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help with barrel breakin
- Thread starter termite
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Barrel break in
Schulze had it pretty much right on the money about the factory barrel. I believe that Remington uses a hammer forged barrel for most all factory rifles.
Take it out and shoot it first to see what it does. Get you some differant brands of ammo and try them out. Does get pricey though. Reloading just adds to the various options.
Clean it properly and do not over heat the barrel.
GAR
Schulze had it pretty much right on the money about the factory barrel. I believe that Remington uses a hammer forged barrel for most all factory rifles.
Take it out and shoot it first to see what it does. Get you some differant brands of ammo and try them out. Does get pricey though. Reloading just adds to the various options.
Clean it properly and do not over heat the barrel.
GAR
Larry Rooks
Senior Member
Before I ever shot it, I would clean the barrel real good. Dirt and grit from the factory and shipping can ruin a ggood barrel. Once you do this, then do not shoot it enough at one time to get the barrel extra hot. Five shot groups are enough, clean while warm and let it cool before shooting another 5 shot group. The PRO's say to clean it after evey shot for proper breakin for about 25 shots, but I would not think that necassary with a factory barrel, though it will not hurt other than very time consuming
I noticed that all the posts addressed the issue of whether or not a prolonged break-in procedure would improve accuracy in a given quality of barrel. Nobody had anything to say about the other reason to break in a barrel.
(By the way, before I forget, you CAN go back and break in even a very much fired barrel.)
In addition to maximizing whatever that particular rifle's accuracy may be you will also give yourself more accurate shots between necessary cleanings. I probably didn't say that very well; what I mean is that a properly broken in barrel will fire more shots on target before the build up of residue (powder and copper/lead) degrades accuracy. Also, you will find that it is really easy to clean a broken in barrel compared to one that has not been broken in.
If you do decide to break in the barrel, either a new one or an older, never properly broken in barrel, one thing must be followed rigidly: ALL the residue must be removed at each cleaning.
I do the following: First clean the powder residue with any good powder solvent. (If you are breaking in a black powder rifle, you need a solvent designed for black powder.) Hoppe's #9 is as good as any for this. You won't get a completely clean patch, no matter how many times you run it through, so settle for 3-4 soaked patches, with clean patches to dry the bore betwen each soaked patch. Then, in order to remove the metal, run patches of a good metal-specific solvent. I like Sweet's 7.62. Be aware, however, that this is industrial grade stuff; you can't leave it in the barrel more than about 15 minutes. Since it cleans by chemical action and not by abrasion you want to leave it in the barrel for a length of time. Just be sure to cut it with solvent-soaked patches between applications. Follow directions. Keep repeating the Sweet's until you no longer get any blue/green on your drying patch. This may seem to take forever. You can help the break-in process by using J.B. bore cleaner, also. It won't hurt your barrel no matter how many times you use it. Just be sure to use enough solvent to wash it out.
Okay; as far as shooting procedure goes, it is a real pain to do it right, but the rewards are worth it. On a new barrel or a freshly cleaned older barrel, shoot ONE shot and clean thoroughly, as above. Do this for 10 shots; then shoot three shots and clean. Do this for 10 groups. Finally, shoot five shots and clean. Do this for 10 groups. You will have shot a total of 90 shots and cleaned the rifle a total of 30 times. Like I said, it's a pain.
(By the way, before I forget, you CAN go back and break in even a very much fired barrel.)
In addition to maximizing whatever that particular rifle's accuracy may be you will also give yourself more accurate shots between necessary cleanings. I probably didn't say that very well; what I mean is that a properly broken in barrel will fire more shots on target before the build up of residue (powder and copper/lead) degrades accuracy. Also, you will find that it is really easy to clean a broken in barrel compared to one that has not been broken in.
If you do decide to break in the barrel, either a new one or an older, never properly broken in barrel, one thing must be followed rigidly: ALL the residue must be removed at each cleaning.
I do the following: First clean the powder residue with any good powder solvent. (If you are breaking in a black powder rifle, you need a solvent designed for black powder.) Hoppe's #9 is as good as any for this. You won't get a completely clean patch, no matter how many times you run it through, so settle for 3-4 soaked patches, with clean patches to dry the bore betwen each soaked patch. Then, in order to remove the metal, run patches of a good metal-specific solvent. I like Sweet's 7.62. Be aware, however, that this is industrial grade stuff; you can't leave it in the barrel more than about 15 minutes. Since it cleans by chemical action and not by abrasion you want to leave it in the barrel for a length of time. Just be sure to cut it with solvent-soaked patches between applications. Follow directions. Keep repeating the Sweet's until you no longer get any blue/green on your drying patch. This may seem to take forever. You can help the break-in process by using J.B. bore cleaner, also. It won't hurt your barrel no matter how many times you use it. Just be sure to use enough solvent to wash it out.
Okay; as far as shooting procedure goes, it is a real pain to do it right, but the rewards are worth it. On a new barrel or a freshly cleaned older barrel, shoot ONE shot and clean thoroughly, as above. Do this for 10 shots; then shoot three shots and clean. Do this for 10 groups. Finally, shoot five shots and clean. Do this for 10 groups. You will have shot a total of 90 shots and cleaned the rifle a total of 30 times. Like I said, it's a pain.
Eddy M.
GONetwork Member
RIFLE MAGAZINE and others have done in-depth articles on how to break in a "quality" barrel or a factory gun and their suggestions are basically as Lloyd said--some say using the J&B compound alone prior to shooting is just as good as a break in of 5/clean---myself I have my barrels CYREGENIC (sp) treated before I shoot them then break them in 5/clean with good results--- Cabelas and Midway used to offer a break in package with pre-coated bullets to polish a bore but you must hand load to use these and I have heard they work very good for break in--pm me If you want certain mag. articles It's a lot of work but worth is "sometimes" 
