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Barrel Break In??

redneckturkeycaller said:
I have a question about the Lock Eeze? Do you run a dry patch before the first shot or do you just leave it in the barrel and fire. I always run a dry patch thru the bore to remove any gun oil. Thanks for your answers. This forum is a wealth of info
Thx
Jeff
Click to expand...

Jeff,
I've done both. Usually, I run a wet patch several times through the bore and let the bore dry by facing the muzzle down. It seems to take away the required fouling shot when you take the first shot from a clean bore. I've also fired it with a wet bore at the range with no ill effects. The tip for using Lock Eeze was passed on to me by Clarence Hammonds; a well respected benchrest gunsmith.
Chino69
 
Wow, I started off with what I thought was a simple question and learned alot. Thanks to all that took time to share their knowledge,

Brad
 
I have been searching all this info here on barrel break in. Couple of things I have pondered. The bartlein barrels I have claim they are ready for action clean up easy and they are shooters. But you have to break in cleaning every few shots and looking at your dirty patches.

The Lilja's I have came with the old Sinclair method of breaking. 1 shot clean for the first 5 or so shots. Brush it 5-10 strokes.......

So here's what is crazy, I had a 6mm ackley done up a little while ago. I take it to the range with some proven loads I have from another 6mm AI. I am no Bench rest shooter but I can hold my own with shooting groups. So I figure why bother with this long and boring break in just shoot the gun. After 10 sighter's I shoot a 5 shot group .237 Then I shoot another 5 shots .240 After letting this rifle sit and zero another in I shoot it again. .234 HMMMM

It made me think of all the times sitting in a dog town shooting a 1000 or more rounds and never cleaning my gun. Then shoot a group and it's tight. My friend and I went Pdog shooting once and he brought a Shilen DGA built rifle in 223 and never cleaned that rifle after about 5000 Black Hills. He was still hitting on the last afternoon and never cleaned that rifle until he got home. I am not talking 150 yard gimme shots either.

Is all this barrel break in really worth the effort??
 
I really have to disagree with the catshooter, barrel break in is very important. The correct method is shoot one round and clean with one wet patch followed with two dry patches. NOW shoot several hundred rounds without cleaning and never use a brush in the bore.....
 
Can't find it now, but just a few weeks ago, I read somewhere that top BR shooters consider barrel break in to be a waste of time. In better barrels,rough area is in the chamber, and that needs to be cleaned regularly. Factory barrels are another matter.
 
JERRYHM said:
I really have to disagree with the catshooter, barrel break in is very important. The correct method is shoot one round and clean with one wet patch followed with two dry patches. NOW shoot several hundred rounds without cleaning and never use a brush in the bore.....
Click to expand...

Read this from Gale McMillen - one of the most notable barrel makers in modern history.

http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/Barrel_BreakIn.asp

You cannot smooth out steel with copper, no more than you can smooth out concrete with marshmallows.

The difference in hardness between steel,of any kind) and copper is so great that they cannot be measured on the same hardness scale.


.
 
According to Hart Barrels web site, they do not believe in any type of formal "break-in" with their barrels. The Shilen web site states that the only reason they have a "break-in" described is because their customers expect it. I follow the barrel makers,Shilen, Hart, Krieger) recommendations, what-ever they may be: they know more about their barrels than I do. I've used them all and they have all been excellent "broken-in" or not.
 
I have not read all the previous posts but will jump in where we are. I followed Parker Ackley's advise for some odd 30 years and it worked ou just fine for me. I always cut the rifling indersize and then lapped to the final dimension. It eliminated a lot. Don't get me wrong, other methods used work fine. This is just another way to go
 
I don't think I'll ever break in a barrel again after the range time and reading some great info here. I just can not believe all the time I sat at the range playing with all that cleaning junk.
I use the same calling rifle all winter, never clean it infact it's been shot about 175 times this season and hasn't been cleaned since late fall. I'll shoot some groups and see how it goes. It is one my list of things to do this week but I will hold off. I feel the hinge to all is have a competent gunsmith do the work.
Sorta like the old King of Zortman MT once told me shoot your varmint rifle like it's a 22 plinker but have it built like you were going to the Super Shoot.
 
Since I have gotten in to competitive shooting,highpower), I have never done a break-in on a barrel, I have had Douglas, Kreiger and now Rock Creek barrels. The method of breaking in a barrel for me now is to go shoot an 80 shot match!
 
Five years later...

Thumbing thru some old threads and stumbled into this discussion I participated in. Gotta say that my experience since then has only solidified my opinion that barrel break-in is a crock. Matter of fact, my belief in barrel cleaning as a whole has become pretty tame. Confession: I rarely clean my bores. By "rarely" I mean almost never. Call me a sinner but I'm not drinking the Koolaid anymore. I lost interest in what the benchrest crowd thinks - those people stopped innovating and thinking for themselves 40 years ago. They all swear you gotta scrub a barrel incessently for ultimate accuracy. Why? Because that's what everyone else is doing. If a squeeky clean bore is the be all, end all then what's the need for fouling shots (oh yeah, to burn off the solvents, etc, whatever). Folks listen up: you're more likely to damage a barrel from improper cleaning or over cleaning. Each time you run a brush through and the rod clanks against the crown ask yourself "Is this improving the condition of my barrel?"

For folks who didn't get a chance to hit the link in Catshooters post, here's an excerpt of Gale McMillian's posting regarding barrel break-in. Those who consider themselves to be a greater authority than Gale should certainly chime in.

"The break in fad was started by a fellow I helped get started in the barrel business . He started putting a set of break in instructions in ever barrel he shipped. One came into the shop to be installed and I read it and the next time I saw him I asked him What was with this break in crap?. His answer was Mac, My share of the market is about 700 barrels a year. I cater to the target crowd and they shoot a barrel about 3000 rounds before they change it. If each one uses up 100 rounds of each barrel breaking it in you can figure out how many more barrels I will get to make each year. If you will stop and think that the barrel doesn't know whether you are cleaning it every shot or every 5 shots and if you are removing all foreign material that has been deposited in it since the last time you cleaned it what more can you do? When I ship a barrel I send a recommendation with it that you clean it ever chance you get with a brass brush pushed through it at least 12 times with a good solvent and followed by two and only 2 soft patches. This means if you are a bench rest shooter you clean ever 7 or 8 rounds . If you are a high power shooter you clean it when you come off the line after 20 rounds. If you follow the fad of cleaning every shot for X amount and every 2 shots for X amount and so on the only thing you are accomplishing is shortening the life of the barrel by the amount of rounds you shot during this process. I always say Monkey see Monkey do, now I will wait on the flames but before you write them, Please include what you think is happening inside your barrel during break in that is worth the expense and time you are spending during break in"
 
Yesterday I just broke in a new Krieger 30 cal. 17 twist for my 30BR. I coated all my bullets with HBN, cleaned the barrel really good then put a solution of alcohol and HBN in the bore with 1 wet patch, let dry followed by 1 more wet patch and let dry. Then I used 2 dry patches to polish the bore and shot 10 rounds and cleaned with hoppes #9 and a nylon brush...very little, if any copper fouling and not dirty like untreated bore. Apply the HBN to the bore as above and shoot 30 rounds and clean. First shot on a clean bore is right where it should be, no fliers.
 
chino69 has it right all the way. Gale McMillan knew a little something about barrels ;) I have always followed his break in routine, and have never put an abrasive compound in any of my barrels. One shot and clean ::) "the barrel makers luv you".
 
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