Barrel break in.
 

I have no time. It gets more elusive all the time. I’ve broken in barrels with the clean, shoot, clean, shoot, blah blah blah. The last 15 years I just shoot a bunch and then clean every so often. My latest barrel is a 6.5 1-8 Benchmark. I shot 20 rounds through it, cleaned it and then shot 80 more. Last night I ran three patches soaked with whipeout patch out and let it sit for 90 minutes. Then I pushed this patch through.

Break them in if you wish. I sure don’t.

https://i.imgur.com/0GawlMK.jpg

I wish!

I would love to just clean then shoot a bunch but my OCD won't let me. I got this thing and I always think if I don't do it, it'll have copper trapped in the microgrooves from the machining forever.

I find it takes around 50 rounds befor I start seeing good accuracy out of a fresh barrel.

need to buy better barrels...……………

I suppose.

Same here.
This topic has been beat to the ground.
Unless someone takes two identical barrels and breaks one in "proper" and just shots the other one and comes up with supporting evidence, don't trust their opinion.
That's really what it is, just opinion as opposed to hard data.

More people ruin barrels then fix them from over/improper cleaning IMHO

I totally agree. I have never used a break-in procedure on a new barrel ..ever, and I've had quite a few. They all shot as expected and most are still doing it today. I found that not letting a barrel overheat, not shooting excessively hot loads and a reasonable cleaning routine is the best route for maximum barrel life. That and Wipe-Out.

I love wipeout
But I been using that kg line lately
Works really well
A lot more work involved though

You guys that are using wipeout, are you using the accelerant with it? If using wipe out I usually run about 3 wet patches soaked with the accelerant followed by wipeout and let sit for about 3hours.

Note to Chuck
 

Chuck, as much as any other member, you add real-life, no nonsense, been there done that experience to this forum. Your barrel break in pics being just one more example. Thanks for that. This is how people newer to the sport learn, and it is helpful to those of us who have maybe been around the block a bit make up their minds concerning practices they are considering adopting or ditching. sns2

As for barrel break in... I have always just cleaned the factory goop out and shot like hell, soaking the barrel in Wipeout afterwards. I am too impatient for all that jazz. I could post my wallet group pics too, but whatever. It works for me.

I recommend a google of “Kreiger barrel break in”. A look at the equipment lists among the top 20 finishers in most International Bench Rest Shooters” matches provides a pretty strong argument that Kreiger knows barrels.
Kreiger says that bore BI is not necessary in lapped bores but when the chamber is cut, reamer marks are left in the throat which lay across the direction of bullet travel. Until these “marks” are ironed out they pick up copper from the bullet jacket which is vaporized and deposited in the bore just forward of the chamber. Since copper adheres to copper very well, a build-up can occur which becomes difficult to remove later. Hence, Kreiger recommends a shoot-and-clean cycle to BI their barrels.
I have never heard any credible claims that BI itself improves potential consistency, but it is a well known fact that as barrels get increasingly copper fouled, accuracy falls off, so it makes some sense to get rid of that “early” build up. I have no metallurgical expertise, but make the assumption that copper deposited in the bore which condenses from a vapor, adheres to the barrel steel better than the copper deposited by friction contact?
Kreiger also observes that copper adheres to CM more than SS.
In the end, what each believes is best for their barrel is the practice they will follow. Fact is, most barrels will out shoot their owners. Personally, I have no pride and will take every advantage whether it be real or imagined to shoot my best:). So, I do a 5-10 shot shoot/clean cycle with all my new barrels.

There is no way of quantifying the results of breaking in a barrel versus not breaking in a barrel, because no two barrels are identical, and no two chambers are cut identical.

Therefore the debate ensues.

For the record, I start clean, and shoot and clean for the first three shots, then clean after 3 shots, then clean after the next 3 or 5 shots.

That’s 9 shots! I’ve seen a disproportionate number of shooters take twice that number of shots just to get anywhere near their intended POI at 100 yds.

It is my opinion, that users of bore snakes, or 3 piece aluminum cleaning rods, and shirt tail patches, with Hoppes #9, wouldn’t benifit from much to begin with.

Hey man. Leave hula hoops alone. They can double as a plumb line in a pinch. LOL.

I don't follow a fixed barrel break in procedure. What I do, is to clean a new barrel, and fire a group, and watch for fouling. If a barrel fouls quickly, I clean it more often, if it doesn't build up fouling, I clean it less often. Some barrels foul a lot at first, but soon fouling decreases. Some barrels foul very little from new. Many barrels show good accuracy from new, others don't do their pest until several groups have been fired. And the new CFE powders tend to greatly reduce copper fouling, so I clean less when using them.

560 rounds through my tikka ctr still going strong with no cleaning and no real break in, I cleaned when it was new, then after 20 rounds I did another clean and then stopped. The less you touch your barrel the more consistent and predictable your zero and cold bore shots are. I did see a slight loss in precision (maybe .4” to .6”) after about 300 rounds, but now never shoots over 2/3” (ten shot groups). But my goal is more for consistency than total precision. I think lots of shooters do load development with a freshly “broken in” clean barrel, then see accuracy drop off when the barrel starts to “foul”. I believe this is when you should start load development.


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My take on the barrel break in is something along the same line as some rifle calibers. Marketing.
When I read the article about when a well known barrel maker asked another barrel maker why he was promoting break in procedures with his barrels the former was told told it sold more barrels. That pretty well clinched it for me.
Clean the factory grease out and get shooting. After the season is over WipeOut with Accelerator. Works for me.

I used WipeOut with Accelerator but I would sometimes find a gooey varnish like residue if I didn't get every last speck of it out. I now use Ballistol and find it cleans as well and no gooey residue.
FYI, https://ballistol.com

That is one drawback I found with the WipeOut is the varnish type stuff that shows up if it gets where isn’t supposed to go. It cleans so well though that I make sure it doesn’t get to where it doesn’t belong. Doesn’t get used very often though. My barrel shoots to good to clean it all the time.

I’m not sure if I’m waiting my time or not but I do the shoot 1 clean 1 for at least the first 10 then clean after every 3 for three groups. I never put a gun away dirty with the exception of my 22-250. It gets cleaned about twice a winter. I have no data or proof but I believe doing a proper break in reduces fouling in the long run.

There are some great videos showing Ballistol against Hoppe #9 and other products.

Watch till the end and you will be tempted to throw out your Wipe out..Billistol takes a bit longer to work but cleans AND lubes verses just clean.

I hate cleaning my rifles and shoot them till accuracy falls off.

Should a person be breaking in their factory rifles?
There's a big difference between a Benchmark barrel and the barrel on a Rem700 SPS.

What kinda patch is in the picture ? Looks like lotsa lint and not very absorbent .Or maybe it's just the way it looks in the photo.Using the right kind of patch is important.

Laughing! Not very absorbent?

All barrels are chambered with reamers that result in the “marks” that pick up copper from the jacket until they get “ironed” out. Given that most “factory” barrels are not lapped, it would be reasonable to assume they would pick up even more copper than a lapped aftermarket barrel. I would do a BI on a virgin factory barrel.

Laugh if you like,but what material is the patch made of in the photo.

How would the chamber reamer affect the barrel? Probably not a good thing to lap a chamber.

Read Kreiger.

x2 If you leave the copper build up in the throat as it gets ironed out it can be bitch to remove sometimes,sometimes not so bad. I do a BI on a virgin barrel for all the time it takes if you own the gun for a lifetime.

It is a commercially available cotton patch.