Why barrel break in

From here on out, your rifle is now ready to handle anything you throw at it. You take several more shot and they are still grouping perfectly. In this situation, you can probably just stop right there. Every barrel has different life expectancies, so after figuring out that your new rifle shoots great, it might be best to spend the rest of your time at a later date testing loads and sighting in your rifle.

People might be on the fence if a barrel break-in process is necessary, but I lean toward to side of caution and will gladly spend the time to slowly shoot a new rifle that I want to get plenty years out of.

Tagged as: barrel, Skills, rifles, accuracy, long-range, cleaning, Leupold, shooting, Browning, bore. Thanks for subscribing! Maybe all the shooting and scrubbing does work. The theory behind barrel break in is that cleaning the abrasive residue out of the bore after each shot allows the bullet which follows to flatten out or scour away all the tiny nicks, dings, and imperfections that are part of most bores, making the barrel smoother and less apt to pick up copper fouling.

Based on my experience, I have doubts. But on a custom hand-lapped barrel it is not needed…. A few shots and some J-B Compound is not a bad thing for a new factory barrel, but those long sequences of one shot and clean for 20 rounds and then 3 shots and clean for more are excessive. Barrels are made of steel. Copper buildup there scars the next bullets.

What you do with a rifle barrel after initiation affects accuracy more than will break-in procedure. Unless left to rust, barrels on blackpowder rifles endured for generations. When smokeless powder arrived, misfires increased, because it was harder to ignite. Adding mercury fulminate solved that problem but ate brass — a chemical action exacerbated by lack of absorbent blackpowder residue.

In , H primers in. That compound spared hulls but deposited corrosive salts. The popular solution: a scrub with boiling water and ammonia or baking soda, then an oily patch. The hot water worked the magic, as it dissolved the salts. Stateside, Remington chemist J. German chemists Von Hersz and Rathburg came up with non-corrosive, non-mercuric priming. Both, however, are hygroscopic. I discard that grungy patch instead of pulling it back through.

Next, I pump a Hoppes-soaked brass brush through the bore four times, back-and-forth. An MTM vise secures the rifle without marring it. Rifles await successive steps with their muzzles down, on or extended over cardboard or a canister that catches drips. I finish with dry patches, then a lightly oiled patch. To protect the bore against rod damage, clean with a one-piece steel rod.

They collect dirt and scrape the bore. Wipe alloy and coated rods before and during use, to snare grit that adheres to these soft surfaces. Free-spinning rod handles let patch and brush track the rifling. A bore guide is a must. This inexpensive tube keeps the rod from flexing against the chamber. An 18mm guide fits most bolt races. Press enter to begin your search. Close Search. Ammonia Based Copper Solvent.

Nylon bore brushes — one the correct size for your caliber, one 1 or 2 sizes smaller. High quality cleaning rod with ball-bearing handle. To lubricate and neutralize ammonia solvent. To protect the bore throat and keep solvent from entering the trigger mechanicism. Fire another 2 three-round groups for a total of 6 rounds.