What Do You Think of This Barrel Break-in Process?

[Gman]

I like it.

One of the things I always do is use water to wash off my brushes immediately after using them with solvents. Many times that water remains on the brush and is used again. No matter to the barrel because you are almost immediately cleaning that out with solvents and oils. The water sure does remove many solvents.

After using a brush during cleaning, swish it around in water and look.

Rough barrels and copper fouling trash quality shooting. Try it.

No water is going in my barrels. Denatured alcohol to wash off my brushes.

 

[butchlambert]

What is in a barrel that requires breaking in?

 

[Pres100]

This is probably the most known opinion regarding break
in that I know of.
http://www.6mmbr.com/gailmcmbreakin.html

 

[ScottMcc]

Gail Mcmillan was famously very critical of barrel break in procedures, as are many people who use custom hand lapped barrels. An off-the-shelf Remington or ruger is far different. I bought a mini-14 in 99, and went to clean the barrel before shooting it the first time. It was so rough I could feel it shredding cotton fibers off the patch. And I shot a new R700 in 270 over 50 times without cleaning it, because I never heard of barrel break-in. It took 2 weeks to get the copper out.

 

[TonyR]

Hogwash, snake oil, smoke and mirrors!

http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2010/11/equipment-barrel-break-in.html

Unfortunately, the link is valid, but there is no text (other than the title). - Phil

I had the same problem; but, I think he is just having some fun. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, there is a link to another story called "Breaking in the BAT". In that article, he states that he never breaks in a new barrel. Just goes out an shoots a match, in that case a 600-42X at 500 yards.

 

[BigDMT]

Well we can all agree that the need for barrel break-in is debatable. Some do it, some don't. I think the curiosity of the procedure in question is the use of "Window cleaner". And I think most of us are in agreement that the use of such cleaners in a barrel bore is a bad idea.

 

[Ackman]

No water is going in my barrels. Denatured alcohol to wash off my brushes.

Water doesn't hurt a barrel.

 

[Rtheurer]

I stopped doing all that breaking in stuff after I visited two Barrel Manufacture shops. (Lilja, Rock Creek) Some poor sole working there tail off... for most likley not much money... making these higher end barrels ready to shoot right off the press.
Never seemed to matter before or after I stopped doing it. I would rather be shooting or loading ammo.
YMMV.

RT

 

[Jmwat49]

I looked up the process for Cooper Arms and for Lilja and where Cooper recomends cleaning after 5 rounds for the first 20 - 30. I personally clean after 3 shots for the first 15 rounds, than after 5 for another 25 and call it good at that point. So two boxes of ammo.
I would also never used anything water based in the barrel as others have said. I like Butch's and it seems to do a good job.
The one suggestion of keeping the bore cool by not shooting round after round makes some sense to me, if you are going to break in at all. Some don't but I figure it is a great way to become familiar with the gun, the scope etc. so I don't consider it a waste time. I also varify my scope with the last 4 groups, by clicking up 3" than over 3 (either direction) than down 3 and back to zero. Just shows me that the scope adjustments, hopefully, are what they should be.

 

[fdshuster]

RT: You can have a custom barrel that has been hand-lapped to perfection and still have cross reamer tool marks in the throat/leade area, in front of the chamber, from when the chamber was cut.
,

 

[butchlambert]

fd is correct. That is usually the only thing that makes a new barrel foul.

 

[BigDMT]

I looked up the process for Cooper Arms and for Lilja and where Cooper recomends cleaning after 5 rounds for the first 20 - 30. I personally clean after 3 shots for the first 15 rounds, than after 5 for another 25 and call it good at that point. So two boxes of ammo.
I would also never used anything water based in the barrel as others have said. I like Butch's and it seems to do a good job.
The one suggestion of keeping the bore cool by not shooting round after round makes some sense to me, if you are going to break in at all. Some don't but I figure it is a great way to become familiar with the gun, the scope etc. so I don't consider it a waste time. I also varify my scope with the last 4 groups, by clicking up 3" than over 3 (either direction) than down 3 and back to zero. Just shows me that the scope adjustments, hopefully, are what they should be.

If you look at your barrel with a bore scope after using Butch's you'll change the way you feel about it. It doesn't get copper out very well. I used to think the same as you about Butch's once upon a time. I quit using it as soon as I saw what it "wasn't" doing.

 

[Rbreb13]

Hogwash, snake oil, smoke and mirrors!

http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2010/11/equipment-barrel-break-in.html

Unfortunately, the link is valid, but there is no text (other than the title). - Phil

That's the whole point. ???

 

[Rtheurer]

RT: You can have a custom barrel that has been hand-lapped to perfection and still have cross reamer tool marks in the throat/leade area, in front of the chamber, from when the chamber was cut.
,

Hi Frank

Yes that is very true. I always bore scope it after a barrel is fitted just to see that there is no major issues. By the the time Im done doing load development which seems to be no more than 50 rounds at a time of 5 shot groups. Every thing has worked its way out in reguards to Breaking in. That is the way I see it and some here might not agree however. I remember going to range with a huge pile of paches and ammo just tospend half a day BREAKING IN a barrel. I dont do that anymore...Im on my way to finding a load for the gun and getting the optics or Iron sights zeroed from the very first shot.
Good point Frank you are very correct in that statement. I havnt had to polish anything yet but would be ready if It needed it since I can see the chamber job with the bore scope.

RussT

 

[LHSmith]

If you look at your barrel with a bore scope after using Butch's you'll change the way you feel about it. It doesn't get copper out very well. I used to think the same as you about Butch's once upon a time. I quit using it as soon as I saw what it "wasn't" doing.

There are quite a few accomplished BR competitors who apparently are quite happy with the way BBS performs....and many do have access to a bore scope. Competitor Jackie Schmidt tells the story about the night before a big match, the subject of borescopes came up, and one by one each competitor subjected his rifle to the scope......and his was declared the worst as far as coppering...even though he had just cleaned it. He went on to win the match the next day. The target results dictate accuracy.....not how well the bore looks in a borescope.

 

[BigDMT]

There are quite a few accomplished BR competitors who apparently are quite happy with the way BBS performs....and many do have access to a bore scope. Competitor Jackie Schmidt tells the story about the night before a big match, the subject of borescopes came up, and one by one each competitor subjected his rifle to the scope......and his was declared the worst as far as coppering...even though he had just cleaned it. He went on to win the match the next day. The target results dictate accuracy.....not how well the bore looks in a borescope.

I never said anything about a cleaner bore shooting better or worse. I just stated the truth that Butch's does a horrible job at removing copper.

I don't know about other folks, but I spend money on gun cleaners to actually clean my guns. But thank you for the boost in proving my point with your post. I rest my case

 

[fdshuster]

It's been my experience that BBS will remove LIGHT copper fouling if left to soak overnight. I've proven it to myself over the years with countless before and after borescope inspections. Soak it, stand it in a corner, muzzle down & in a small, white, plastic pill bottle, and the next morning the solvent in the bottle will be some shade of green.

Actually, I don't want to remove all the copper anyway, since taking it down to 100% clean, bare metal will require anywhere from 5 to 10 fouling shots before the barrel(s) settle down & shoot their normal tiny groups. As for carbon, I also leave a little carbon remain. All I want to do is to keep it under control.

Bartleins, Kriegers & Harts all shoot better with a little fouling present, and it works for me with the first shot fired in a match going into the point of aim. Really frustrating when that first shot goes somewhere else, and there are no sighter shots allowed.

For the really heavy coppering barrels ( only a few, old collector military), Warthog-1134 and Sweet's are the choices. The label on the BBS bottle says nothing about a time limit for leaving the solvent in the bore, as does Warthog & Sweet's, so right there is a big clue that copper removal is not it's high point.


Not claiming to have the bottom line answer ( I don't think there is one), just what works for me.

 

[ScottMcc]

No one has mentioned Bore Tech Eliminator. I started using it last year, and it really works. Patches are green to blue within a minute. I do two five-minute soaks, a couple passes with a dry brush, then another 5 minute soak.

 

[Glenn Powell]

I have a custom hand lapped barrel that I use Windex in for cleaning powder fowling at the range. When I get home I take the rifle apart, put the tang of the barrel in a bucket of worm water, pour water down the muzzle, then run clean patches up and down the barrel until the barrel warms up. Then I take it out of the water and run dry patches till they come out clean and dry. I finish with a patch soaked with break free. This is not a center fire, its a muzzle loader that shoots "real" black powder. Windex works great to soften fowling at the range when it gets bad enough the patched ball is hard to drive home. Water is not going hurt the barrel unless left in for extended periods. And would you believe, I have ZERO copper fowling? :

 

[Aero]

I've used water, water-based solvents, and various window cleaners in some of my best shooting barrels for years and now I find out I might be ruining them!!! And I thought water was suppose to work for corrosive ammo?

And all that time I wasted making sure the chambers were cut really nicely. My borescope has been lying to me in telling me that windex does a better job on carbon than lots of commercial bore cleaners. I also believed it when it told me that Sweets wouldn't get all the copper out of a barrel. Now what?

-Eron