[Shootist]

Has anybody ever heard of this process of Barrel Break-In

Shoot 1 round and clean barrel / Shoot 1 round and clean barrel and so on until 10 rounds are fired. Then you shoot 2 rounds and clean barrel until 10 more rounds are fired.

This is said to help condition and break-in the barrel. Has anybody ever done this? If so, what advantages will this give me on my new barrel. :-D

 

[ShipWreck]

I have heard that - and, some people do it. I don't think anyone knows for sure what works and what doesn't. Some of this can come down to superstition and whatnot. Some people do it because someone told them to. MAYBE there is something to it for certain types of rifles.

I just took mine and shot it after cleaning the gun 1 time first.

 

[xm177e2]

Break-in vs Chrome bore

Hi,

I used to be the quality manager for cut rifle high end barrel making outfit and am very familiar with the wide and varied opinions and processes for barrel break in - I won't try and tell you whats righ and what's wrong (there is a lot of dissagreement by even the best informed people).

But consider this for what it is worth:

High end stainless and chromoly barrels (really high end) are lapped (pollished) by hand with lead slug cast inside each barrel and coated with a fine abrassive. When you start lapping it feals irregular (tight spots and rough spots) and then slowly gets better until you can 'bump the slug" (block the end of the barrel and ram the lead slug into the end to increase its size slight - you do this several time while lapping) and the enlarged lap while tighter will feel smooth and drag free from one end to the other.

A barrel like this will last a few thousand round depeending on caliber and maintanence (care and feeding). A chrome barrel (like on the P90) will last tens of thousands of rounds and will show virtualy know wear only acknoledging severe abuse for thousands of rounds. These barrels are expensive judged harshly on the degre of sub MOA accuracy the achive and can maintain and are discarded at the first sign of degredation. A few rounds and an hour of ones time the first time at the range seems a small price to pay to the alter of extreme accuracy and one hole bragging rights.

Chroming a barrels smooths over some of the manufacturing imperfections but the rest our captured and preserved for the very long life of that barrels.

I highly recomend if you have high end custom barrel to call the manufacturer for their recomendations and enjoy going through a little extra grief in the interest of making the most of your investment. I say call the barrel manufacture in question because each shop is different and may lap at different times and in different way with different compounds. We lapped after drilling, after reaming and after rifling but we specialized in accuracy test barrells for R&D.

Hope that is in some way useful you have made my lapping arm sore just thinking about those days...

TB

 

[whitetiger7654]

He pretty much nailed. The way I think about it is... If I'm willing to pay that much for the gun I can surely take the time to break in the barrel. Now my Glocks I didn't even think about it. Besides I doubt a Glock would benefit from it.

Here is a link on how to do it from a guy I trust. "cmshoot" is a good honest guy. So I'm following his instructions.
http://snipersparadise.com/sniperchat/index.php?showtopic=10312

 

[Promoted Pawn]

I would say that breaking in a PS90 barrel is unnecessary.
I've never heard of anyone breaking in a subgun barrel.
This is something done by benchrest folks, snipers, ect.

 

[RiverRat]

When I get a new AK, M16 style weapon or sub-gun style I break it in as follows.
1.) Take out of box
2.) Clean weapon
3.) Take down to river
4.) Fire several hundred rounds as fast as I can pull the trigger.
5.) Drink several beers
6.) Cook some brats over a camp fire
7.) go home and clean gun
8.) put back into box until next time.

except with my PS90. I have to keep it out so I can fondle it while watching SG1. :shock:

 

[Texas Armadillo]

RiverRat,

You wouldn't be offended if I mentioned that you may want to move number 5 to the 8 slot would ya?

As for break in... I don't. But then again I've never had a match rifle either.

I usually take a new pistol or rifle out and sight them in. That is their break in. From day one a new gun gets the same treatment as the others.

Since I almost always take more than one gun to the range, 20 to 50 rounds per outing per gun is normal. Then I take them home and clean them. I never clean until I get a perfectly clean patch. I clean until it looks clean and stop there and leave CLP or Hoppes 9 in the barrel to block corrosion. then I always run a patch thru each barrel before I shoot it again.

TA

 

[RiverRat]

RiverRat,

You wouldn't be offended if I mentioned that you may want to move number 5 to the 8 slot would ya?
TA

Nope don't bother me, cause #9 would be drink some more beer. But I didn't put that one in cause it would actually be after the breakin process.

I know, I know. Alcohol and guns don't mix. Neither does alcohol and driving, fishing, boating, skiing, surfing, flying, ect. I don't suggest anyone do what I do. And I really don't suggest anyone drink and hit the road. But I do what I do on private non-public property and the friends I do it with I've been doing it with for many years. And I feel safer around them, even after a few cold ones, than I do with 99 percent of the idiot drivers with their cell phones glued to their ears on North Texas roads.

 

[Texas Armadillo]

Well now you are going TOO far! I've never heard of no beer while fishing! :wink:

TA

 

[AGG]

RR, what is #10., lady friend? Nothing like a good few hundred rounds to get one in the mood. :shock:

 

[RiverRat]

RR, what is #10., lady friend? Nothing like a good few hundred rounds to get one in the mood. :shock:

I've been married 34 years to one woman. Takes more than a couple hundred rounds to get into the mood, if you catch my drift. :-D

 

[ShipWreck]

I would say that breaking in a PS90 barrel is unnecessary.
I've never heard of anyone breaking in a subgun barrel.
This is something done by benchrest folks, snipers, ect.

I agree with ya there.

But to each his own....