Barrel Break-in
i would like to know if anyone knows what the break-in procedure is for a sako cold hammered barrel? is it the same as other new barrels? thanks dave.
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Whats the story behind breaking in a new barrel? Is it worth it? What is the best method?
john tenerowicz0 -
Contrary to some opinions,..it is well worth while. As far as accuracy goes,..it won't increase,..but ACCURACY LIFE increases. A properly broken in bore fouls at a far lesser rate, allowing longer between cleanings.
Do a search and you will find hundreds of break-in methods,...all a slight variation of each other.
why chase the game when the bullet can get em from here?....
Got Balistics?0 -
I'm not trying to take on JustC by any means here.
However... I was wondering the same thing myself, so I looked into it. I did a pretty extensive yahoo search on barrel breaking in, and found a guy who worked at bushmaster who was saying that barrel breaking in does nothing for the gun. In fact, if you're using a chrome lined barrel it's actually bad for it, because the more rounds you shoot through a new barrel without a bore brush or solvent, the more it breaks in the barrel and reduces friction.
He then added that he thinks the barrel break in craze as of lately could be attributed to manufacturers trying to shorten the lives of barrels so that they can sell more.
That's what I read.
john kerry, out to prove he's got nothing to prove.0 -
Taking the "bushmaster buddy's" advice, when you buy that $ 90,000 sportscar, don't change the oil for at least 30,000 miles.....it will help it break in.
Do a 'pretty extensive search' here, because that topic has come up many times.
If we do not hang together,
We will most certainly hang separately.0 -
The idea is to smooth the bore. Even though the new barrel looks smooth to the eye, there are small burrs inside the barrel. By shooting and cleaning you are smoothing out the burrs before they can cause an accuracy and cleaning problem. The article I just read stated that by cleaning frequently during break in, the barrel will clean much easier in the future and need less care (this was tested in the article). So like Just C said, it does not improve accuracy, it does help keep accuracy. In reality you may want to shoot a few fouling rounds before hunting and not have a clean barrel.
As for methods, I talked to Jim Lazzeroni and he says he shoots 3 rounds and then cleans it meticulously, for the the first 21 shots and then every 5 to 10 for awhile thereafter. The guns I have broke in have had amazing accuracy, so it definately did not hurt.
Mad Dog0 -
John,
Given the high quality of so many of the top barrel makers today, I find that a FORMAL break in isn't really necessary. However, I do use a simple procedure such as recommended by Shilen; use your load development time as break in, thereby not wasting the barrel life just for breaking in. Most of the top makers today, hand lap their barrels before shipping, which reduces the amount of effort needed to break a barrel in. Most of the Lilja barrels that I work with take 7 - 10 shots before they stop coppering. Since I'm doing load development, I'm cleaning the barrel when I switch powders anyway, so I get a sort of break in included. I remember the days of the long list break in that read like a huge, complex recipe and it took most of 1 whole day to get one barrel done completely. Such a waste of time, effort and money. Read some of the posts from the archives and then do a search on the web and read those. Use some common sense and apply what you feel comfortable doing. If you want to use the long version, go right ahead. It won't hurt a thing. The short version doesn't hurt anything either and does just as well with the high quality barrels.
Be extremely careful with your cleaning rod in the barrel. Use a bore guide at all time and be aware of where the brush and patches are in relationship to the crown. More barrels are ruined by improper cleaning than any other cause.
Remember though, not even a complex break in will save a crappy barrel.
From Shilen:
How should I break-in my new Shilen barrel?
Break-in procedures are as diverse as cleaning techniques. Shilen, Inc. introduced a break-in procedure mostly because customers seemed to think that we should have one. By and large, we don't think breaking-in a new barrel is a big deal. All our stainless steel barrels have been hand lapped as part of their production, as well as any chrome moly barrel we install. Hand lapping a barrel polishes the interior of the barrel and eliminates sharp edges or burrs that could cause jacket deformity. This, in fact, is what you are doing when you break-in a new barrel through firing and cleaning. Here is our standard recommendation:
Clean after each shot for the first 5 shots. The remainder of the break-in is to clean every 5 shots for the next 50 shots.
During this time, don't just shoot bullets down the barrel during this 50 shot procedure. This is a great time to begin load development. Zero the scope over the first 5 shots, and start shooting for accuracy with 5-shot groups for the next 50 shots. Same thing applies to fire forming cases for improved or wildcat cartridges. Just firing rounds down a barrel to form brass without any regard to their accuracy is a mistake. It is a waste of time and barrel life.
From Gale McMillan:
Gale McMillan
Senior Member posted September 25, 1999 10:10 AM
The break in fad was started by a fellow I helped get started in the barrel business . He started putting a set of break in instructions in ever barrel he shipped. One came into the shop to be installed and I read it and the next time I saw him I asked him What was with this break in crap?. His answer was Mac, My share of the market is about 700 barrels a year. I cater to the target crowd and they shoot a barrel about 3000 rounds before they change it. If each one uses up 100 rounds of each barrel breaking it in you can figure out how many more barrels I will get to make each year. If you will stop and think that the barrel doesn't know whether you are cleaning it every shot or every 5 shots and if you are removing all foreign material that has been deposited in it since the last time you cleaned it what more can you do? When I ship a barrel I send a recommendation with it that you clean it ever chance you get with a brass brush pushed through it at least 12 times with a good solvent and followed by two and only 2 soft patches. This means if you are a bench rest shooter you clean ever 7 or 8 rounds . If you are a high power shooter you clean it when you come off the line after 20 rounds. If you follow the fad of cleaning every shot for X amount and every 2 shots for X amount and so on the only thing you are accomplishing is shortening the life of the barrel by the amount of rounds you shot during this process. I always say Monkey see Monkey do, now I will wait on the flames but before you write them, Please include what you think is happening inside your barrel during break in that is worth the expense and time you are spending during break in.
From BushMaster.com
Breaking in a Stainless Steel barrel
Start by firing one shot and cleaning the barrel. Do this five times. Fouling between shots should be reduced. If no improvement in fouling is seen then fire one shot and clean barrel for five more times. Then fire a string of three shots before cleaning barrel. Repeat this five times. After that fire a string of five shots before cleaning barrel. Repeat this five times. This should be enough to "polish" out the barrel so that it will have good accuracy and cleaning will be easier.
Recommended procedure for thorough cleaning: In all cases it is vital that cleaning tools (brushes, patches, etc.) be pushed from the breech toward the muzzle and then removed from the rod at the muzzle end. DO NOT drag anything back through the muzzle. Clean the bore with a good bore solvent and patch dry. Run an oil patch through the barrel if putting the rifle up for any length of time.0 -
ditto on the load developement while breaking-in. I run the load ladder and clean in between each shot until the patches show almost no copper. if that takes 5rnds or 50rnds,..that's when I stop the break-in process and shoot strings. My PacNor select match tube on my light gun took around 80rnds to go to sleep but only around 10-12 to stop fouling.
why chase the game when the bullet can get em from here?....
Got Balistics?0
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