DPMS SWEET-16 BREAK-IN
BOOK SAYS CLEAN CHAMBER AND BORE EVERY ROUND FOR FIRST 25 ROUNDS THEN EVERY 10 ROUNDS UP TO 100.Usually takes 200 rounds for optimum accuracy. This seems excessive? Question- what would you do? follow book or second part C-products 5 round magazines good- bad?opinions appreciated thanks
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If you have an accuracy problem and have not followed the book, you have negated a warranty claim.
EDIT (response to beantownshootar)
A boresnake and nylon chamber brush in your range bag takes the labor intensity out of this. If DPMS recommends it, why not?
You do not want to overheat your barrel in your first trip to the range anyway, and snaking it and a quick scrub with the brush takes what, a minute? The 20 minutes this adds to your first 20 rounds will keep your barrel cool, and if there is a problem, you can honestly answer any question DPMS asks.
Personally I snake the barrel every round for the first 5 - 10, and every five after that to about 30. The chamber gets a quick scrub every five rounds through that same 30. Never had a problem, but if this was different that what the manufacturer suggested, I would tell them exactly what I had done, and let them decide whether to warrant the barrel or not.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Don McManus
If you have an accuracy problem and have not followed the book, you have negated a warranty claim.
Let them prove that you didn't and that that's the reason for the accuracy problems.
As to the real world utility of this sort of labor-intensive break-in, I'm fairly skeptical that it accomplishes anything useful and personally, no, I wouldn't do it.
Gale McMillan (who has probably forgotten more about barrel making and accuracy than most people ever know) claims that barrel break in is a crock, and a waste of time. Some good information here:
http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/Barrel_BreakIn.asp
Actually he claims elsewhere that on average labor intensive break-ins cause more harm than good, as they just add unnecessary wear.
On the second question, in general C-products mags are good.
Edit (war of the duelling edits!) [;)]
quote:A boresnake and nylon chamber brush in your range bag takes the labor intensity out of this. If DPMS recommends it, why not?
A boresnake would certainly reduce the labor intensity, that's for sure, though some think that boresnakes in particular are a good way to continually re-introduce dirt into your barrel.
Why not do this? Because cracking open your rifle between shots is a PITA and more cleaning/scrubbing = more wear on the barrel.
I like this quote (from the above link):
quote:
artech
Senior Member posted September 30, 1999 08:24 AM
As far as the stuff about AR15 barrels on the Bushmaster website goes, that is for chrome lined barrels only, and it says so in the text. I know because I'm the guy that wrote it. In our experience at the factory, barrels would get less fouling if they were fired 200 or so rounds before the first cleaning, then cleaned whenever the accuracy started to suffer. We recommended this on our lined barrels only, as the DCM rifles with unlined barrels we tried this on in testing didn't respond well to it. A "Foul Out" unit is probably the best bet for those, or any unlined barrel, and is handy for getting out fouling on lined barrels as well. Everyone should be aware that this is one area that is being driven by popular demmand right now, with little or no real research being done by anyone in the industry. Barrel break-in is rapidly becoming a popular myth, where some people will tell you straight out that no rifle will shoot if it's not "broken in" right. Well, that's just crap. Any barrel made well will shoot well unless it's neglected or abused, and that's just a simple fact. Any effect breaking in a barrel may have would probably have to be measured with a micrometer at the target, as the difference would be almost neglegible. I used to put it this way. Unless you are firing from a solid benchrest, with front and rear rests, handloaded match ammo made specifically for the barrel you are shooting, and firing single shots allowing the barrel to cool between each round, you won't be able to tell the difference anyway, so for crying out loud, go shoot your rifle! More time using it and less time playing with it, and you'll be a lot happier. Works on a lot of levels, if you get my meaning. That's my $.02, if it's of any use to anyone. Don't go nuts with breaking in rifle barrels, it's not worth the trouble. As always, IMHO, YMMV, etc...
With my shield or on it...
More here:
http://www.ar15armory.com/forums/barrel-break-t35624.html
And here is the scuttle from Olympic arms on the same process:
quote:http://www.olyarms.com/index.php?Itemid=42&id=10&option=com_content&task=view
The Barrel
There are many ways that people recommend to break in their barrels. The following is our recommended method, but certainly not required. Additionally, your warranty does not hinge on this method of break in. We have many customers who shoot sub minute of angle from their standard button-rifled AR-15 barrels and have done NOTHING special with regards to break in.
A note of warning breaking in a barrel does not make a barrel inherently more accurate. What it will do is make it more consistent and give it a longer life. For these reasons we do recommend a good quality break in procedure. We will not attempt to go into great detail with regards to why this is important. Nor will we describe what it does to the barrel as far as breaking it in or any more of the more scientific reasons and effects of this procedure. Many volumes of books have been written with regards to break-in and we will not attempt to rewrite any of it.
Fire, Clean, Treat, Lubricate and Fire Method
1. Clean the barrel well.
* Make sure the patches come out clean and white.
* Use the cleaner of your choice (do not use ammonia-based cleaners). Use of a lead or copper solvent is okay.
* Make sure you have the barrel cleaned and neutralized in the bore.
* Apply the lubricant-bore treatment.
* Dry the bore with a clean dry patch.
* Use the quality ammunition of your choice and fire ONE round.
2. Repeat Step 1 for the next 24 rounds.
3. At round 25, repeat Step 1. Change from firing ONE round to THREE.
4. Repeat Step 3 until you have fired 50 rounds total.
5. At round 51, repeat Step 1. Change from firing THREE rounds to FIVE.
6. Repeat Step 5 until you have fired 100 rounds total.
7. After firing 100 rounds total clean and treat the bore as in Step 1, then fire for a group. Your barrel is now broken in.
You may choose to use another method if you wish. Again, if you do choose a different method, or choose to accelerate the process this does not void your warranty. We do not recommend lapping of the barrel.
So Olympic arms recommends a similar break in technique, but says that it won't make your gun any more accurate and that your warrantee is fine regardless of how you break in the gun.
Other manufacturers have other recommendations.
quote:
You do not want to overheat your barrel in your first trip to the range anyway, and snaking it and a quick scrub with the brush takes what, a minute? The 20 minutes this adds to your first 20 rounds will keep your barrel cool, and if there is a problem, you can honestly answer any question DPMS asks.
Of course, you're better not overheating your barrel (on the first trip out or ANY trip out).
Again, so long as you are careful, I don't think you are going to HURT anything with a break in. But personally, I'm not convinced that the procedure is going to do more for you than regular shooting and cleaning would. I'd love to see some "Pepsi challenge" type stuff with broken in and non-broken in barrels, but so far the little anecdotal stuff I've seen on that shows no difference.
One thing I definitely WOULD do, is strip, clean, and lube the gun thoroughly before shooting it. Sometimes guns come from the factory with gunk in the bore, and shooting a gun in that shape will definitely NOT help barrel longevity or accuracy!0 -
I have not shot it yet--just looking for opinions 0 -
I have always done break ins similar to that on my T/C Contender rifle barrels and all will shoot sub MOA with cast bullets. MacMillin might be right, but blasting away and overheating the barrel is not going to help it any. I would go with the book. 0
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