Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG?

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - Printable Version

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Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - FlashHercules - 06-25-2020

Finally getting out to the lease this weekend to dial in my 13" Grendel upper, get some chronograph data, zero my scope, etc... but I'm not sure what ammo to use for the break in procedure. I'm thinking the Wolf bimetal projectiles could make it a little easier when cleaning fouling, but wanted to get y'all's opinion first.

Thanks in advance!

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - Mesa1978 - 06-25-2020

Lilja barrel didn't need break in, Savage bolt in 6.5 Creedmoor I used AG and followed Savage recommendation for shot frequency and cleaning.

Bottom line, depends upon barrel, but most factory barrels will come in after 50-100 shots, some never do.

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - mdram - 06-25-2020

i would shoot something like american gunner
as for what and how, what does your barrel maker recommend?
i followed this
https://bartleinbarrels.com/break-in-and-cleaning/

fouling was low, and group sizes tightened fast, less then 10 rounds
still may be breaking in the throat, but i considered it done after 10

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - Rosecrans1 - 06-26-2020

Wolf bullets are actually a little undersized unless their new stock has been corrected. That said, I wouldn't break in any rifle with non-brass cases. Stick to factory offerings of brass cased cheaper priced offerings like the American Gunner or PPU.

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - Grendelshooter - 06-26-2020

Rosecrans1 Wrote:Wolf bullets are actually a little undersized unless their new stock has been corrected. That said, I wouldn't break in any rifle with non-brass cases. Stick to factory offerings of brass cased cheaper priced offerings like the American Gunner or PPU.

I dont think the cases have anything to do with it, a proper rifle can run steel case with ease.
Bi-metal jackets though, yeah those might be a bit more abrasive than copper.

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - Wafavre2 - 06-26-2020

I would use Hornady Black and get a base line of what the barrel will do. IIRC PPU are undersized bullets also. For break in I shot 10 rounds of Black 123 gr. and 10 rounds of SST 123 gr cleaning between shots 1-3-3-3-5-5. This is the results PF Bartlein 20
[ATTACH=CONFIG]16364[/ATTACH]

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - A5BLASTER - 06-26-2020

Honestly just buy a 200 round case of American gunner ammo, leave the cleaning supplys at home, go to the range shoot all 200 rounds making sure not to get the barrel hot to the touch, go home clean bore and chamber and then enjoy your rifle working up some fine shooting handloads.

Barrel break in is a waist of time and energy, I stopped doing that mess a few years ago and all my newer guns shoot submoa as long as I'm doing what I should behind the trigger.

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - southpaw - 06-26-2020

A5BLASTER Wrote:Barrel break in is a waist of time and energy, I stopped doing that mess a few years ago and all my newer guns shoot submoa as long as I'm doing what I should behind the trigger.

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - diddlyv - 06-26-2020

I got a 500 round box of wolf when first got my original grendel with barrier defense upper. Was grouping 50% to 100% larger than 123 SST factory hornady. Have not really shot it since.

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - FlashHercules - 06-26-2020

Thanks for all the replies! I'll just shoot my first few groups with the AG.

The barrel is a 13" Sanders Armory stainless match 5r, which I'm 99.9% sure is a house branded Satern Liberty (based on the barrel profile, rifling type, and hints from SA about their barrel manufacturer.) I figure, if I can get better accuracy for a longer span of the barrel's lifetime, the juice could be worth the squeeze. Being a house brand barrel, it's unlikely they took great time and care with QC, so odds are higher that there's burrs to be knocked down. And, since I'll be taking chrono readings and dialing in my scope, it wouldn't hurt anything doing a few cleanings in between groups... though I doubt I'll go as far as many folks suggest.

About the Hornady Black, the 123gr AG is the same ammo as the Black 123gr BTHP, just bulk packaging vs 20/box. I do intend to pick up some ELD 123gr as well, but I doubt I'll find any locally before I go to the lease.

As for the Wolf, my case has a mfg date of 12/19, which is 8 months after Bill Alexander spoke of the Barnaul Grendel production line being retooled. According to him, their projectiles are now sized properly at 0.264... though I cannot confirm without any means of pulling bullets. I will report back with accuracy results after the trip.

Thanks again for the help!

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - FLshooter - 06-26-2020

I used to use barrel break in methods .But, I realized its a waste of time and ammo. I just load and shoot whatever ammo I intend to use.And I clean my gun as I always have regularly. By running a nylon brush Through the barrel and as many patches it takes for them to come out clean after every 100rds,or shooting session.
And of course it depends on the barrel you own.A quality hand lapped barrel will perform well from sight in.A mass produced barrel will probably require a few 100 rds to smooth out and maybe shoot better,or not.

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - Klem - 06-27-2020

^^^
What he said,

First round from the hip or look away as you pull the trigger (safety) then carry on as normal.

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - FRB6.5 - 06-27-2020

One word of warning on Sanders 13's. I just received one and it is wildly over gassed with a 0.094" port, 0.062 to 0.068 are the more common size ranges for the shorter barrels. Use of an adjustable gas block or gas key or carrier would be advisable.

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - DeanD - 07-02-2020

Had a 16" barrel with an .094" gas port and it was way over-gassed. Plugged it and drilled it .062" and it runs like a champ. An even shorter barrel is probably even worse. For the life of me I don't understand why these barrel makers are drilling a gas port .094" on a barrel shorter than 20". I put a post in the gunsmithing section on plugging the gas block with an 8-32 set screw with a .062" hole drilled in it. Cheap and unbelievably easy fix without spending all the money on an adjustable gas block.

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - DeanD - 07-02-2020

Had a 16" barrel with an .094" gas port and it was way over-gassed. Plugged it and drilled it .062" and it runs like a champ. An even shorter barrel is probably even worse. For the life of me I don't understand why these barrel makers are drilling a gas port .094" on a barrel shorter than 20". I put a post in the Troubleshooting section on plugging the gas block with an 8-32 set screw with a .062" hole drilled in it. Cheap and unbelievably easy fix without spending all the money on an adjustable gas block. You can go smaller on the hole if you think that would help.

http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?21620-Failure-to-Eject-due-to-excessive-gas-port-UPDATE-Problem-solved-w-custom-gas-plug

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - 65newloader - 08-11-2020

2nd that. Got mine and waaaayyyy over gassed. I nearly closed the adjustable gas block and got it running smoothly.

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - Cotay - 08-12-2020

FlashHercules Wrote:Finally getting out to the lease this weekend to dial in my 13" Grendel upper, get some chronograph data, zero my scope, etc... but I'm not sure what ammo to use for the break in procedure. I'm thinking the Wolf bimetal projectiles could make it a little easier when cleaning fouling, but wanted to get y'all's opinion first.

Thanks in advance!

I won't waste quality ammo on a function test. For ARs that I assemble with non-adjustable gas, I function test with the cheapest stuff I have on hand or can find locally. For those builds with adjustable gas systems, I use the weakest I can find when dialing in the gas. I don't do the "break in" voodoo ritual, just a thorough cleaning afterward.

For my four Grendel AR builds, I have used Wolf. I have used other brands of steel case on other builds as well. I've never had a steel case round stick, fail to eject, or malfunction in any other way. Personally I have no reservations about firing the stuff in any of my AR builds.

After the initial function test, I attach the applicable optic and then sight in with the ammo that I intend to shoot regularly out of the applicable rifle.

For my bolt actions rifles (including two Grendel rifles), I use the ammo I intend to shoot regularly from the get go.

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - Disciple - 08-12-2020

A5BLASTER Wrote:Honestly just buy a 200 round case of American gunner ammo, leave the cleaning supplys at home, go to the range shoot all 200 rounds making sure not to get the barrel hot to the touch, go home clean bore and chamber and then enjoy your rifle working up some fine shooting handloads.

Is Wolf Gold MPT 120gr (PPU) also fine for this?

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - A5BLASTER - 08-12-2020

Disciple Wrote:Is Wolf Gold MPT 120gr (PPU) also fine for this?

Wolf gold and the ppu ammo on the market are two different ammo's.

Which ammo to use for barrel break in, Wolf or Hornady AG? - Disciple - 08-12-2020

Pardon me, I didn't realize. This is old stock Wolf Gold "120 Gr. Copper MPT" with PPU stamped brass.