How do you break in a new rifle?

[killerv]

Clean it well, shoot, clean ever 20 rounds

I just shoot em...Never have believed that all the break-in hype was any more than that.

I submit that rifle "break in" is mostly theoretical, and 999 out of 1000 shooters have no way to prove or disprove any of it.

If you do your part, so will the rifle...

If some guy who shoots groups that you need a micrometer to pick the best one for the day tells me he "breaks in" his barrels, fine. I ain't gonna argue with him.

He shoots better than I do.

You take a guy that can't hit a clay at 100 off a rolled up jacket on the truck hood, and no amount of barrel break in is gonna help him.

He needs shooting practice.

we used those styrofoam containers you get your gas station lunch in, whos got time to go grab a box of clays from walmart

 

[killerv]

For hunting you definitely do not need to break a rifle in

You don't shoot those 2nd and 3rd shots just to check your group after the deer is laying on the ground dead? What's wrong with you?

 

[Dub]

You don't shoot those 2nd and 3rd shots just to check your group after the deer is laying on the ground dead? What's wrong with you?

1-shot groups…..for the win.

 

[Darkhorse]

I've only broke in one rifle the way it was recommended. That was a 300 WM I bought 20 or so years back. I kept good notes and learned a few things of much value.....
It took almost precisely 100 rounds before the rifle settled down and started shooting tight consistant groups.
The rifle needs 5 fouling shots before it settles down and shoots it's best.
Due the fact this rifle has the Browning BOSS and I know how to use it, a direct comparison cannot be made with one of my rifles without it. However the tightest group was right at .250", my deer load was a consistant just under .500", and my elk load came in at .600". As you can see I am a caliper guy and it took a few hundred shots to arrive at this point.
Now compare this to my 7mm mag. which was built in December and I bought a couple of months later in 1982 or '83. I was young and didn't know anything about properly breaking in a barrel so I did'nt bother, I just shot it. A lot. I believe in a lot of practice to build skill. I cleaned it whenever I thought about it but nowhere near regularly. This rifle spent 15 years in a gun safe while I shot other rifles. My best groups were around .750".
So one year I was hunting a power line with possibilities of long shots and decided to breakout the 7 mag. Now over the intervening years I had learned how to load more accurate loads than before and applied this knowledge when working up my load.
My best group is my Avatar. It is .181" if my eyes don't betray me and it shoots to this level consistantly. This 3 shot group was shots number 28,29 and 30 from when I started with a clean barrel.
This comes from a rifle that was shot often and randomly and cleaned only occasionally for 10 plus years.
So judging between the 2 I can't see where the prescribed break in procedure gave any positive benefits over just shooting many shots with a dirty barrel.
This is hardly a good test, it would require many shots through several rifles to obtain the data to make an accurate assessment, so this is merely an observation.

 

[Bobby Bigtime]

I followed the manufacturers recommended procedure on my daughter's Christensen arms 270 and to be honest I was disappointed at first. I thought any rifle you pay that much for should be a tack driver out of the box.I stuck to the plan and watched the groups get steadily tighter and now i am impressed. Years ago I would have sold it off. I am a believer in the break in now.

 

[NCMTNHunter]

A custom rifle maker told me a while back that the only reason he has break in instructions is because he got tired of guys asking him for one and not believing him when he told them they don't need it. So he made one up and put it on his web site to cut down on phone calls.

 

[GA Puma]

Research David Tubbs Final Finish bullets. I appreciated the results on my 300 Win Mag.

 

[Jester896]

A custom rifle maker told me a while back that the only reason he has break in instructions is because he got tired of guys asking him for one and not believing him when he told them they don't need it. So he made one up and put it on his web site to cut down on phone calls.

he must polish the throat on the rifles he makes before sending them out