To break in or not

[LarryLightFoot]

How do all

Apologies if this has been covered/done to death already and I’m sure there are different takes on the subject but is it necessary to break in a barrel on a modern hunting rifle as rigorously as say you might of had to in the past . My first thought is to follow whatever the manufacturer recommends. I’ve seen and read where one shot is taken then cleaned then another shot taken then cleaned and so on, I’ve also seen where it’s recommended three or five shots taken then clean etc .
So is it safe to say put a number of rounds ( whatever you think ) down the barrel then clean the barrel and then watch the groups fired tighten up after say a box worth of ammo ?
All the time bearing in mind how much ammo is these days, I was wondering if it would be prudent to put a box of cheapo ammo down the barrel to take care of any factory burs etc and break it in this way ie once it’s cleaned you can move onto the decent ammo of choice to then find the one your barrel likes ?
Be interested to hear what works for people that is if they do break their barrels in at all ?
Thanks.

 

[enfieldspares]

Lord! When I started in this game forty-five years ago you bought a gun, for stalking, you bought some cartridges, went out and shot it. Smiled at your very pleasing and perfectly acceptable two inch or sub two inch group at one hundred yards and went home knowing you'd got a good tool for the future. End of.

 

[LarryLightFoot]

So would you say it’s overplayed the whole breaking in thing ?

 

[enfieldspares]

Yes. I don't think in a stalking rifle it gives any benefit. The ten or so rounds you use to set up the 'scope and set up your chosen zero (and then have a cup of tea or a cigarette and shoot a final five shot group as a make sure it's all good check) will be enough to take any "newness" off the barrel.

 

[LarryLightFoot]

Yes. I don't think in a stalking rifle it gives any benefit. The round you use to set up the 'scope and set up your chosen zero will be enough to take any "newness" off the barrel.

Ok thanks for replying with your thoughts on it.

 

[enfieldspares]

In theory a modern barrel that is hammer forged shouldn't have any burrs surely? And if you are buying a cut rifled barrel I'd have hoped that the maker would have made sure it's properly lead lapped and finished before it leaves where it's just been made.

 

[Steff]

If you are talking about a factory barrel, even the best, forget about breaking it in. This just doesn‘t exist with those.
But, by all means, before you take the first shot clean it very thoroughly with copper solvent and subsequently with a bronze brush and Ballistol. You‘ll be amazed at the amount of gunk coming out and you don‘t want to burn this stuff into your barrel by firing over it.

 

[LarryLightFoot]

Would definitely clean the barrel properly before shooting to get rid of the factory crud as such, I guess it goes to show with so much online opinion flying around maybe it pays to tune out after a while, the barrel in question when I have will be of the Bergara flavour and seem to be regarded as quality barrels .

 

[muddy42]

You will never get a concrete answer to this. It would be virtually impossible to test the performance of two identical rifles (one broken in, one not - and then used and cleaned in an identical way for the next 5,000 rounds.

First off, do you clean your barrels? I think if you do believe in cleaning (and have decent kit that won't harm your rifle, nylon brushes, bore guide etc.) I think you must be of the opinion that cleaning can't hurt your rifle. Therefore what have you got to lose by cleaning a few times between shots? You will need to zero, find out what ammo it likes and get used to the thing anyway?

What did I do when I bought a new rifle? I cleaned out the gunk, used six shots to zero and the 7th went through a deer.

 

[enfieldspares]

Remember that here in the UK and all CIP countries the thing will have been cleaned, submitted to proof, then cleaned and examined with that barrel now clean and then stamped with the proof marks. AFAIK there is no permitted "batch sample testing" of arms so all must be individually tested. And present CIP (and so UK) rules state that a weapon must be submitted to proof with the barrel clean.

 

[Rusty Gate]

How do all

Apologies if this has been covered/done to death already and I’m sure there are different takes on the subject but is it necessary to break in a barrel on a modern hunting rifle as rigorously as say you might of had to in the past . My first thought is to follow whatever the manufacturer recommends. I’ve seen and read where one shot is taken then cleaned then another shot taken then cleaned and so on, I’ve also seen where it’s recommended three or five shots taken then clean etc .
So is it safe to say put a number of rounds ( whatever you think ) down the barrel then clean the barrel and then watch the groups fired tighten up after say a box worth of ammo ?
All the time bearing in mind how much ammo is these days, I was wondering if it would be prudent to put a box of cheapo ammo down the barrel to take care of any factory burs etc and break it in this way ie once it’s cleaned you can move onto the decent ammo of choice to then find the one your barrel likes ?
Be interested to hear what works for people that is if they do break their barrels in at all ?
Thanks.

You work many hours to afford one, an hour to break in giving it its best chance is no big deal or loss & can only be as good as it ever could be.

 

[Steff]

Remember that here in the UK and all CIP countries the thing will have been cleaned, submitted to proof, then cleaned and examined with that barrel now clean and then stamped with the proof marks. AFAIK there is no permitted "batch sample testing" of arms so all must be individually tested. And present CIP (and so UK) rules state that a weapon must be submitted to proof with the barrel clean.

Eeerrr, no. They are not cleaned. Just had a new barrel yesterday. The lands where COMPLETELY covered with copper and the grooves filled with carbon. This had then been covered with brownish oil/grease stuff.

 

[The Singing Stalker]

This has been discussed loads of times before and will be discussed loads of times in the future.
There are 2 camps, don’t, don’t do it.
I’m in the, if it shoots straight then don’t bother. If you look at the 'for sales' section you will see most people will sell their rifle long before it is ever worn out. In fact most of my rifles were secondhand and still shoot straight.
toss a coin and make a decision I guess.

 

[MarinePMI]

 

[NP435]

I for one don't bother with break in. What I do with any new barrel is clean it, 10 or so patches with JB compound then shoot as I normally would. Has this process enhanced accuracy? TBH I don't know, or barrel life? Again I don't know. What I do know is several of my barrels have round counts upwards of 3 k and in one case 4200 plus and they shoot fine.

 

[Alantoo]

I guess if there are any rough or upstanding burrs left from the manufacturing process which would scrape off a bit of Gildingmetal bullet jacket in the bore, then they might be removed quicker if the deposited jacket material is removed by chemical solvent between shots. The burr thus would be exposed and not shielded from the burnishing action of the subsequent bullet by the deposited material.

But if the barrel is shooting accurately enough for you from the get go, then just leave it and the bore will still be bullet burnished but just over a longer cycle/period.

Alan

 

[25 Sharps]

So would you say it’s overplayed the whole breaking in thing ?

100%

Get the rifle, clean the bore, go shoot it!

 

[LarryLightFoot]

Thanks one and all for replying to my post you’ve given me food for thought .

 

[FISH BOY]

Defo clean before shooting - the crud on my last new barrel took over a dozen patches to come out clean.

I zeroed it at Kynamco and David the owner with decades of experience told me to shoot it once, clean it, shoot two, clean it, shoot three, clean it and away you go.

Can zero at the same time - no effort really.

 

[308tikka]

Breaking in is to increase accurate barrel life, and to maintain 10/15 string group consistency.

Youre not smoothing off a cut rifled lands or bore. Its been lapped.

You are smoothing off the tooling marks by a custom gunsmith and specifically the lead/leed. They are microscopically rough and will throw more copper up the barrel than a broken in barrel.

Its why competition shooters in countries where barrels are difficult or expensive to replace do so. Less common in those jurisdictions where its easy and a barrel is a true consumable - a world class competitor may discard a barrel at 1500 rds, but it will have another 3000 to go for the club shooter.

Google John Krieger and his thoughts for expert opinion, but he is also trying to sell more barrels.