This is getting ridiculous!!

[4xforfun]

For those of you who DON"T believe in breaking in a new BBL, you can move on to the next thread. Just kidding. Anyway, I just got another new Kreiger chambered in 22 BR...1-12 twist. When I started breaking new bbls in back in the mid to late 90's it was a GINORMAS PITA!!. A few years ago I noticed that the Kreigers were getting very easy to break in. The last 6 - 8 or so that I have broken in took lots and lots of scrubbing and brushing after that 1st round, a whole lot less after the second round, and by the third round it was 4 -6 passes (with a little wait time between passes) with a patch soaked with Butche's Bore shine.....no brushing at all. Now, compaired to the 2 day scrubfest I was used to ...well I was in heaven!!! Tonight...my new tube.....NO BRUSHING. I ran 4 patches as before with the wait time after ONE round and finished with a test using Sweets. After 15 min the Sweets patch came out snow white!! One shot!!! NO COPPER and NO BRUSHING!! THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS!!!

Now, I guess I have 2 different definitions of "broken in". 1st is when it quits copper fouling. The second comes much later when the velocity stabilizes....maybe after 50+ rounds. I don't see the second changing that much, but I really haven't paid that much attention to the second "phase".

Just rambling on at 2 am...

Tod

 

[JohnKielly]

A nice clean chambering job, maybe?

 

[Ray B]

The barrels that I received that were button rifled needed very little break-in. The barrels that had cut rifling were the ones that needed it. I'm guessing that the buttoned ones were smoother and had less too marks, so needed less bullet action.

 

[1shot]

I just broke in a new Brux 6mm. Very "grabbie" when running a patch through for the first two rounds. Had to use Montana Extreme to get rid of the copper after shot #3. By shot 20, it was smooth as glass! Shots 14-16 went into .335". The same load at 1K gave me a 197-6x with 50+ rounds down the tube while forming brass.
I believe it will be a shooter!

Lloyd

 

[eddief]

Burr free leade is a good way to start.

 

[TimS]

I broke in a Krieger 204 by their instructions years ago. Almost to the last shot velocities leveled off. Made a believer out of me.

 

[Lightload]

This one was difficult for me to believe but I recently purchased a Rem 700 ADL varmint model in 308. I bought it mostly for the action but I decided to see if it would shoot. Eight rounds break-in and it was copper free. Not done figuring it out yet but it's a half MOA rifle so far. Good, good, good on Remington!

 

[eric n]

Every barrel I've had has coppered, break in or not. Kriegers and bartleins, some more then others and all coppered more as they had been shot. Work performed by different smiths ( even ones on here).
Do you guys get 0 copper?
I've broken in with sweets, Mercury quickleen, boretech products. I used bore tech brushes so no false positives.
Man, I tell you. I seem to break all the norms when it comes to shooting.

 

[jpretle]

I have had a few bbl's that did not copper, along w/ a few that did.
My latest 'no copper collection', bbl is a X-Caliber, in 223AI.
I just picked up 2 more X-Caliber bbl's, and I expect the same from those.
Mirror finish in both bores. Outstanding!!!

 

[AckleymanII]

I have 6 of the X caliber barrels, 243 AI, 6 XC, (2) 6 Dashers, 6.5x47L, 6 Dasher 3 groove 3R.

NONE of these barrels copper, just the very slightest trace in the first 3-5 rounds, I am saying the very slightest trace! Plus, they shoot like a house a fire also!

I always get more copper out of cut rifle barrels vs button rifle barrels as a GENERAL RULE of thumb, and bore scope verifies micro finish of the bore ID that supports this.

 

[4xforfun]

Every barrel I've had has coppered, break in or not. Kriegers and bartleins, some more then others and all coppered more as they had been shot. Work performed by different smiths ( even ones on here).
Do you guys get 0 copper?
I've broken in with sweets, Mercury quickleen, boretech products. I used bore tech brushes so no false positives.
Man, I tell you. I seem to break all the norms when it comes to shooting.

I am not saying I have ZERO copper. I am saying that whatever copper there is is coming off with wet patches alone.....no brushing and no copper remover. I do use copper remover, but only to test and see if I have any copper remaining since I do not have a bore scope.

Tod

 

[eric n]

I am not saying I have ZERO copper. I am saying that whatever copper there is is coming off with wet patches alone.....no brushing and no copper remover. I do use copper remover, but only to test and see if I have any copper remaining since I do not have a bore scope.

Tod

Gotcha, thanks for that. That is my experience as well.
When I say copper foul, I see a hint of blue not the purple gush.

Thanks to you Donovan as well.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Burr free leade is a good way to start.

Yep..that's where most of the copper fouling typically comes from and is 99% of what you are "breaking in" when going thru the whole process. The lapping process smoothes the rest of the barrel up pretty well in most cases. Even copper wash that you can see near the muzzle can originate at the throat.

And..heat from flame temp does most all of the work...Not friction of the bullet going down the bore.

The basis for breaking in a barrel is that a copper plated land, being shielded from the heat, will burnish in at a different rate than a clean bare land. Keep them all clean until copper fouling stops or drastically reduces and the throat, in theory, will burnish and wear uniformly.

You only get one shot at a proper break in. The first few rounds down the barrel are critical ones.

 

[noload]

"For those of you who DON"T believe in breaking in a new BBL, you can move on to the next thread. Just kidding."

I,m going to the next thread...

Actually I must say that I shoot the barrel, and it shoots well or it doesn't, I clean it as it needs it. My breakin is.... cleaning it 3 times the first 100 rounds, after that I feed it HOPPIES rarely. If copper builds up and little and it still shoots well.. I don't worry about it until it fails to shoot well. I consider shooting well to be 1/4 moa or better at 300yds. Some Democrats may accuse me of barrel abuse, I don't think you can train a barrel to shoot well, I don't think if you clean it very good, then it will shoot very good either. I think shooters spend too much money on cosmetic lotions for the interior of their barrels. Most of my best barrels have only been treated with Hoppies #9 from birth to death. I don't mean to sound crude, but I've been watching the news while writing this, I'm one of those deplorable types.

 

[4xforfun]

"For those of you who DON"T believe in breaking in a new BBL, you can move on to the next thread. Just kidding."

I,m going to the next thread...

Actually I must say that I shoot the barrel, and it shoots well or it doesn't, I clean it as it needs it. My breakin is.... cleaning it 3 times the first 100 rounds, after that I feed it HOPPIES rarely. If copper builds up and little and it still shoots well.. I don't worry about it until it fails to shoot well. I consider shooting well to be 1/4 moa or better at 300yds. Some Democrats may accuse me of barrel abuse, I don't think you can train a barrel to shoot well, I don't think if you clean it very good, then it will shoot very good either. I think shooters spend too much money on cosmetic lotions for the interior of their barrels. Most of my best barrels have only been treated with Hoppies #9 from birth to death. I don't mean to sound crude, but I've been watching the news while writing this, I'm one of those deplorable types.

I don't "break in" a bbl to make it shoot better...maybe once upon a time that was the goal, but not any more. I do it to help reduce the amount it fouls, makes it easier to clean, and hopefully making longer strings between cleaning possible. Now, it may be that it does NONE of the three listed, but it can't hurt!!

Tod

 

[Canadian bushman]

I agree with you tod,

Where i differ is i usually dont get very much initial copper. Usually a few brush strokes and a half dozen patches and im shooting strings.

The throat erosion that levels out velocities always causes me the most grief. I always see that finishing up around 100-300 rounds. Im also not a very intuitive reloader.