by pushing a dry patch through a clean barrel.

 

[Ronald W Schaefer]

Since I bought a Fierce Firearms CT Carbon Edge abut two years ago I started using their recommended break-in technique. Don't know if its better or not than nothing or any other technique but I've used it on that rig and several other "factory" rifles...they all shoot pretty well.
From their website:
Question: How do I break in the barrel on my Fierce rifle?

Answer: The Fierce rifle barrels are hand-lapped match grade stainless steel barrels. The hand lapping process starts the break in process. Following is the recommended barrel break-in procedure to ensure reliable and consistent accuracy from your new Fierce rifle:

Your break in will require shooting one box (20 rounds) of ammo

1. Shoot one round and then clean
   Do this for the first five rounds.
2. Shoot five rounds and then clean
   Do this for the next fifteen rounds.
3. Shoot a fouler round and then a three shot group for accuracy.

NOTE: Allow barrel to cool before shooting each series of break-in rounds to avoid unnecessary throat erosion. Do not shoot your rifle in succession until the barrel is too hot to touch with a bare hand. This can burn the throat out of your match grade chamber.

When cleaning we recommend the following items

• Use a quality one-piece cleaning rod.
• Use high quality patches.
• Use a bore guide.

Clean from chamber end only.

Clean powder residue from bore using a high quality barrel cleaning solvent.

Follow with a copper remover like Barnes CR-10 Copper to remove copper fouling. Follow the instructions on the bottle.

Finish with a patch lightly coated with gun oil. Your rifle is ready to shoot.
Remember to clean your rifle after 20-30 rounds.

 

[baldhunter]

I don't know maybe it's just me,but the rifles I do a recommended barrel break-in seem to not require fouling shots after cleaning the rifle to stay in the group.They seem to shoot that first shot on target from a clean cold barrel as well as they do from a cold fouled barrel.I still keep a fouled barrel when hunting,but it is just something I've noticed.I remember one rifle I had years ago that I know I didn't break-in properly.That thing would always be off 2-3" the first couple of shots after cleaning.I know it's a PITA taking the time to break one in,but it might be worth it I guess.Sure doesn't seem to hurt it.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

I just purchased a new Savage 110 Storm in 7mm RM and am wondering about barrel break in. Is it necessary, and, if so, what is the proper way to do it? I've seen some suggestions on the internet about cleaning after EVERY shot x 10, and then every other shot x 10, etc, etc. That just seems like overkill.

What would the experts here recommend for this gun?

Barrel break in is over-rated and unnecessary. After 100 or so rounds, its likely your velocity will increase a little bit, but accuracy won't be any better by going through a break in session.

 

[wake.joe]

Throw it in the dirt and kick it. Twice.

 

[crkckr]

I think there may be too many generalizations here. Break in depends on if you're shooting a hand lapped custom or a factory barrel. A good custom barrel will not need anywhere near as much (if any! But you should still follow the manufacturers recommendations) break in while an indifferent factory barrel might need a whole lot more work to shoot to it's best potential. Plus it depends on what you want to get out of it.

If it's strictly a hunting rig and 1 moa is all you ask of it, that's a lot easier to accomplish than getting under .5 moa... if it's even possible! The smaller the group size the more time, effort and money it's going to cost you.

You can work your tail off trying to squeeze that last .01" out of it or you can just buy the custom barrel in the first place. Or you might be stuck with the factory rig because you can't afford the custom rifle and the only way you can get that last bit of accuracy is with elbow grease and a bit of luck (been there, done that!).
The odds of needing more than 3 or 4 shoot/clean cycles out of a custom is unlikely but then, why take a chance? I always follow what the manufacturer of the barrel says because I'm simply not willing to take a chance on not getting that last bit of accuracy downrange!
Cheers,
crkckr

 

[3800fps]

I've got 4 Savages...2 stainless 2 blue...ALL show consistent reamer marks in their barrels...ugly magnified...
All 4 are excellent shooters (bedded in a proper gunstock)
No break-in ritual per se...these cheap ugly Savages shoot only slightly less accurate than the custom rifles I own (early Coopers, Krieger and Lothar Walthar barreled guns)
3/4 " or less for Savage vs 1/2" often less custom, all handloads.
We love to play with our toys...breaking in makes a guy feel proactive...I'm convinced it's more psychological ritual than necessary...

 

[J E Custom]

This is just my experience with brake in.

Time was, That I didn't practice break in for barrels. I just shot and cleaned when convenient. When I did clean, I planed on spending quite a bit of time to get it back to what it was in the beginning and then re zeroing before going hunting.

After buying my first custom match rifle with instructions to do a simple break in, I decided I was going to follow the instructions and take good care of this rifle.

The first thing I noticed after break in was it's ease in cleaning. I thought it had more to do with the quality of the barrel than anything else. The rifle not only cleaned up fast (2 or 3 patches) but it retained it's zero. Some of the matches were 100 shots without any possibility of cleaning. Some of my other rifles took hours of scrubbing with strong solvents and patching after only shooting 40+ rounds.

Not convinced that break in had anything to do with this difference. I decided to do a break in on one of my other rifles that was notorious
for fouling and see if it made any difference. so every time I went to the range , I carried this rifle and continued the break in until I felt that It was as good as it would ever get. My records show that It took 60+
shoot and cleans and many trips to the range. At some point, I though Break in would never be over.

Finally, I went to the range to test the rifle to see if it realy made any difference. It was a different rifle. It went from a 11/2 to 2 MOA rifle to a consistent 3/4 to 1 MOA and the zero did not change. Armed with this information I was not looking forward to breaking in all of my other rifles, so I started with the worst.

Being a note taker and record keeper I noticed a huge improvement/decrease in the amount of patches and solvent used And in overall accuracy with all rifles that had been through the break in process. So in reality, even though I was cleaning more often, I was doing less brushing per 100 rounds so cleaning was reduced and some didn't need brushing at all just a swab.

A raw barrel bore has machine marks and discontinuities in it and lapping is the first step in making everything consistent. Break in puts the finishing touches on these differences as stated earlier. A factory barrel needs a lot more break in than a custom barrel does.

Cleaning a barrel doesn't automatically mean hurting a barrel. like anything else, improper procedures can do harm, while proper procedures can actually prevent harm. Also once I started using a bore scope I realized that fouling was worse in areas that had machine marks or discontinuities and areas that were smooth were clean and subject to more wear by the bullet. And the more frequent this fouling was removed, the longer it remained accurate.

When I started building and repairing firearms, I saw the results of things that were deemed to much trouble. And now I can look at a barrel bore and with almost 100% accuracy tell the person what he had done and what he had not done to cause the problem.

So cleaning and/or breaking in is up to the individual and what he wants from his barrel. I for one break in every barrel now whether it is a custom or factory barrel because I have seen the benefits. And the trouble to me is worth It.

Sorry about the long post.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Rudolph Ferdinand]

I just purchased a new Savage 110 Storm in 7mm RM and am wondering about barrel break-in. Is it necessary, and, if so, what is the proper way to do it? I've seen some suggestions on the internet about cleaning after EVERY shot x 10, and then every other shot x 10, etc, etc. That just seems like overkill.

What would the experts here recommend for this gun?

if the manufacturer says "break-in" do it! Clean before heading to the range for the first firing session fire three shots then clean a total of about nine rounds is all that is needed.

 

[Mike 338]

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.

That's more or less what I do. I'll bang a few and clean, repeat once or twice as the spirit moves me, bang 15 or so and clean, 20 to 30 and clean. Seriously... who follows to the letter, your manufactures recommended maintenance schedule for your "pretty dang expensive" car/truck? Interestingly, I have a Criterion barrel that I'd clean all the copper out of but it would always leave some dark grey. No matter how much I cleaned it, it always came out like that so I quit thinking about it. After a couple hundred rounds, it never did it again. Most problems don't fix themselves but sometimes they do.

 

[bushmotornv]

This was posted by Len Backus and was a good discussion with lots of opinions and information.

Read this post and decide.

https://www.longrangehunting.com/th...-in-and-cleaning-methods.160450/#post-1125735

J E CUSTOM

This was an excellent article,thanks. It does raise the question of proper bolt/firing pin lubrication. I think that many folks here are capable of advanced maintenance (bolt disassembly),so what would be proper in this instance? I do realize that there are probably 100 different ideas/opinions/methods.