Barrel Break In Works!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SDCoyoteCaller

SDCoyoteCaller

Active member
I got a new Savage 111 25-06 and took it out today to break in the barrel. This is something I have never done with any of my rifles, but after having a poor experience with a rifle that fouled horribly I vowed to give this new rifle the proper care up front.

I followed the instructions in the Barnes Reloading Manual for the barrel break in procedure.

Here is what I did:

I shot 10 times cleaning after each round until all cooper was removed.

I then did 2 shot strings and then cleaned. I did 5 of these.

I then shot two 5 shot groups cleaning after each 5 shots.

The first single shot was probably the one that produced the most copper fouling out of all the groups. The time it took to remove the copper fouling as I progressed through the process got less and less with each cleaning. Half way through the process I could really tell that the resistance it took to push the nylon brush through the bore had decreased. The time it took to clean the copper from the barrel after the final 5 shot group was less than it took to initially clean the copper from the first shot. I did clean the barrel before I started this process, so it was completely clean prior to starting the break in process.

Needless to say, I am amazed at how well breaking in the barrel actually helped reduce the copper fouling in your bore and ease the cleaning process. It took me nearly 4 hours (with a few interruptions) to complete the process, but I think it was well worth.

If any of you guys have ever wondered if barrel break in was worth the time, it certainly is. I plan to continue to do it.

Mark
 
Been saying that for years now. You just can't reach some people who think it is about "accuracy" and claim to see no difference. It is about "length of time before accuracy degrades" due to fouling. I always break in a barrel, ESPECIALLY a factory barrel. I will usually just run maybe 50 strokes of sinclair lapping compound on a tight patch and the bore fouls very little from the start.
 
Breaking in a barrel "Properly" seems to desrease the amount of time it takes to break in.. if that makes sense /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif The Copper makes a soft padded coating on the bore that prevents the following rounds from smoothing out the rough spots, And it increases Pressure. Cleaning as you did allows the rough spots to smooth out and pressures to remain consistent.

I am Not yet convinced that breaking one in like this Increses the life or accuracy in the big picture, as 4 or 5 shooting sessions with a proper cleaning after would net the same overall result,But.. you get to see the accuracy potential much sooner, break it in with Many less rounds and in my experience... you end often up with a gun that likes to shoot Clean, compared to dirty.
 
I have a Savage factory .223 barrel that was 'broken in' according to Savage instructions (very similar to Barnes' recommendations) and I will echo the above comments. It fouls very little and seems to stay consistent longer than factory barrels that weren't 'broken in' as described. Accurate? Yes. More accurate as a result of breaking in? Impossible to say.

I will do it again on factory barrels.
 
I followed the same procedure on my D-Tech this summer. By the time I was in the first "shoot 5 and clean" cycle, it wasn't showing any more copper fouling than it is now at the end of a 50 round session. This was an Oly SUM, and I'm sure Mike put a few rounds down the tube after he built it, but it was amazing how quickly a broach-cut barrel smoothed out.
That "shoot 1 and clean" made for a monotonous couple of hours, but it works.
 
You have nothing to compare it to so how could you know it works all that well. I'm a non believer in the school of "barrel break in" and since you can't have known how the barrel would have performed without, there is no comparison.
 
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You have nothing to compare it to so how could you know it works all that well. I'm a non believer in the school of "barrel break in" and since you can't have known how the barrel would have performed without, there is no comparison.


agreed
i dont "break em in" i shoot em till they are no longer accurate then clean.then i fire off at least 3 fouling rounds,then look for accuracy to return and it does.
my savage 243 is always dirty and it drives nails.
my encore with an eabco 260 rem barrel on it is the same.i put it on and just shot it, cleaned it after the session.
i have seen no problems with this,and my guns arent horribly fouled or anything.or hard to get clean. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
but if breakin em in works for you, great.take care of them barrels
for me, all my guns are switch barrel (thompson and savage) so i dont much care about the barrels i will just swap em out.no biggie
 
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I have followed similar break in procedure. I don't know if it makes a difference but it gives me piece of mind that I am doing everything possible to make sure the barrel lasts and is accurate.

On my shorter barreled ARs that I don't shoot for distance I just shoot and clean when I am done. Never had a problem.
 
I think the word "break-in" just gets some bad press. I have done it on some and not on others. The only way to tell the difference is when you clean them. I have found the "broke in" barrels do clean alot easier, there for I do it on all my new ones. Some call it a waste of ammo, others a waste of barrel life, I figure you have to sight it in right, and that does require to fire rounds down the tube. Also on almost all of the new rifles I have had, and its a few, the rifle never really settled in to fire real tight groups till after 10 to 12 rounds where down the tube. If thats the case its easy to clean after each shot, who cares how much time it takes.
 
I did the break-in procedure you have listed on my Oly K-16 and I'm pleased as punch with the accuracy of the rifle. I will say that even if using this meathod of break-in is just a fart in the wind and doesn't mean diddly squat, at least it allows the owner of a new firearm to become more intimate with their new weapon instead of just running out and throwing a box or two of shells through it and calling it done . What I'm trying to get at is this, it's definitely not a waste of time. SDCoyoteCaller got to spend 4hrs. of quality time with his new rifle and I'd be willing to bet he appreciates it more because of it.
Trashcan
DCC
 
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You have nothing to compare it to so how could you know it works all that well. I'm a non believer in the school of "barrel break in" and since you can't have known how the barrel would have performed without, there is no comparison.



skb2706 and Magoo,

I think you missed the point of my post. I assume when you say I have nothing to compare it to your referring to the rifles accuracy. The reason I did the procedure was not to gain accuracy but to decrease fouling and make cleaning the rifle easier. If it gets more accurate as a result, than that is just a bonus. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif However, there is no way I would ever no this, but I am pretty positive it isn't going to hurt my accuracy.

If you are in fact talking about how much the barrel will foul, than I would say I do have something to compare it too and that is how the barrel fouled from the first shot to the last string of 5 shots in the break in process. As I mentioned in my post, I noticed a considerable decrease in the amount of fouling in the barrel at the end of the process. As I mentioned in my post, I never had tried breaking in a barrel before mainly because I didn't want to spend all the time to do it.

Well, I am pretty much sold on the fact that it does reduce fouling significantly. In my mind, that means I won't have to clean the rifle as often, which is a chore I hate. I will definately continue to do it.

Magoo, you mentioned that you shoot them until they are no longer accurate and then clean and the accuracy comes back. I am wondering if you broke in those barrels if you could go longer between having to clean. Just a thought.

I also agree with what Trashcan said. Even though those 4 hours weren't the most fun in the world, I do have more of an appreciation for that gun.

Mark
 
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Good or Bad I break them in and find the same thing, easier cleaning and better shooting. Manufacturers recommend the procedure and I don't see any harm. Gaining familiarity is a plus too.
 
JustC, what grit of lapping compound do you use when you run it thru the barrel? it would seem that would get an even better start on some of the burrs from the rifling process and gain in less fouling.
 
Barrels do break in, no question about it. But they do it just as well if you just shoot them normally as with any special shoot and clean procedure. I have done many both ways and can see no difference in either accuracy or amount of fouling.

Jack
 
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But they do it just as well if you just shoot them normally as with any special shoot and clean procedure.


I'd agree with that. I want to use my rifle for hunting, so I consider an afternoon of shoot/clean to get it to that point a lot better than a year of shoot a lot/clean. Since I was sighting in a new EOTech and BUIS at the same time, it wasn't even a waste of (cheap) ammo.
But that's just my opinion. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
When i break in a new Shelen on my Stolle 6PPC the procedure i usually follow is as follows:

shoot 1 shot then clean it do this 5 times.
shoot 2 shots then clean it do this 5 times.
shoot 3 shots then clean it do this 5 times.
shoot 4 shots then clean it do this 5 times.
shoot 5 shots then clean it do this 5 times.

after this procedure fowling is almost non-existent. I even started doing my new factory stock bbls and it really makes a difference in accuracy and when cleaning.

My cleaning procedure is 2 wet patches, a solvent wet brush 5 times thru the bore (all the way in all the way ouy counts as 1), then patch it out. TIP: carry a small squirt bottle with rubbing alcohol in it to clean your brush if not the solvent will eat it up in a matter of 1/2 hour. Always put a small amount of oil, i use butches and it seems to be the best, thru the bore just make sure you dry it out real good. I have been very pleased with this and i think you will too . it is however a pain at at times in the first couple of steps and it seems like a waste of supplies but in the long run its well worth the effort!!!!
 
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Quote:
You have nothing to compare it to so how could you know it works all that well. I'm a non believer in the school of "barrel break in" and since you can't have known how the barrel would have performed without, there is no comparison.



skb2706 and Magoo,

I think you missed the point of my post. I assume when you say I have nothing to compare it to your referring to the rifles accuracy. The reason I did the procedure was not to gain accuracy but to decrease fouling and make cleaning the rifle easier. If it gets more accurate as a result, than that is just a bonus. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif However, there is no way I would ever no this, but I am pretty positive it isn't going to hurt my accuracy.

If you are in fact talking about how much the barrel will foul, than I would say I do have something to compare it too and that is how the barrel fouled from the first shot to the last string of 5 shots in the break in process. As I mentioned in my post, I noticed a considerable decrease in the amount of fouling in the barrel at the end of the process. As I mentioned in my post, I never had tried breaking in a barrel before mainly because I didn't want to spend all the time to do it.

Well, I am pretty much sold on the fact that it does reduce fouling significantly. In my mind, that means I won't have to clean the rifle as often, which is a chore I hate. I will definately continue to do it.

Magoo, you mentioned that you shoot them until they are no longer accurate and then clean and the accuracy comes back. I am wondering if you broke in those barrels if you could go longer between having to clean. Just a thought.

I also agree with what Trashcan said. Even though those 4 hours weren't the most fun in the world, I do have more of an appreciation for that gun.

Mark


i might be able to go longer if i "broke them in" but without real hard evidence i wont worry about it.
i got your post fine and i didnt mean to come off as an arguement maker.i was stating what has worked for me.
 
Thanks for the response Magoo. I appreciate that.

I agree with the above statement about spraying your brush down with some alchohol or a crudbuster type product. That copper solvent is some nasty stuff. I personally used Hoppes's Cleaner/Degreaser to clean off the brush. I started off using a bronze brush, but then switched to a nylon bristle brush. When I was all done I ran a couple of patches soaked with the cleaner/degreaser through the bore followed by 2-3 dry patches in order to get the copper solvent out of the barrel. I then ran a few patches soaked with Kroil through the bore followed by one dry patch to lightly coat the barrel to prevent rust. I will probably run another dry patch through the bore to remove the Kroil before shooting the gun again.

Thanks for all the comments guys.
 
I used to go through a detailed breakin process. But, after I reached the point that I was going through enough barrels that the procedure was becoming a major pain in the neck, I just got to where I'd fire five rounds, clean it, and go kill a couple hundred pdogs.

I can't say I've been able to tell any difference at all.

Mike
 
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