Is there a recommended proceedure for proper barrle break-in and how important is it? I’ve heard of guys who shoot one shot and clean it and then shoot another shot and clean it and another and clean it and so on. Then there are guys who say shoot 50 rounds then clean it then shoot some more and clean it. Then there are guys who say “Barrel break-in? Just shoot the thing!”. I know there are guys here who have shot out a barrel or two. What is your proceedure and what products do you use? Any help is appreciated.
Unless you’re running a match barrel (you’ll know if you are, it’ll be stainless and very expensive), special break-in is pointless and unnecessary on ARs.
Especially on chrome-lined barrels.
If you can put enough rounds downrange to shoot out a barrel, the cost of the replacement barrel is the least of your worries.
The purpose for break in is to “burn off” the scratches caused by the chambering reamer.
Usually a chamber reamer has two diameters, the case body, and the neck/throat. It’s impossible to run this reamer at the correct speed for both diameters, so the speed for the body is usually selected. This means the throat runs slow. This causes small scratches or tooling marks to be left in the throat. When the bullet passes over these scratches, a small amount of copper is scraped off. This copper, mixed with the heat and pressure of the burn, will condense in the barrel causing copper fouling.
The “fire one and clean”, tries to burn off the scratches without coppering up the barrel.
There is no practical way, or reason, to break in a chrome lined barrel. A barrel that has it’s chamber forged with the rifling needs no break in. (No scratches.)
Most of the fellows that believe in break in treat their rifles like a National Match gun. I’ve never heard of a fellow that trains, or shoots 3 gun break in a barrel.
To each his own.
I believe in break in for a premium barrel, like a Krieger. I want all the accuracy I’m paying for out of that barrel.
Most of the fellows on this forum believe break in is a waste of time. I don’t believe many carbine owners have Kriegers on their carbines. If they do, I’ll bet they break them in with the shoot and clean method. LOL
Not required, however…it has been said that you should put 1500 rounds through it to see if anything fails, in short order (3 days) to “prove” the weapon as reliable. It’s the approximate round count in a carbine course. If you can’t do that, try to get that round count on it before attending one. Lube generously.
The " shoot one and clean" method has been discussed many times and has been proven to be a “Urban Legend” started by a precision barrel maker to get the owner to wear out the barrel quicker by over cleaning, there by having the owner replace his barrel more often and thus the maker sells more barrels.
If you were a premium barrel maker, who actually had a warranty, would you rather have a customer with a barrel full of copper fouling, or risk adding 50 rounds of break in to a barrel with an expected life of over 6K?
I’m thinking that’s a no brainer.
What basis do you have stating break in is an urban legend?
For most of the fellows on this forum, IMO, break in is a waste of time. There is no breaking in of a chrome lined barrel. If you really examine the use of a premium barrel by members of this forum, I’ll guess it’s a National Match shooter who wants the dependability that the members of this forum demand. I sure can’t see any flaw in that line of thinking.
I’ll bet that there are Service Rifle shooters that demand more than Rock River can build.
On a 100 shot regional course, I see fellows cleaning before they start the 600 yard stage. That makes their first round downrange a fouler, not a sighter. With a proper break in, there is no reason to clean, just put on elevation and wind and go. Fellows that train, or shoot 3 gun wouldn’t give this break in stuff a second thought.
6K or 6500 rounds of barrel life is about standard for a National Match shooter. For a 3 gun shooter, that’s horrible. Trainers and 3 gun shooters expect a barrel to go 18,000. For a good quality chrome lined barrel I would expect that also.
the kind of difference in accuracy you’re going to get from breakin in a barrel is probably something like .01 MOA… if you shoot crazy competitive long-distance matches and use 80gr bullets fired single shot through a barrel that you’ll only be getting 1500 rounds through before it’s no longer viable for competition- then you’re gonna break your barrel in, and you’ll probably have some mystical hoodoo method only shared between the wizards and warlocks who compete in these events.
if a snail hair accuracy difference is of no consequence to you, then don’t waste the time and agony. i’ve owned a number of precision stainless barrels, and never broke any in, and have never wished i had.
I know the difference between a copper fouled barrel, and a pristeen barrel is more than .01. My basis for stating this is the shortrange benchresters who are fanatics about break in and cleaning.
Based on this, your comments don’t seem to make sense.
Across the course Service Rifle shooters get about 6K of barrel life. I’m sure they’re not shooting the 80’s in rapid fire.
If you’re interested in extracting all the potential from a premium barrel, break in is a good idea.
Like I’ve said in my prior two posts, for fellows that train or 3 gun shooters, it’s a waste of time.
ah… guess that’s why my barrels have copper in them. i always thought it was from ramming copper projectiles through them at two thousand miles an hour.
Barrel break in, as some people perceive it to apply to a precision rig, does not apply to a chrome-lined barrel. There is a certain amount of wear after which the barrel will be most consistent, and the owner should be sure to thoroughly clean the bore prior to shooting to avoid damaging the barrel if there is any debris in the barrel.
Note the name of the second post…Gale McMillan, yes, the same person that makes precision barrels. Notice the date on the thread: Sept 99.
Read the entire thread, it will enlighten you. This subject pops up on the radar once or twice a year here. The search on this forum didn’t find them so I had to default to google.
Do a google search on “Barrel break in myth” you will get over 100,000 hits.
I could care less what "other people " or “They” do. If it does not make logical sense to me, I won’t follow others off a cliff, no matter how cool it makes me look (unless it’s a really hot woman involved).
On a personnel note, in one segment of my life, for 12 year period, 8 spent on various rifle teams shooting match grade .22s, M16’s and M1As, and 4 years competing as an individual on my own dime, we never cleaned our rifles barrels for the ENTIRE shooting period, practice and matches included. We just cleaned the bolt and chamber when the crud got to be too much. We shot between 10-20K per season, individually, ending at Camp Perry, albeit they were all chrome lined barrels.
If you have an overwhelming desire to wear out your precision barrel through over cleaning, have at it…it’s your money, so enjoy.
…even the benchrest boys have moved away from shoot and clean break in. Why a need to break in a hand lapped bbl?? They are either competetive are they aren’t.
I think more good bbls were messed up by poor cleaning methods with the break in process than they actually helped.
