i've been reading about a lot of procedure and a few smiths that don't believe in it. what's your opinion? what has worked best for you?
also, which bore guide do you use? i was looking at the Delrin sold on saterns website.
what bore cleaner? i've used this on my previous guns http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?pr...g-_-122065
Thanks
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10-02-2011, 06:27 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-02-2011, 06:38 PM by VASCAR2.)
I think the higher quality barrels should be good to go from the factory because of the precision used in their manufacture and I see no need to try anything special for a chrome lined barrel because the chrome is designed to reduce wear. Now whether it helps a rack grade chrome moley barrel or not I can't say. I bought a J&T Shaw 16" barrel and I used this procedure I found. My J&T shoots better than I can even off a bipod at 100 yards. The few rounds of Hornady 123 A-Max factory I've fired off a Caldwell lead sled have been basically one hole groups at 100 yards. I figured it couldn't hurt to try this procedure and as far as I can tell it definitely didn't hurt my barrel.
BREAK-IN PROCEDURE FOR GUN BARRELS USING JACKETED BULLETS
For the first ten shots we recommend using jacketed bullets with a nitro powder load (Most Factory Ammo). Clean the oil out of the barrel before each shot using a simple window cleaner (like Windex®) which will soak the oil out of the pores. After firing each cartridge, use a good copper cleaner (one with ammonia) to remove the copper fouling from the barrel. We do not recommend anything with an abrasive in it since you are trying to seal the barrel, not keep it agitated.
After cleaning with bore cleaner, clean again with window cleaner after each shot. Use window cleaner because many bore cleaners use a petroleum base which you want to remove before firing the next shot. This will keep the carbon from building up in the barrel (oil left in the pores, when burned, turns to carbon).
To keep the temperature cool in the barrel, wait at least 5 minutes between break-in shots. The barrel must remain cool during the break-in procedure. If the barrel is allowed to heat up during the break-in, it will destroy the steel’s ability to develop a home registration point, or memory. It will have a tendency to make the barrel “walk” when it heats up in the future. We have all seen barrels that, as they heat up, start to shoot high and then “walk” to the right. This was caused by improperly breaking in the barrel (generally by sitting at a bench rest and shooting 20 rounds in 5 minutes or so). If you take a little time in the beginning and do it right, you will be much more pleased with the barrel in the future.
Look into the end of the barrel after firing a shot, and you will see a light copper-colored wash in the barrel. Remove this before firing the next shot. Somewhere during the procedure, around shot 6 or 7, it will be obvious that the copper color is no longer appearing in the barrel. Continue the window cleaner and bore cleaner applications through shot 10.
Following the initial ten shots, you then may shoot 2 rounds, cleaning between each pair of shots, for the next 10 shots. This is simply insuring that the burnishing process has been completed. In theory, you are closing the pores of the barrel metal that have been opened and exposed through the cutting and hand lapping procedures.
BREAK-IN PROCEDURE FOR BARRELS USING LEAD BULLETS
The same shooting-cleaning process may be used when firing lead bullets and black powder with this exception: shoot 2 cartridges, then clean for the first 30 rounds. Naturally, you will use a cleaner appropriate for black powder. You can also use harder lead if available to accelerate the break in. This will accomplish the same as the jacketed bullets.
It may take 80 to 100 rounds to break in with lead. That is why we recommend using jacketed bullets when possible. After this procedure, your barrel’s interior surface will be sealed and should shoot cleaner and develop less fouling for the rest of its shooting life.
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On the older AA site the procedure was listed. I used it, it was no fun. , took a while. My bbl. shoots great, I can't say if that method helped or not, but it made me feel that at least I tried.
I'm going for popcorn. This comes up every once in a while, and is usually a long thread with no new information. It ends up being a Ford or Chevy kind of argument.
Everyone has their opinion, but there is little really hard data on the issue. Hard data would require taking a number of barrels from the same manufacturer, produce them in to exactly the same rifle or pressure barrel. Then break in some, not break in others. After that break in is completed, you would have to continue shooting exactly the same ammo until accuracy began to fall off. Then compare results.
Just the ammo costs would be incredible...try burning up 20 barrels (10 broken in, 10 not broken in) using factory ammo...
From what I've read, its not worth the trouble. I did not break in my Grendel or my 18" BCM AR bbl and they both shoot great. However, if it makes you feel better, then have at it!
chrome lined i see no reason in cause chrome lining is inconsistent anyway...but on my stainless barrels ive done both ways spec break in and not at all and i cant tell a difference ...with that said ,like above if it makes u feel better do it ..but in my exp i havent seen a differance
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Every round you use to break in a barrel is one less round of fun! Unless you like cleaning barrels, then go for it!
You seek escape from pain. We seek the achievement of happiness. You exist for the sake of avoiding punishment. We exist for the sake of earning rewards. Threats will not make us function; fear is not our incentive. It is not death that we wish to avoid, but life that we wish to live. - John Galt
Yutyut,
Your Templar barrel will not need to be broken in. If someone has a crap barrel with terrible bore geometry, like large crevices, rough edges on the lands, etc, then it might just need to be replaces with a quality cut-rifle pipe if you're going for accuracy anyway. The high-end barrel smiths, especially the ones that cut-rifle, usually lap their barrels pretty dang well, and they foul very little. There is no need to "break-in" such a barrel, other than shoot it. If you have a barrel that fouls like crazy, it needs lapping. The "break-in" procedures we often see involving shooting one round, jumping around 3 times with a firey hoolahoop around your neck and waist, shoot another round, etc. is an attempt to fire-lap the barrel with regular projectiles. I'm not a big fan of barrel break-in procedures, and neither are the guys I know who win matches regularly.
Thanks for the input everyone. i was not looking forward to cleaning after every round if that was true. Your right bwaites that would not be fun at all. everything should be here by next week and then its off to LRRPF52 for some cerakote.
I agree that shooting (especially a semi-auto) like a black powder is no fun. (for those of you that don't shoot BP, you have to clean pretty much every round or the accuracy degrades fast...)
However, when I do mine, I shoot 1 round, run a wet patch with Sweets 7.62 cleaner (ammonia based) and then a brass brush, and dry patch/mop through it. Takes only a min or so to do. I do that for the first 10 rounds, and that will allow your barrel to cool, as well as clean it. Then I fire 3 rounds and do that same thing, another 3 and clean, and another 3 and clean. After that, I call it good. I have never had any troubles with that way... But to everyone their own.
Came to the conclusion that breaking in a barrel just shortens the life of it due to the wear. That way you buy a barrel sooner. Im just gonna shoot it to my hearts content. How wet do i run the bolt? Ive been told and read "drenched" with clp.
lube the bolt liberally, pretty wet when you start shooting it for the first time.
It allows everything to burnish in well without undue wear.
make sure you lube the gas rings well.
bwaites Wrote:Every round you use to break in a barrel is one less round of fun! Unless you like cleaning barrels, then go for it!
That's my philosophy!
YutYut Wrote:Came to the conclusion that breaking in a barrel just shortens the life of it due to the wear. That way you buy a barrel sooner. Im just gonna shoot it to my hearts content. How wet do i run the bolt? Ive been told and read "drenched" with clp.
After trying who knows how many different lubricants, I have settled on Slip2000 EWL, which lasts longer on the operating parts than the thinner oils, and displaces volume that could occupied by foreign debris as well. I generously lube the raceways of the bolt carrier, and only keep a light coat on the bolt itself. I also place about 2 drops in the cam pin area. I try to avoid getting oil in the chamber, which will happen if you drench the bolt itself. That can take your chamber pressure into uncharted territories.
yut have LRRPF52 micro-slick it when he cerakotes it or order one of lokis' fail zero coated bcg and parts kit then it will run lubeless
It never made sense to me that a soft copper alloy bullet would have any appreciable effect on a steel barrel in a few dozen shots.
Nope, I can’t prove it. But it just doesn’t sound logical to me.
YMMV!
hobbesgunner
Unregistered
Don't know that it makes a barrel more or less accurate but they do clean easier...can tell by amount of force it takes to run patch through a new barrel compared to one with several hundred rounds through it....so it must smooth'em up considerabley....I've found most new barrels take several hundred rounds to" settle in" so to speak before they really start to shoot tight groups and copper fouling decreases
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