Medium/Long Range Rifle Barrel Break In

[SandBlastedSkin]

First, I tried searching for this topic because I thought it'd be pretty well talked about, but I couldn't find any. If there are some threads out there please direct me.

Anyhow, what's the deal? Do rifle barrels need break in procedures when you first pull them out of the box or not? A quick internet search pulls up many different answers to this question. How do we know for sure what the right answer is? If so, what are the proper techniques?

Thanks

[highpower790]

If its a high quality barrel from a reputable mfg ,just shoot it!

[hj_S14]

I've never done any "break in " or whatever it is. I just shoot them.

[bsumoba]

I find that some break in does a couple things: it helps mitigate excessive coppering by smoothing out the throat area and IMO, seems to start to group better, faster.

I'm not as a crazy as some with the break in procedure like some of the things touted by benchrest shooters, but I will do a shoot 3 and clean for quite a few groups and then when I see coppering reducing or going away and/or groups starting to tighten up on paper, then I consider it done. This is usually done within 12-30 rounds.

Some barrels I have still kept coppering up a bit more than I like, but starts to get better around 100-200 rounds.

If you have a factory barrel, I would probably do very little break in as it will most likely not help. They are just too mass produced and not nearly as much attention to detail given to factory barrels to warrant a barrel break in. Maybe shoot 5 and clean or 10 and clean and do this a few times and call it good.

[SandBlastedSkin]

Yeah, I was thinking of maybe doing a clean swipe before any firing to get rid of shipping oils/lubes etc, and then doing the 3-5 shot cycle a few times and call it good. Nothing like I have seen some people do. There are some people that literally spend hours breaking in a rifle bore. wtf?

From a materials point of view, breaking in a rifle barrel doesn't seem to make much sense apart from very basic and initial cleaning. It's not like manufacturers ship you a barrel that is fresh off the machine.

[mattt]

I have given up on the break in as 1 of my 308s I forgot a cleaning rod the first time to the range and just shot it and to this day it is the best f/tr rifle I have owned.

[Divernhunter]

The best break in is to shoot it. After 50-500 rounds clean it. The "trick" is to not fire it more rounds than you can hold the hot barrel with your hand. It is the heat that will cause the barrel to wear out faster.

[Sir Toast]

+1 for just shoot it. Ton's of threads on the Snipershide on the topic. Consensus seems to be barrel break in is a farce.

[TikkaRocky]

I have a Bartlein barrel, so I used their guide on break-in/cleaning. http://www.bartleinbarrels.com/BreakInCleaning.htm
I think the big take away is that more damage is done by cleaning than actual shooting.

[maxx03]

The best break in is to shoot it. After 50-500 rounds clean it. The "trick" is to not fire it more rounds than you can hold the hot barrel with your hand. It is the heat that will cause the barrel to wear out faster.

^^
This. Then use Wipeout bore cleaner.

[SandBlastedSkin]

All good responses, and tends to follow with my original assumption.

TikkaRocky, I cannot for any reason believe that proper cleaning does more damage to a barrel than a round does, unless you leave a very corrosive solvent in it for too long. The physics behind the process of shooting a round weighs heavily against that argument.

[killshot44]

Au contraire, my snakeskin friend...

Not using a proper bore guide, using a steel cleaning rod, cleaning from the muzzle end and dragging anything back through the crown are all things that can damage a barrel or degrade accuracy.

[SandBlastedSkin]

Au contraire, my snakeskin friend...

Not using a proper bore guide, using a steel cleaning rod, cleaning from the muzzle end and dragging anything back through the crown are all things that can damage a barrel or degrade accuracy.

Notice my wording though. I said "proper cleaning."

If you don't chip away at your bore by cleaning incorrectly or being careless, cleaning doesn't come close to the degradation firing the gun does.

[SandBlastedSkin]

You gotta froglube it. Then run slip down the pipe. Then ballistol on the smoke wagon. Then fireclean bath overnight followed by a wd-40 splash and break free spray. Then in the dishwasher.

I don't think that's enough, really.

[LynnJr]

Factory barrels are so bad it doesn't matter if you break them in or not they shoot just as poorly either way.
I also wouldn't put much faith in what the gang on Snipers-Hide has to say as most don't know the difference between the muzzle and the breech.