Brand New Gun- Any Procedures For "Break In" or Just Fire It?

[GaCop]

I recently received a 223 AI barrel from Sinarms. It's stainless steel. to date, I have 115 rounds down the tube with no break in. I am now using KG12 cleaner along with the occasional Montana Extreme 50 BMG, Slip 2000 for carbon and Bore Tech Eliminator. Other than carbon, I get no indication of copper at all..............Devin Rules.

[bluealtered]

Well chevy327, if we haven't totally confused you by now , ... just let us know cuz this subject goes on forever. blue

[bigedp51]

Gun Barrel Break-In (Seasoning) Procedure by EABCO

Gun Barrel Break In Procedure

How to Break-In (or Season) Your Gun Barrel for Optimum Accuracy and Velocity

Brand new gun barrels will have microscopic burrs on the surface of the bore... They're left over from the machining processes used to make the barrel and are completely normal. These burrs wear themselves smoother and smoother each time you fire your gun... Its a process that old timers sometimes call "seasoning", and when a barrel is fully seasoned, it will be shooting with its best accuracy and velocity. In recent years, the seasoning "process" has become more directly addressed and is popularly referred to as a "Break-In Procedure." Now, there really is no exact Break-In Procedure that works the best for every caliber, cartridge, barrel, or bullet material... Certainly with regular firing and cleaning every gun barrel will eventually reach the optimum broken-in/seasoned condition. But, to make break-in or seasoning a purpose in itself requires an awareness for how well it is progressing and a wisdom to change your approach when results indicate a change is needed. In other words, Breaking-In is not a science but rather the art of a wise, skilled rifleman. And so to my mind "Seasoning" is a better term to describe what goes on as a bit of Rifle Wisdom.

It is the intent of this article to provide you with the wisdom to properly season any rifle barrel. And even though there is no exact Break-In/Seasoning procedure, there IS a common purpose... Summed up by these two points:

First, the rifled bore is broken in (seasoned) by the friction, pressure, and velocity of fired bullets against the bore surface. Simply put, this is accomplished by alternately firing and cleaning in a thoughtful, methodical way.

Second, for the seasoning to to be most effective, the rifled bore surface must be clean... To allow consistent and direct contact with each fired bullet. In fact its the cleaning process that makes the seasoning procedure more or less effective depending on the caliber, cartridge, barrel,... And even the bullet material.

USP Bore Paste for Break-In Cleaning - We've gravitated to USP Bore Paste as our first choice for a cleaning process during break-in or seasoning of any barrel. Being a softer-than steel abrasive substance, Bore Paste works like sand paper to remove any kind of fouling quickly and reliably. It removes carbon, lead, and copper equally well... Which makes it an excellent first choice cleaner for use in break-in/seasoning of all gun barrels.

Wipe-Out Bore Foam Gun Cleaning Solvent - This used to be our first choice and we still recommend it highly for regular cleaning of carbon, lead and copper from gun barrels. Leave it in 15-30 minutes to dissolve most fouling. Leave it in overnight to dissolve the really difficult fouling. Sometimes break-in fouling is the difficult kind.

KG 12 and KG Gun Cleaning Solvents - This is another option for cleaning your gun barrel. KG 12 can be very aggressive and quick in removing copper. Other KG solvents are excellent for carbon and lead removal.

Different Results Require Different Cleaners - Sometimes Wipe-Out dissolves the best. Sometimes KG 12 dissolves the best. Whether its a different kind of copper, a harder lead, or what... Sometimes you have to switch to a different solvent or cleaning method to get the bore clean between break-in shooting sessions.

PROCEDURES: Use These and Then Adjust After You See the Results - You’ll have to get a sense for how much break-in your barrel needs. Watch the amount of fouling on your patches and detect when it seems to become less prevalent and more consistent. For example, on Chromoly (blue) barrels we recommend fire once, clean once, fire once, clean once for 5-25 shots. Chromoly is more resistant to abrasion than stainless. So, on stainless we recommend fire once, clean once, fire once, clean once for only the first 5 shots. Likewise, small calibers tend to break in differently than larger calibers. So, watch the color of your patches to see a point where the amount of fouling between shots settles to a consistent amount. When it settles, go to the next break-in step.

Chromoly (Blue) Barrel Break-In: 5-25 one shot cycles, 2 three-shot cycles, and 1 five shot cycle.
Stainless Barrel Break-In: 5 one shot cycles, 1 three shot cycle, and 1 five shot cycle.

Solvents Recommended - Avoid harsh cleaners that contain a high concentration of ammonia. For a mild abrasive/lapping and cleaning action, we recommend USP Bore Paste... It’s especially useful for breaking in barrels but also a great regular bore cleaner. For serious copper removal, we recommend Wipe-Out bore foam followed with Butch’s Bore Shine (for mild clean-up after Wipe-Out). For lubrication after all cleaning, we recommend Clenzoil... Which protects the metal and also helps to reduce fouling. Something new is KG-12 Copper Remover and KG-2 products...

http://www.eabco.com/Reports/BarrelBreakIn.htm

[ajlandis]

I've done everything from fire-lapping to shoot-n-clean for eternity to just shoot the tar out of it. Currently, my two most accurate rifles didn't have any 'break-in' at all. And I second the line of thought that improper cleaning ruins more barrels than anything else.

[82boy]

I second the line of thought that improper cleaning ruins more barrels than anything else.


I agree 100% and you bring up one of the most important things in this entire thread. Improper cleaning is what KILLS barrels period. This is why anytime a cleaning rod is used it MUST be accompanied by a good quality bore guide. (Like a Possum Hollow, or Sinclair) I would never think of cleaning ANY rifle without a bore guide, and a good 1 piece rod.

[bigedp51]

Barrel break procedures were written by custom barrel makers and their barrels can be smooth as glass as you could see in the videos I provided.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/Clear.gif

The problem 95% of us have is we have standard commercial barrels that are not smooth and hand lapped and are more like etched, frosted glass or sand blasted glass.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/FrostedClear.gif

There are two types of copper transfer methods to your barrels, high temperature vaporized copper that is like a plating process and copper that sticks to rough areas of the bore through friction.

If you take magnifying glasses and a bore light you will be able to see "inside" your bore and be able to make a determination of how smooth your bore is by having a close up look at the surface of your bore.
(cheep bastards bore scope)

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/IMGP7334.jpg

If you can see lines "across" the bullets path like below, then in my opinion it is a waste of time using any break in procedures because a bore brush and copper solvent are "NOT" going to smooth your bore, and is why the Savage barrel below is being Fire Lapped.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/firelapping.jpg

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/firelapping2.jpg

Many people do not like or believe in using J&B Bore Paste or Iosso Bore polish, but what you should remember is the polishing/cleaning media is softer than barrel steel and will not scratch or harm the bore. Also remember at 43,000 cup chamber pressure and above is where the peak flame temperature has reached the melting point of modern barrel steels. In simple language this means shooting your rifle does more harm to the bore than J&B or other polishing/cleaning compounds would ever do to your barrel.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/IMGP7252.jpg

With a standard rough factory barrel that has tooling marks I clean the bore with a foam bore cleaner to remove the copper and then use J&B or Iosso bore polish to "polish" and "smooth" the rough areas. And use "shooting" to further smooth the bore with the idea of less is more when it comes to putting a cleaning rod inside the bore.

You will never break in a barrel using cleaning/break in procedures outlined here when the bore looks like the one below.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/roughbore.jpg

Your break in procedures were written for custom made barrels with bores as smooth as glass, and not a rough bore on a common commercial rifle.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/smoothbore.jpg

[wsmitty01]

I have had 2 Stevens 200 rifles, a 7mm08 and 300 mag. I used the above break-in using JB bore paste and polished after each shot for 25 shots. The 7mm 08 now has about 120 rounds through it and will shoot .5 -.75 at 100 all day long with factory remington 120. The 300 has about 60 rounds and does about 1.2 - 1.5 at 200 with factory 165's, and has actually gone under an inch a couple of 3 shot groups on really good days. I'll keep doing what I'm doing and what I've been doing for the last 40 years of shooting.. I little bit of extra time and care doesn't seem to hurt in the accuracy department!!! And they are VERY easy to clean with little to no copper fouling!!