Properly Breaking In a New Pistol?

[graffite31]

I've heard many times a pistol should be 'properly' broken in, but have never seen or heard any explanation of how to go about this.

Would you Calgunners out there give me the steps and a detailed 'how to' and what not to do to a new pistol?

If specificity is required, I have a brand new XD .40 Tactical I've cleared the packing grease from and re-lubed, and am going to hit the range with on Saturday! (tomorrow).

Thanks all!

[PolishMike]

Shoot it a lot.

No such thing as a break in.

[CSACANNONEER]

Shoot it a few times. Once you have 1000-2000 rounds through it, it should be "broken in" or proven enough to use as a carry gun if that's what you're talking about.

[CK_32]

Shoot it.


90% of the people at the range that stress "proper break in" on stuff hardly have a clue. At least in my experience. My last range trip a guy went on a 20 min lecture on how I should break in my already 400 round Remington 700, and that it would drastically reduce my groups to match quality.

And how his savage "can shoot times all day at 200 yards with standard PMC/winchester ammo".

[Pofoo]

Clean, lube, shoot.
I would shoot at least a couple of hundred rounds of different types to make sure that it is functioning correctly or if it needed warantee service work.
You don't want to send a gun in because of a malfunction within the first few rounds. Some guns take more rounds than others to become fully reliable. Use full power ammo.

[JDay]

Your XD should be good to go out of the box. The only handguns that need a break in are 1911s that have very tight slide to frame fit. And that's just so they loosen up a little.

[TrailerparkTrash]

You're not going to get a "better" response by posting this question twice.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=994526

[afteractionreport]

Shoot the motherfuhker... And clean it good before and after.... Enjoy

[MrExel17]

No such thing..never believed in this ritual you speak of.

[mike_the_wino]

This guy has the right idea.

[L84CABO]

This is always a bit of a controversial topic. There are many who feel that a pistol does not/should not to be broken in. Some Mfgs, however, do recommend a "break-in." Usually it's the ones who built their guns with tighter tolerances. Wilson Combat comes to mind.

First and foremost I would read the owners manual that came with your pistol and follow whatever instructions the Mfg suggests...if any.

Generally speaking, however, clean it, lube it, shoot it. Use factory, full powered ammo. No reloads or cheap underpowered ammo. There are some who suggest not shooting full, rapid fire mag dumps as this may heat up the barrel excessively. I don't know if that's true or not. Again, I'd follow whatever instructions came in the manual.

With the above said, I usually run a 500 round test of sorts with all new pistols that will be used for defense. This is to prove to MYSELF the pistols reliability. I call this "break-in." That's my personal definition of break-in. YMMV

The first 400 rounds are with factory ball ammo. If all goes well, then I'll run 100 rounds of my defensive ammo. If that goes well I pronounce the pistol reliable.

When proving the reliability of a new pistol it's good to try and remove as many factors that could cause problems as possible. You use full power factory ammo to eliminate the possibility of a problem related to reloads. You use high quality magazines as opposed to cheap one to try and eliminate any magazine issues. If a pistol is having problems, it can sometimes be hard to determine what is causing the problem. Hence trying to mitigate possible problems up front.

[toby]

Just clean it, shoot it, clean it, DONE!

[Divernhunter]

No
You must take it to the range in a silk(not nylon) lined box.
You must light 3 candles One each red, white and blue left to right.
Then place a small USA flag next to the pistol box.
You must take one drink of water and only one.
You must do the special pistol break in dance---Much like the chicken dance
You then say the pledge of allegiance and salute the flag.
Then blow out the candles right to left.
You then must take 2 min to bless the ammo and 2 more to bless the pistol.
The ammo box must be placed before you and ammo taken out of the left side.
Ammo is loaded into the mags one round into each mag then a 2nd into each mag and so forth.
If a revolver the cylinder must be spin exactly 3 full turns and the ammo loaded all even chambers then odd number chambers.
Before shooting you must lick your finger and wipe the front sight.
When shooting you must space the first mag/cylinder shot exactly 5 seconds apart. Not doing so will ruin the pistol for life. So this is very important.
Then the pistol must be placed on a mat and admired for a full 7 min.

You have now "Properly Broken In" your Pistol

It will now shoot at the best level it can.

[MrSam]

Just clean it, shoot it, clean it, repeat!

Sorry bud, just had to correct that sentence

[steelholder]

No
You must take it to the range in a silk(not nylon) lined box.
You must light 3 candles One each red, white and blue left to right.
Then place a small USA flag next to the pistol box.
You must take one drink of water and only one.
You must do the special pistol break in dance---Much like the chicken dance
You then say the pledge of allegiance and salute the flag.
Then blow out the candles right to left.
You then must take 2 min to bless the ammo and 2 more to bless the pistol.
The ammo box must be placed before you and ammo taken out of the left side.
Ammo is loaded into the mags one round into each mag then a 2nd into each mag and so forth.
If a revolver the cylinder must be spin exactly 3 full turns and the ammo loaded all even chambers then odd number chambers.
Before shooting you must lick your finger and wipe the front sight.
When shooting you must space the first mag/cylinder shot exactly 5 seconds apart. Not doing so will ruin the pistol for life. So this is very important.
Then the pistol must be placed on a mat and admired for a full 7 min.

You have now "Properly Broken In" your Pistol

It will now shoot at the best level it can.

What if i blew out candles left to right