To break in or not

[NullMac]

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

Some US manufactures put a break in procedure online to stop clients bothering them with questions. There is no need for one, but it keeps people off their backs.

It is voodoo

 

[JMikeyH]

 

[User00040]

@LarryLightFoot

 

[Scotty99]

To be honest I got caught up in this a few years ago. I’ve “broken in” a couple of my rifles and not bothered on others, there appears to be no difference in accuracy or barrel wear in either approach.

As a friend of mine said, what is going to condition your barrel more, running a wet patch through it, or an explosion followed by a bullet going down it at 2,500+ FPS.

 

[Muir]

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.

My take.
If you have a factory rifle, they have already fired rounds through the barrel, hurredly run a rod down the bore because it's coming up on the lunch hour, and tossed your rifle into the rack.

If it's a custom barrel and they tell you to run it in, return it and ask for your money back.
I buy a lot of rifles. I have never 'run one in' and I've no complaints about accuracy. My last rifle purchase was a CZ in 7,62 Russian. After a patch of Hoppes 9 and several drying patches I got sub MOA with factory ammo, clusters with my handloads. Same with my Ruger Americans and Tikkas.

Just shoot it.
(The next time you think a question has been done to death, try the search engine, Larry. Upper right corner of the screen. LIttle magnifying glass with the word "Search" next to it. )
~Muir

 

[LarryLightFoot]

My take.
If you have a factory rifle, they have already fired rounds through the barrel, hurredly run a rod down the bore because it's coming up on the lunch hour, and tossed your rifle into the rack.

If it's a custom barrel and they tell you to run it in, return it and ask for your money back.
I buy a lot of rifles. I have never 'run one in' and I've no complaints about accuracy. My last rifle purchase was a CZ in 7,62 Russian. After a patch of Hoppes 9 and several drying patches I got sub MOA with factory ammo, clusters with my handloads. Same with my Ruger Americans and Tikkas.

Just shoot it.
(The next time you think a question has been done to death, try the search engine, Larry. Upper right corner of the screen. LIttle magnifying glass with the word "Search" next to it. )
~Muir
[/QUOTE
Yeh I know how the search function goes but when I put in the search it didn’t for whatever reason bring up what I was after, but no biggy it is what it is….

 

[Muir]

Yeah. It can be annoying as it searches for every word instead of the complete phrase, but you can sift out the wheat from the chaff.~Muir

 

[kenbro]

Nothing to do with breaking barrels in, but, after cleaning I always run a loose patch saturated with Lock ease through the barrel the then stand the gun upright on the muzzle until the carrier for the Graphite evaporates.
No idea whether it makes things better, but don’t see it harming anything.
Not my idea, I read about it on an American forum years ago.
Ken.

 

[ejg]

I bought a brand new 308 T3 CTR 20" stainless, I cleaned the barrel, shot maybe ten rounds and cleaned the barrel to see how she would foul, then just shot the rifle. In an E-Tac stock she produced several 3 shot groups under 1/4" and one or two around the 3mm mark. Tests were done with Hornady 168bthp factory ammo. A sister rifle from the same delivery batch to the gun shop was used as a demo rifle at our rifle range. That rifle was zeroed on the morning and fired around 300 rounds before lunch that day. No cleaning in-between. After the shoot I purchased that CTR as well. When I compared my first and the second CTR rifle, (both in an E-Tac stock) both were within 4fps of each other and the second rifle also produced 3 mm groups with the same batch of Hornady 168bthp. I kept the second one for myself and gave the first to my friend. I don't believe in breaking in a rifle.
Cleaning the barrel after unboxing is however a good idea.
edi

 

[Konnari]

This barrel break in is absolute nonsense, just give it a good cleaning and go shoot it

 

[JohnSmith]

I don’t bother. I clean the barrel, shoot it and be done

 

[slider]

Just shoot it

 

[Acm]

Totally unaware of all this I picked up my new rifle last week, went to the range and put 60 rounds through it over the course of 4 hours then cleaned it and locked it away. Shot really well.

 

[Sampo]

shoot - enjoy - shoot again - enjoy - if dirty - clean - shoot more - not bother about most of the stuff.

For a new car, you you change the oil after every drive or hoover every day. Sometimes the less you care the better.

 

[Westley78]

I recently bought a new rifle and there was nothing in the manual about breaking in so gave it a quick clean then took it out to zero, run a couple of patches through it after and job done as far as I am concerned

 

[LarryLightFoot]

Once again thanks to everyone who has replied with their take on this subject, it’s much appreciated .

 

[LarryLightFoot]

This is from a chap who writes for the official Bergara blog etc ( it’s the rifle I’m looking to buy ) it kinda says it all really . Think I will clean the factory crud out shoot a few clean then crack on .

Since there are many different ways from various manufacturers and opinions from shooters that found the best way to tackle this process, I will just leave the suggested advice from Bergara.online/support themselves;

“Because of the honing system used in place of the bore reamers, the Bergara Barrel has a mirror-like surface prior to and after button rifling, little or no break-in is needed.”

“If you still prefer to follow a break-in procedure, and many people do, we recommend the following:

Clean the barrel thoroughly after each shot for 5 to 10 shots. Then clean thoroughly after each 5 shot group until you reach 50 shots.”

 

[BenBhoy]

Sometimes the less you care the better.

That's my philosophy on life in general! The missus loves it....(!)

 

[Muir]

I just brought home a Rock River LAR-47 rifle in 7,62x39 and was delighted to read in the literature that the maker states "running in" or "break in" is not required. These are considered very accurate rifles out of the box.~Muir

 

[Bowland blades]

A factory lapped barrel blank has yet to be chambered by the rifle smith . once the reamer goes in it will create some king of burr , its impossible not to by the action of cutting .
its is this burr that's removed by " running in". actually talk to the guys who are at the top of the game and you will be told the procedure they prefer .
A lot of Smiths take the guns to proof so they can themselves at least clean before each shot in proof.
Does breaking in produce a more accurate rifle ? well you wont turn the shooter who produces 1" at 100 into a 1/4" guy
does it extend barrel life ? no way to prove or disprove it !
Personally I do run a new rifle in always have, like i say if you don't you cannot go back but you also cannot go forwards saying it does not improve future cleaning or future accuracy and bore life