Breaking In New Stainless ???

[manitou210]

I have read many posts here and elswhere about breaking in barrel, one shot clean,do 15 times, Hart barrels say 5 shots clean,some say just go out and shoot.
I have a new Rem 700 26" XCR Stainless in .223 Rem, would you recommened using JB and lap barrel? or don't go there ?
any advise or thoughts would be nice
Thanks
crazzy old canuck
manitou

 

[FrankintheLaurelMts]

CLEAN..SHOOT 1...CLEAN....SHOOT 1....CLEAN....SHOOT 1...until you get to ten...then shoot 2 CLEAN, until you get to 20...I personally use a little tiny bit of JB PASTE, KROIL, BUTCHES BORE SHINE... DO NOT USE DIAMOND LAPPING DUST...break em' in and it'll save you a lot of work later...

 

[Preacher]

I used JB bore paste carefully on my S/S 7mmsaum for about 2000 passes before I even shot it, and it shoots better than any factory Remington rifle I've ever owned.....

 

[Spotcheck_Billy]

2000 passes?

 

[Phasor]

I let the barrel tell me when it's broken in. On a new precision hand lapped barrel before the first shot it is treated with colloidal graphite. Then I fire one shot and clean to bare metal. Treat with grafoil and fire one more shot. I check for copper fouling. If I get some signs of copper I clean to bare metal again. When the copper fouling quits, I consider it ready to shoot groups. On my last Lilja barrel I never did get copper so it was ready to go after one shot. On others it might take up to 6 or 7 shots but most are ready after 3 to 4. This is how I do it anyway. On factory barrels they may never quit copper fouling. As long as they give hunting accuracy I shoot them until it's time to rebarrel, then they get a premium barrel.

JMHO, Phasor

 

[Preacher]

2000 passes?

Billy-- It was a long cold winter, and I did about 50 passes a day
It sure ended up pretty shiny inside if nothing else... and it really fouls very little, and is a hell of a hammer on deer...

 

[artbosco]

Paul: Benchrest Hall of Fame member Speedy Gonzalez offers his advice on barrel break in here: http://benchrest.netfirms.com/Barrel%20Break-In.htm It's simple and saves me time.

 

[ArtinNC]

Phasor,
I'm with you on this one . If it's a Hand lapped high dollar stainless barrel never put abrasives in it. If the barrel is lapped right you don't need abrasives. I have only used Hart and Broughton barrels and never got copper after the first two shoots .
Art

 

[rcw3]

Seems to me there are a lot of people doing a lot of things and work to "break in" their barrels, not knowing why they are doing it or if it's even necessary for the barrel they have. If every barrel in the world was the same, a "one size fits all" break in routine might be appropriate, but as we all know, all barrels are different. To me "break in" is the initial shooting and cleaning necessary so the barrel shoots and does not pick up copper or unnecessary fouling. With a Hart, Krieger, Broughton or Bartlein, sometimes virtually no "break in" is necessary, they shoot great right from the get go, don't pick up any copper or other unusual fouling and you are simply wasting your time, ammo and barrel life doing an extended shot and clean routine.

Conversely, some factory barrels are rough enough and bad enough out of the box that you're almost wasting your time trying to do a "break in" on them.

Robert Whitley

 

[chino1969]

In my opinion breaking in a factory barrel is a waste of time. Shoot it, clean it, wear it out. Replace it with a custom barrel and invest in a borescope. Let the borescope and your patches tell you when the barrel is broken in. I used to do the one shot, clean, routine but don't anymore. If it makes you feel better, then by all means do the one shot, clean, routine.
Chino69