A good article on breaking in a barrel

[nun_hunter]

A copper rod/pipe of the right diameter with a bit of polishing compound would be more effective and cheaper than 20 rounds of ammo, plus you wouldn't be introducing unburnt powder, carbon, soot etc into the barrel to then have to clean out.

The simple fact that no one has ever properly tested and come up with results about barrel break in speaks volumes as it'd be a lucrative market.

If it was proved that it was beneficial rather than opinion major manufacturers would be selling special break in ammo, or a break in kit to remove these tooling marks. As it is nearly every quality manufacturer says to just shoot it, everything else is opinion based off guesswork.

 

[User00040]

Yup - run a patch to clean out powder residue to prevent moisture forming. Plenty of rimfires end up with pitted barrels.

Quite often my rifles are not shot for weeks at a time, hence I keep a clean barrel.

Powder and primer residue also hardens over time. So next time you shoot it, you are effectively running a bullet over grinding paste.

Hope you are writing to inform the proof house of these 'facts' and how they are damaging new riflesby not cleaning them after firing for proof.

Could be years before they are sold.

I've NEVER seen, heard or even imagined an RFD bothering to clean a new rifle which just came in from proof, or a secondhand one that just came in.

If they did that for every rifle that came through the door, they could lose days of paid work time...

 

[User00040]

Where is @Muir...?

 

[Heym SR20]

Hope you are writing to inform the proof house of these 'facts' and how they are damaging new riflesby not cleaning them after firing for proof.

Could be years before they are sold.

I've NEVER seen, heard or even imagined an RFD bothering to clean a new rifle which just came in from proof, or a secondhand one that just came in.

If they did that for every rifle that came through the door, they could lose days of paid work time...

A gun with pitted barrels is worth pretty much the square root of nothing.

All RFDS I know, first thing they do when they look at any gun, is look down the barrel. I know of new guns being sent back to distributors with barrels already pitted.

If there is powder residue or other crap there is sucking of teeth.

Then out comes a cleaning rod or pull thru and a pass through of the barrels is enough to see any real damage. With a rifle the bore scope will follow soon after.

Then comes the discussion on price.

I was in a gunshop the other day. A gentleman had inherited a pair of fine side lock guns by a renowned maker. They hadn’t been cleaned and one had stopped working. He got very excited when he was shown a pair of similar guns that had just been sold for the price of good 2nd hand luxury car or a year’s school fees.

Then the gunsmith started looking at his guns. There were small pits on the outside and inside of the barrels.

The gunsmith went on to explain that his guns were worth only a fraction. It would require two or three thou of wall thickness to clean up the barrels. That’s two or three thou on the insides and outsides so 5 or 6 thou if not more off the wall thickness. This would probably take the gun out of proof and barrels to min recommended wall thickness, so the gun would go from being a gun with plenty of life in the barrels to one with no further room for any repair and hence a fraction of the value.

Some modern day guns have chrome lined barrels and hard ceramic or black chrome exterior finishes. So cleaning perhaps not necessary. But there are lots of little steel springs, pins etc inside the trigger groups actions etc that can all rust very easily and very quickly rendering a gun unserviceable.

 

[Heym SR20]

A copper rod/pipe of the right diameter with a bit of polishing compound would be more effective and cheaper than 20 rounds of ammo, plus you wouldn't be introducing unburnt powder, carbon, soot etc into the barrel to then have to clean out.

The simple fact that no one has ever properly tested and come up with results about barrel break in speaks volumes as it'd be a lucrative market.

If it was proved that it was beneficial rather than opinion major manufacturers would be selling special break in ammo, or a break in kit to remove these tooling marks. As it is nearly every quality manufacturer says to just shoot it, everything else is opinion based off guesswork.

If you are lapping a barrel you need to cast a lead lap in the barrel and coat this with polishing compounds. This is drawn back and forth several times. Then removed, barrel washed out, abd then a new lap cast, and process repeated. This is how hand lapped barrels are finished. It takes considerable time and adds cost.

There are firelapping bullets and ammo available in the market - certainly in the US market. FinalFinish® & FinalFinish® TMS Bullet Kits, that mimic the hand lapping process.

The reason that your £1,500 rifle does not undergo all of this in the UK, is that in reality its really a $999 or less retailing rifle that is sold by the manufacturer into the trade for $400 and will have cost a fraction of that to make.

By taking time to break in the barrel you giving the rifle the final bore finish that a more expensive rifle would have had.

Whether or not you choose to is up to the individual buyer.

 

[User00040]

A gun with pitted barrels is worth pretty much the square root of nothing.

All RFDS I know, first thing they do when they look at any gun, is look down the barrel. I know of new guns being sent back to distributors with barrels already pitted.

If there is powder residue or other crap there is sucking of teeth.

Then out comes a cleaning rod or pull thru and a pass through of the barrels is enough to see any real damage. With a rifle the bore scope will follow soon after.

Plenty rifles with 'pitted barrel' noted on Guntrader.

Moderators often exacerbate this issue, but I have shot rifles with severly pitted barrels, they still group.

Then comes the discussion on price.

I was in a gunshop the other day. A gentleman had inherited a pair of fine side lock guns by a renowned maker. They hadn’t been cleaned and one had stopped working. He got very excited when he was shown a pair of similar guns that had just been sold for the price of good 2nd hand luxury car or a year’s school fees.

Then the gunsmith started looking at his guns. There were small pits on the outside and inside of the barrels.

The gunsmith went on to explain that his guns were worth only a fraction. It would require two or three thou of wall thickness to clean up the barrels. That’s two or three thou on the insides and outsides so 5 or 6 thou if not more off the wall thickness. This would probably take the gun out of proof and barrels to min recommended wall thickness, so the gun would go from being a gun with plenty of life in the barrels to one with no further room for any repair and hence a fraction of the value.

Poor lad probably got taken to the cleaners!

Classic tactic to low-ball the price and turn it round for a nice 20-50% profit...

Trust an RFD's valuation about as much as a dodgy used car dealer!

 

[Heym SR20]

Plenty rifles with 'pitted barrel' noted on Guntrader.

Moderators often exacerbate this issue, but I have shot rifles with severly pitted barrels, they still group.



Poor lad probably got taken to the cleaners!

Classic tactic to low-ball the price and turn it round for a nice 20-50% profit...

Trust an RFD's valuation about as much as a dodgy used car dealer!

And what sort of price do pitted barrels actually make when they are finally sold either by a dealer or auction?

Of course pitted guns can still work very well. I paid nothing for a very grubby old english side by side boxlock 410. I cleaned it up and use it despite barrels being well pitted. It is worth nothing - but clean ones are making £2,000 plus in the auctions these days.

 

[nun_hunter]

By taking time to break in the barrel you giving the rifle the final bore finish that a more expensive rifle would have had.

Whether or not you choose to is up to the individual buyer.

If that was the case then why not show before and after bore scope images?

If it's as clear cut as you say then there would be tons of proof online from all the tests done, especially if it only takes 20 rounds of ammo, a few patches and a bit of range time. Every YouTube firearms channel would be doing this to end the debate, get a few million views and make serious bank.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and can choose what to do with a new rifle, so for me in the face of zero evidence that "breaking in a barrel" makes any difference it's not something I'll be doing.