We suggest that every barrel is "broke in". The reason to do this is not always to remove rough spots or tooling marks in the barrel as some would suggest. The reason mainly is to get the grain of the barrel all moving longitudinal. Our barrels are hand lapped so most of this work is done for you so there is little to no break in required. Always use a good copper cleaner when breaking it in to see if there is any copper fouling. As I always tell everyone who asks what a good copper cleaner is, I tell them "open the cap, smell it and if it brings tears to your eyes it is a good copper cleaner". But remember to remove this copper cleaner fully as it is very caustic and if left in too long can actually damage your barrel. Once a barrel is broke in it shouldn't foul.