Hey guy's I'm new here , and was wondering if any of you know or have a procedure for breaking a new barrel ? I was in a gun shop last year and found a 700 LSS Remington chambered in a .257 Weatherby mag. Since they quit making that gun somewhere around 2008 and it was such a good looking gun I just couldn't pass it up ! This is going to be my low cost long range deer rifle , I got a 5x20x44mm Nikon for Christmas and a DNZ mount so I mounted the scope yesterday but before I go to the range I'd just like to here some input on breaking in a new barrel . Thank's
new barrel break in
- Thread starter chootem
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coyotezapper
Well-Known Member
Welcome!!
Do you handload? If so I recommend David Tubb's Final Finish.
If not then shoot 1 and clean for 20 rounds and then switch to shoot 5 and clean for another 10 to 30 rounds depending on what you are seeing with the cleaning. Once the barrel starts to clean up with minimal patches you should be good to go. The first 20 are the most important to me.
Good shooting!
MontanaRifleman
Well-Known Member
The purpose of barrel break-in is to "smooth out" the machining iregularities of the bore. The goal is easier cleaning and longer strings between cleaning.
To do this, my preference is to shoot 1 and clean until I see no significant signs of copper fouling. Then it's done. With a good custom barrel, it might take 1 or 2 shots or it might take 10 or more. With factory barrels, it usually requires more effort and some may not break in at all.
It is important to remove all copper between shots, otherwise follow on shots essentially accomplish nothing. Not all cleaning products will give you an accurate indication of copper. I've used a lot of them and prefer Bore Tech.
Best,
Mark
To do this, my preference is to shoot 1 and clean until I see no significant signs of copper fouling. Then it's done. With a good custom barrel, it might take 1 or 2 shots or it might take 10 or more. With factory barrels, it usually requires more effort and some may not break in at all.
It is important to remove all copper between shots, otherwise follow on shots essentially accomplish nothing. Not all cleaning products will give you an accurate indication of copper. I've used a lot of them and prefer Bore Tech.
Best,
Mark
WV Sendero
Well-Known Member
My rule of thumb is clean between every shot for 5 shots then every three for a couple rounds then every five shots up to around 20-25 shots. This generally works well for me but as the other guys said every barrel is different so don't be afraid to clean a little more or less based on what you are seeing on your patches.
J E Custom
Well-Known Member
+ 1
If you are not sure about the procedure, Look up the Lilja precision Barrels web site and under FAQ
he has his prefered brake in procedure.
Bore tech and Butches bore shine are my prefered solvents also.
J E CUSTOM
+1.
I have changed my view on barrel break in. If you don't know what you are doing then you are better off not trying to run in a barrel at all.
If you half clean a barrel and leave copper in the barrel this is worse than not cleaning it at all as you end up with layer upon layer of copper that will destroy accuracy.
If you are not getting blue/green colour on your patches then you are not getting the copper out.
MontanaRifleman
Well-Known Member
Also, some products will not show blue/green even if there is copper remaining in the bore. I have followed other products with Bore Tech and removed more copper after not seeing anymore color from the other product. If I want to be really thorough, I'll swab the Bore with BT and let it sit for about 20 min and repeat until no more color.
When using BT, don't use a brass jag or a rod with a brass tip. The BT will react and show color giving a false indication.
I follow the same as the others but I have been useing 3 patches of Shooters Choice and then patch it out with Sweets 7.62 or whatever the number is till the patches come out clear, then run 2 more with Shooters choice. I then run 2 dry patches and 1 patch with Butches gun oil, Rem oil,or Kroil.
If a bore is not seeming to break in I will add in some runs with a brush coated in Sweets to break anything loose and get a little more aggressive with the barrel and it has worked every time.
If a bore is not seeming to break in I will add in some runs with a brush coated in Sweets to break anything loose and get a little more aggressive with the barrel and it has worked every time.
chootem,
Welcome to LRH and enjoy! Most barrel makers have a recommended barrel break-in procedure ... I used Lilja's.
Sometimes it does not matter what efforts we do to make the barrel shoot better if it is not capable to start with (regardless of barrel maker), as seen here ...
Good luck and happy safe shooting/hunting.
Welcome to LRH and enjoy! Most barrel makers have a recommended barrel break-in procedure ... I used Lilja's.
Sometimes it does not matter what efforts we do to make the barrel shoot better if it is not capable to start with (regardless of barrel maker), as seen here ...
Good luck and happy safe shooting/hunting.
Last edited by a moderator:
WV Sendero
Well-Known Member
When I am trying to really clean a barrel I spray in a foaming bore cleaner to help loosen everything up (I use Gunslick) and let it set for about 20 minutes then I brush the bore a few passes with a broze brush follwed by a couple patches. I then use Butch's Bore Shine or Montana Extreme 50 BMG on a bore mop and let it set 5-10 minutes, make a couple passes with a brush then clean with patches and repeat if needed. The 50 BMG seems to be a little better than Butch's for copper fouling. When I am finished cleaning I run through a couple patches with Kroil on them and call it good.
One thing I've observed regarding breaking in a barrel might be considered by others. Folks testing brand new barrels in rifles held in a machine rest eliminating all human variables learn the good ones shoot just fine without any break in. Bad ones shoot bad from the get go. They're convinced breaking in a barrel wears them out at the same rate as just shooting them for their intended use from the get-go.
When new barrels are held by humans and all their variables add to the barrels accuracy, sometimes they see improvement by breaking in, sometimes they don't. But there's no way they can separate their improved skills during breaking a barrel in from any better bore quality from wearing it out a tiny, tiny bit.
Consider the info in the following:
How to Break-in a Barrel
When new barrels are held by humans and all their variables add to the barrels accuracy, sometimes they see improvement by breaking in, sometimes they don't. But there's no way they can separate their improved skills during breaking a barrel in from any better bore quality from wearing it out a tiny, tiny bit.
Consider the info in the following:
How to Break-in a Barrel
WV Sendero
Well-Known Member
MontanaRifleman
Well-Known Member
From the article...
Let's say we are shooting a factory 300 RUM with about a 1000 round life expectancy and it takes 25 rounds to break it in (if it takes more than 25, it's probably not going to get any better). Our spent life is 2.5%. Let's consider the "theoretical" advantages. If the break in process increases accuracy strings from 30 to 60 rounds that reduces the number of cleanings by about half. My standard procedure after cleaning is to shoot 3 or 4 rounds through it to settle it back in. Over the life of the rifle, that amounts to about 100 rounds or more for 30 round cleanings which would be reduced by about 50 rounds for 60 round cleanings... net gain = 25 more useful rounds of barrel life.
I did this process with my Sendero 300 RUM and accuracy strings are around 60-70. I can't really say if the accuracy string was increased by break-in because I had no base line to work from, but in the big picture a few rounds of break in isn't that big of deal.
For custom barrels it's a moot point. A good custom should break in in about 5 rounds give or take. That's nothing.
This really puzzles me as it is a very inaccurate statement. It has been very well explained by many folks including a number of barrel makers. Some barrel makers and smiths recommend it and some don't, but it has been explained. See post #3.
This is a useless method as most fouling occurs with the first shot. After the first shot, virtually nothing is accomplished by another shot if the fouling from the first has not been removed.
Asserting that it takes 100 rounds to break in a barrel is absurd. However, if he's referring the shoot 5 and clean method, it might take that. If it takes more than 25 shots, it's probably not gonna happen, so bag it.
I think it's also unfortunate that he is essentially besmirching other barrel makers, his competitors, for their motives. IME, good barrel makers have plenty of business and don't have to resort to this.
Let's say we are shooting a factory 300 RUM with about a 1000 round life expectancy and it takes 25 rounds to break it in (if it takes more than 25, it's probably not going to get any better). Our spent life is 2.5%. Let's consider the "theoretical" advantages. If the break in process increases accuracy strings from 30 to 60 rounds that reduces the number of cleanings by about half. My standard procedure after cleaning is to shoot 3 or 4 rounds through it to settle it back in. Over the life of the rifle, that amounts to about 100 rounds or more for 30 round cleanings which would be reduced by about 50 rounds for 60 round cleanings... net gain = 25 more useful rounds of barrel life.
I did this process with my Sendero 300 RUM and accuracy strings are around 60-70. I can't really say if the accuracy string was increased by break-in because I had no base line to work from, but in the big picture a few rounds of break in isn't that big of deal.
For custom barrels it's a moot point. A good custom should break in in about 5 rounds give or take. That's nothing.
This really puzzles me as it is a very inaccurate statement. It has been very well explained by many folks including a number of barrel makers. Some barrel makers and smiths recommend it and some don't, but it has been explained. See post #3.
This is a useless method as most fouling occurs with the first shot. After the first shot, virtually nothing is accomplished by another shot if the fouling from the first has not been removed.
Asserting that it takes 100 rounds to break in a barrel is absurd. However, if he's referring the shoot 5 and clean method, it might take that. If it takes more than 25 shots, it's probably not gonna happen, so bag it.
I think it's also unfortunate that he is essentially besmirching other barrel makers, his competitors, for their motives. IME, good barrel makers have plenty of business and don't have to resort to this.
J E Custom
Well-Known Member
There are some that don,t believe in brake in and others like myself that will not shoot any
new barrel without some break in.
I start break in from the first high pressure test load (Proof test) and clean after every shot
for an undetermined number of shots by reading the barrels performance.
I will start with a load and stick with it until I see an improvement in group size and ease of
clean up.
Most rifles will improve by 100% after 8 to 10 shots and may continue improving for 15 to
20 shots. (Note: these are custom barrels) factory barrels are normally much more.
Once a barrel settles in, then I can start trying other brands of ammo or load development
without it being a wast of time and money.
I learned my lesson with a rifle that shot less than 1 MOA with almost any ammo. After a range
session I would clean it until no copper fouling was present. The next time at the range it
performed almost identical to the last time, so I assumed that was as good as it was going to
get without working up some magical load.
300 rounds+/- later I had still not found any improvement in accuracy or clean up, So I decided
to do a full blown break in To see if it would improve. It took 12 shoot and clean shots before it
all came together. It went from .900 MOA average to .112 and after two sets of 3 shots and clean
it settled in at less than a 1/10 of an inch for 5 shots and a SD of 8.
It is a 30/378 and it now has 800+ rounds down the tube and has not fell off that 1/10 of an inch
if I do my part. While hunting I allways pull a bore snake through after each shot to sweep out
the powder fouling and I,m ready to go.
Anything run down the barrel will shorten barrel life some. but I believe that a clean bore does the least ammount of damage/wear and appears to lengthen barrel life. So I will take that chance to have a real performer.
J E CUSTOM
new barrel without some break in.
I start break in from the first high pressure test load (Proof test) and clean after every shot
for an undetermined number of shots by reading the barrels performance.
I will start with a load and stick with it until I see an improvement in group size and ease of
clean up.
Most rifles will improve by 100% after 8 to 10 shots and may continue improving for 15 to
20 shots. (Note: these are custom barrels) factory barrels are normally much more.
Once a barrel settles in, then I can start trying other brands of ammo or load development
without it being a wast of time and money.
I learned my lesson with a rifle that shot less than 1 MOA with almost any ammo. After a range
session I would clean it until no copper fouling was present. The next time at the range it
performed almost identical to the last time, so I assumed that was as good as it was going to
get without working up some magical load.
300 rounds+/- later I had still not found any improvement in accuracy or clean up, So I decided
to do a full blown break in To see if it would improve. It took 12 shoot and clean shots before it
all came together. It went from .900 MOA average to .112 and after two sets of 3 shots and clean
it settled in at less than a 1/10 of an inch for 5 shots and a SD of 8.
It is a 30/378 and it now has 800+ rounds down the tube and has not fell off that 1/10 of an inch
if I do my part. While hunting I allways pull a bore snake through after each shot to sweep out
the powder fouling and I,m ready to go.
Anything run down the barrel will shorten barrel life some. but I believe that a clean bore does the least ammount of damage/wear and appears to lengthen barrel life. So I will take that chance to have a real performer.
J E CUSTOM
