How many guys "break in" a barrel??

[RANGERCON]

Seems that barrel break in has become somewhat of a conversation piece lately. Some well known shooters, gunsmiths, etc swear by it, while others seem to think it's a waist of time and wears the barrel out sooner.

So, what do you gents think of barrel break in?? A "must", or a "myth"??

 

[Buckrub]

I agree that barrels need a degree of "break-in", and stainless steel maybe abit more, but I think it's becoming extreme. I think a couple boxes should "season" a barrel just fine.
I've had rifles shoot fabulous right outta the box, others had to be "tweeked" alittle. Just my .02 worth.

 

[Bambistew]

All barrles are diffrent, hence the reason for there being a 100 diffrent "ways" to break in a barrle. Some take very little "break in" and others take boxes... The main reason for breaking in a barrle is to "smooth" out the imperfections that cause fouling. Like buckrub said stainless takes a little longer sometimes because its harder to tool and sometimes results in a few more inperfections or burs in the barrle but not always. The smoother the barrel the less fouling.

Some barrles are pretty smooth to start while ohers are a dog. You have to determine the ammount of fouling being created by your barrle to determine how many shots between cleaning durring the break in process. I have one gun that is still in the break in process... after about 50 rounds. The barrle still fouls pretty easily, but not nearly as bad as when I started, maybe half as much... It may get better, or it may not... its hard to say. I hate to do much with it because it shoots so well.

I have others that have been virtually foul free after 10 shots of "break in". Fouling build up means poor accuracy and possibly damaging your barrle. That crud is also creating more "burs" in your barrle causing further fouling.

All that being said I generally "break in" a barrle untill I can shoot it 5 times and get virtually no fouling on a patch.

Make sure you clean a new barrle before shooting it... sometimes there is all kinds of nasty suff in em!

 

[couesbitten]

I've never really done it, but since I bought my last rifle, I have read various sources regarding the subject. Am now convinced that it can't hurt the barrel. So now that I just purchased a new Win. Model 70, 300UM, I'm going to do it. Also, check out the article in the new American Hunter regarding this very subject.
Scott

 

[D13er]

mostly myth.............

JB

 

[RANGERCON]

Custom barrels should not require any break in. Factory barrels, for the most part should have some form of break in done. But, I have never broke in a barrel "by the book". And I have had some real shooting dynamos!!

The barrel on my Sako 75 was and is smooth as glass!! Never did foul a lot, even when shooting Barnes X bullets.

My new Rem. VS .308 will get broke in by the book, just for the sake of science. LOL

I thought about taking a 175gr. MK and put on some bore paste on it, and shooting it. Might give it a little more shine. Kinda like the Tubbs Final Finish Kit.

 

[RLH]

i never really understood "breaking in a barrel". ain't that the same thing as shooting it awhile? i've seen guys brush the hell out of em with different brushes and compounds. this looks to me like the best way, if there is one. also seen guys use "lapping bullets". don't know where they got em or what they're made out of. they use reduced loads and just shoot time after time. maybe the bullets have sandpaper on em. a rifle a guy is going to hunt with, i'd think just shooting it reasonably and figuring out what load it likes is the best approach. super accurate target rifles may take some other method to do it right. a few years back i got a ruger VT .22/.250. it has literally shot one hole in 3 or 5 shot groups since it came out of the box. don't know how a rifle could me more accurate. never did anything to it but shoot it. guess it has a lot to do with how the barrel is finished to start with.

 

[elkslayer54]

Never until recently have I done it. I got a 300 RUM sendero and I lappel the barrel with valve lapping compound several hundred strokes and then shot 1 then cleaned for 10 rnd's then 2 for 20, and it will shoot in one hole @100yds. I did not shoot the gun before, so I have no before story on accuracy. So maby it worked and maby it did not. But it did not hurt. Either way good luck this fall U-ALL

FEAR NOT FOR I AM WITH YOU! Walk soft and carry a 300 RUM,

 

[warbird]

I've done it with all my rifles and none of them shoot bad
I would break in any new rifle I get

 

[freedivr2]

Not an expert here on this subject, but I will tell you that I have a NOTICEABLE difference in my 50 and 100 yard groups with my Omega 50 cal muzzleloader (stainless barrel) after shooting 80 rounds through it and cleaning after each shot. The group at 100 yds went from 4-5" down to 1-2" and this happened somewhere between 50-75 shots.

The other thing I've read about breaking in barrels "the right way" is that if you take your time and do it right, it's like the difference between heat treating metal slowly or quickly. One way you get superior steel over the other. Hastening or shortcutting the breakin process will yield an inferior metal that has larger "pores" in it which will collect more copper and foul quicker than had the break in been done "the right way" (clean bore after every shot).

I will say this from experience with some metals in my line of work; Each of the satellites we build requires a hub of machined metal at the bottom (approx. 16" high) that we attach with a band to the top of a rocket booster. This ring of metal is machined from a solid forging. 90% of the mass is machined away. One thing we've learned in doing this; you cannot accelerate the process of aging the metal between machinings without creating problems. One of our vendors tried to artificially age the material (heat it up, cool it down over and over vs. waiting at ambient temp for a period of time) to speed up the 4-6 month machining process. The metal kept "moving" after and between machinings. So, they had to go back to the tried and trued natural aging method, nothing else we could do. Physics are physics and metal acts the way it does with heat and cold over time according to laws of physics, not our wishes or trying to force those laws. Just a thought, maybe the "right way" to do something (breaking a barrel in) is the hard way, but also the best way for proven results.....