Barrel Breakin Procedures - Alexander Arms 18" 6.5 Grendel

[Nomad636]

Hello All,

I'm a new poster to this forum but have been lurking in the shadows for a while now gleaning as much information from you guys as possible.

I have a brand new Alexander Arms 6.5 Grendel with an 18" fluted barrel. I'm wanting to turn this into a long range rifle. What do you guys recommend for barrel breakin procedures? I looked at AA's website and i didn't find any information regarding a recommended breakin procedure.

For glass I went with a Nightforce SHV 3-10 MOAR reticle. The trigger is a Hiperfire 24C set at just over 2lbs. Also, the mount is a Nikon P223 XR with 20moa built in.

Thank you guys for the input.


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[rb288]

Well, I may catch a lot of flack for this, but, I have never adhered to any formal "break in" proceedures.
My "break in" of a new gun consists of just shooting 100-200 rounds through it, then a good cleaning, then shoot some more.
Just shoot it and clean it when your done and you will be fine.

[LRRPF52]

Same here. I just shoot them. If a throat in a particular rifle has tool marks in it that are bad enough, you can just polish it lightly with Flitz, JB Bore Paste, a patch, and a bore brush, but I usually just shoot mine and don't worry about the hoolahoop drills.

For guys that shoot BR, I know there are all kinds of routines, but I don't have time for that.

[Nomad636]

Thank you guys for the input. I really appreciate it. After calling AA, they told me to just go shoot it and not to worry about "break in" procedures. I also asked them where they sourced their barrels from and they told me that they make them in house. I didn't realize this. I will be posting pictures next week of my groups.

[Squatchy]

I heard a funny story about this from a long time NRA shooter. Not sure if it's true but kinda makes sense. I was told that barrel makers of the calibers that have short barrel lives were telling their customers that the barrel needed to be broken in with X amount of rounds. Well if the break in process is 1/4 of the barrel life then that means the customers will be returning back much faster for new barrels. And the whole barrel break in thing kinda stuck

I'm sure there is an actual break in process for those extreme accuracy shooters but nothing an everyday shooter will need to worry about

[kmon]

On factory barrels that copper foul baddly it seems a breakin of shoot, clean shoot for 20 or so shots helps reducy copper fouling. On custom barrels that have been lapped not so much. I shoot and let the rifle tell me

[Fredman]

I heard a funny story about this from a long time NRA shooter. Not sure if it's true but kinda makes sense. I was told that barrel makers of the calibers that have short barrel lives were telling their customers that the barrel needed to be broken in with X amount of rounds. Well if the break in process is 1/4 of the barrel life then that means the customers will be returning back much faster for new barrels.

I was also told that more barrels were ruined by improper cleaning technique than shooting. Not sure if that's completely true, but it makes you think...

[dfp23]

I was trained and advised on all these elaborate barrel break in procedures resulting in never really getting me anymore tangible accuracy than just shooting the crap out of it! I typically shoot a couple hundred rounds and then clean it. The only thing I do after a range session is a wipe down and a little lube. It was a hard habit to break from the ol' Army white glove treatment after each range session. Gas guns run better with a little carbon build up anyway.

[Nomad636]

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Accuracy Update. I went to my local range yesterday and got her sighted in. At 200yds I have just over a 1" grouping for 6 shots. (Don't mind the outlying shots as they were done by one of my friends).

I must say that I couldn't be happier with the 6.5 Grendel and the Hornady 123gr SST ammunition. Hog hunting didnt pan out this weekend but I'm going the weekend of the 16th and will hopefully be uploading some pictures of some dead piggies.

[LRRPF52]

Sweet. What zero are you going to use, taking behind the ear shots into consideration?

[Nomad636]

I'm going to be using a 100yd zero. That is what I ended up zeroing the rifle at. The rail has 20moa built in, so I have plenty of adjustment to get out to the longer ranges.

The next step is for me to build my range card with my dope out to the various distances. Unfortunately, the range I go to only has 200yds. So I need to find a place that I can stretch out my shooting.

Head shots is my preferred method of pig hunting. I hate having to track the little buggers.