Proper barrel break in or not? That is the question

[Canadian Bushman]

Assuming i know absolutely nothing (wife told me so), you only ever get one chance to break in a barrel.

If it does absolutely nothing its not gonna waste a fraction of the rounds spent in load development and dancin with the wind.

 

[Mike 338]

I know a barrel breaks in whether I follow a strict regime or not. Fouling is always worse when new so I clean often at first. I might be diligent about cleaning each shot for the first 4 or 5 shots but then I work cleaning into load development. Maybe a 5 shot string... clean. Do that a couple times. Later, 2 or 3, - 5 shot strings... clean. I mostly clean to fit into what I'm testing. I may just take 5 shots late into the break-in process and clean it because that's all I needed to shoot and I had the time to clean it. Before long, I'll let 40 or 50 shots accumulate and if it usually cleans up fast, I figure it's good enough. If I think I might have gotten some funky results from a fouled barrel during break-in, I'll re-test later. I definitely don't burn 50 bullets and hours of cleaning and not get something for my time and effort other than a broken in barrel. Factory barrels may never clean easily and cleaning them might go into the next day after it's broken in.

 

[bigngreen]

I've watched the effects through a bore scope to many times as I do a break in to not do it, I do mitigate the number of rounds by doing some throat work after chambering and that usually cuts my break in to 10 rounds or less.

 

[lewwetzel]

Rifle magazine did a good article a while back on the necessity of barrel "break-in". Concluded it was basically b.s., although barrels used were from off-the-rack rifles and not match grade.