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Barrel break in.........do you?

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Barrel break in.........do you? was created by faawrenchbndr

Ok,......barrel break in. Do you? If so, what is your routine.

-I personally do,......kinda.
-I take a new rifle to the range, clean the barrel, patches, jag and bore solvent.
-I fire twenty rounds, being careful to not let the barrel get hotter than I can hold my hand on it for three seconds.
-I use "Wipe Out, Patch Out" with patches, nylon brush and more patches. When patches come out clean, I use a BoreSnake as a mop, pass through three times.
-I then go back to shooting, I follow this twenty shots and cleaning routing for 200 rounds.

I store rifles with wet bores, normally with Slip 2000 EWL, patch out dry before firing.
I only use a Dewey carbon fiber cleaning rod at home, Otis kit gets the job done, if needed, at the range.
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10 years 10 months ago #25061

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Replied by Siscowet on topic Barrel break in.........do you?

New rifle, I clean it just as I would any time. Hoppes no 9 with a nylon bristle brush. Patch it, light oil, then patch it again with a dry patch. Shoot however many rounds it takes to dial in sights and optics. Usually 20 or so for both. Soot another 20 for fun. Clean it, light oil for storage. In other words, no I don't. I only have one stainless steel barrel, a Savage 30-06, and all my AR barrels are hard chrome lined. If it has affected their accuracy, then I am not a good enough shooter to notice the difference. With a stainless bull barrel, I probably would. None of my rifles manuals have recommended any break in for the barrels I have.
10 years 10 months ago #25062

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Replied by OleCowboy on topic Barrel break in.........do you?

I am of the school of thought that less is more as opposed to my upbringing that if the patch did not come out clearer than it went in you did not clean enough.

The old 'white glove' should be no more. I feel what is important is the fouling that can build up especially with copper.

1) Clean your new gun well, till you get a clean patch, This insures that any debris, preservatives, bugs, lint, fuzz, etc or anything else that might have got in there prior to first shoot is gone. I recommend you clean at the range itself that way you start out as clean as possible.

2) Fire one rd and clean

3) Fire 3 rds and clean

4) fire 5 rds and clean

5) stay with this till after 5 rds the patch stays clean at that point your broken in and the cycle no longer needs to be adhered to.

Clean patch: Clean means just clean, not white glove clean just clean, you want to clean your bbl NOT wear it out from cleaning

Ammo: ALL of this is predicated upon using QUALITY ammo other wise you are just shooting dirt down the bbl. After break in you can buy into a cheaper ammo but for break in purposes buy the good stuff, you will break in faster and have better results...
10 years 10 months ago #25064

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Replied by magi on topic Barrel break in.........do you?

Now that I am using FrogMan Lube that costs more than saffron because its made from real frog spit.. Milked by genetically engineered... especially trained from birth.. Beautiful naked Amazon Indian girl frog spit milkers..... I don't know..... Probable just wipe it out with Frog spit and dry patches every few rounds.. For an unknown period of time..........
10 years 10 months ago #25065

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Replied by Siscowet on topic Barrel break in.........do you?

Magi, I hate to tell you, it isn't the spit from the frog.......
;) :whistle:
10 years 10 months ago #25067

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Replied by magi on topic Barrel break in.........do you?

We'll I heard that from online discussions of why it's so expensive and that the secret ingredients are more secret than McDonald's secret sauce... Because the inventor had been a member of a top secret Seal team with an unknown Seal team secret numeric designation........
If you google "Frog Spit Lube secret ingredients that cost a lot " it will come up......
Last edit: 10 years 10 months ago by magi.
10 years 10 months ago #25078

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Replied by jtallen83 on topic Barrel break in.........do you?

I used a wet then dry patch after each round for 5 then finished the box of twenty and cleaned with a brush then wet and dry. After that it was just standard cleaning after the range. I noticed the patches came out clean real fast after a couple hundred rounds but then I used Hbn on it about that same time. I still clean and re-treat with the Hbn, sparingly, but cleaning is usually just a couple patches with slip2000 and then a dry one before shooting next time. I've read that Hbn has no effect on chrome lined barrels but I haven't seen any harm.
I use the Otis kits, used to get them "used" on ebay for $10 so I have a few. I have all sorts of cleaning rods and bore guides but haven't used them much since getting the Otis system.
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10 years 10 months ago #25080

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Replied by bipe215 on topic Barrel break in.........do you?

New rifles are about the only time I follow manufacture's instruction. In everything else, I consider it manly to throw instructions away. :)

Steve
10 years 10 months ago #25083

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Replied by 13fcolt on topic Barrel break in.........do you?

I believe this break in stuff originates from fire lapping an old bore back to life. I have done this myself and it works surprisingly well. The procedure is just too similar. By removing the copper build up in the low spots, the high spots smooth out faster. Even without the abrasives used in typical fire lapping, an old pitted mauser can be observed to become more accurate as it's being "broken in". Abrasives just do it faster.
I have also used JB bore paste in a lengthy break in to smooth a barrel that was fouling too quick with good results. Over the course of 20 rounds, this rifle would shoot better, then start to get worse. After the break in, she would hold consistent groups almost to 200 rounds.

All of this was on old or rack grade barrels. The last time I was doing a break in was on a new kreiger AR15 barrel. Tight match chamber, short throated for varmint bullets, already hand lapped out of the box, there was no change in the barrels performance. I followed a clean every 5 shots ritual which was supposed to go on for 100 rounds but I quit early, not seeing the small groups get any smaller.

My current regimen is just shoot a new barrel. If it fouls quick, or does not deliver as expected, then try a break in or just go straight to hand lapping. I just don't think it is doing any good to try to break in a quality barrel that's already smoother than it's ever going to be.
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10 years 10 months ago #25084

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Replied by SOC on topic Barrel break in.........do you?

First 10 - 1 shot and clean with JB past and mop, run dry patch to remove excess, than lightly oiled patch using FP-10

Next 10 to 100 - 10 shots and clean with FP-10 on Boresnake. Test with FP-10 patch before and after to verify level (hopefully decreasing over time) of copper fouling.
10 years 10 months ago #25109

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