barrel break in

[mojo]

So what is everyone's barrel break in process? I finally got my rifle for my Long Range project (Remmy 700 5R). Now just need to get the rest of the stuff for it.

So how do you break in the barrel?

Oh ... I know that it didn't happen until there are pics. I will try and get some up in the next few days.

[arrrrgh15]

5R has a stainless barrel.

If it were me I'd clean it out, just to make sure it doesn't have an crud in it from the factory, then go shoot the piss out of it.

Enjoy.

[animalmother85]

Ok, this is what I did for my FN patrol bolt:

When I bought it, I cleaned it with hopes #9. I then lapped the barrel with lapping compound made by JB. I did the prescribed 60 strokes with my Gunslick one piece rod, then cleaned all the lapping compound out with the hopes #9. Took it to my range and fired 3 shots, then cleaned it, fired another 3, then cleaned it. I did this for about 60 rounds. As I shot/cleaned, it took less and less swabs to clean it. Granted, thats what happens when you do that even without lapping, but it cleaned up allot easier allot faster. I have it shooting 1 hole with handloads. My next barrel though, 1 shot, then clean, 1 shot, then clean. Yes, it will take longer, but I think that's a better way. I don't know if I'm gonna lap it or not, I think its already hand lapped from Bartlien anyway. if so, I'm not gonna dare do it again.

You can also fire lap it as well, I have never done this though, I may do it if I buy a budget blaster that I intend to rebarrel someday...

http://www.accuratereloading.com/fire.html

http://www.cabelas.com/p-0044350216321a.shtml

it may increase throat size though...read into it more if your interested.

[Gunny1969]

There are 2 definite schools of thought on barrel break-in. One says to shoot it and forget it, the other gives an elaborate process of polish, shoot, clean, shoot, clean. etc. According to my research (and others) there is no difference in the results between the two. Take this advise for what it's worth...someones opinion.

[Brown-Bear]

I've read a few of these break in threads before and often find myself wondering at what ranges we are talking about? I mean 1 inch groups at 100yds is good shooting. But it should be standard at ranges of less than 200yds with a modern scoped rifle, even without the apparently necessary breaking in period.

I say clean it and go shoot it, adjust your windage and drop over distance and get to it. I see no need for this elaborate process of polishing, cleaning, polishing, worshipping. But thats just my opinion.

[arrrrgh15]

I believe the bench rest crowd will tell you that you must follow an ellaborate break in prodedure. And for their purposes, it might work for them, and might actually be necessary.

However, the 5R is considered a "tactical" rifle, not a bench gun. In this instance I would tell you that your time would be better spent sending rounds down range than scrubbing the barrel. The merrit of this approach will be evident on the little group of holes on the paper, as opposed to a sopping pile of patches.

I know that Bartlien posted break in instructions on their web site, my rifle came with an instruction sheet from the smith, but when I asked him he told me to shoot it and forget it. Based on the results I have gotten from my rifle, he was right.

Like somebody said, there are two schools of thought on this process. I think for your purposes the shoot and forget would be the preferable alternative.

Now the next question will be "How often should I clean it?" You'll get two completely different answers there too.

Good luck and post some pics of the new stick!!!!

[knight0334]

I use Flitz or some other polishing compound on a cleaning rod and wad , then work it up/down the barrel countless times to lap it. It effectively polishes the lands & grooves getting rid of any burrs or irregularities. I then polish the chamber.

After cleanup I shoot 5rnds to zero/sight-in and its done for life. Nothing else is needed.

[BerksCountyDave]

1. Unbox your new rifle.
2. Clean it.
3. Go shoot it.

Done. Barrel break in = waste of time.

[animalmother85]

1. Unbox your new rifle.
2. Clean it.
3. Go shoot it.

Done. Barrel break in = waste of time.

hey Dave, not trying to sound like I'm criticizing your technique or advice, but how far do you shoot? I lapped mine before I shot it, a friend of mine lapped his 700P before he shot it, and they both shoot awesome. Now that's not to say the wouldn't have shot awesome if we didn't, I'm just trying to get a better grasp on how effective this is. I have seen allot of different postings about how group sizes have tightened up about .5MOA in certain cases, but nothing I have witnessed and like I said, I don't know what my rifle would have done if I didn't. I know that certain firearm manufacturers leave allot to be desired when rifling barrels (when you look through a bore scope, there are some imperfections) and they usually clear out pretty good once a few rounds are put through it. Once again, this is not a low blow.

[Tomcat088]

So what is everyone's barrel break in process? I finally got my rifle for my Long Range project (Remmy 700 5R). Now just need to get the rest of the stuff for it.

So how do you break in the barrel?

Oh ... I know that it didn't happen until there are pics. I will try and get some up in the next few days.

When you break in a barrel, you're not smoothing out anything with the lands and grooves down the barrel. You're actually only doing one thing, and that has to do with the chamber, specifically the throat area. When the chamber is reamed, there are little burs at the throat area where it meets the lands and grooves. The rest of the chamber area is polished, but not the throat, because it's very easy to change the dimensions or shape of the chamber, so the throat is left alone. Krieger explains this well on their site, and it's something that you should probably read. Realize that this isn't all about smoothing everything out, it's about smoothing it out and getting the copper and carbon fouling out of the bore before it builds up very much.

http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/Break_...246-wp2558.htm
"With any premium barrel that has been finish lapped -- such as your Krieger Barrel --, the lay or direction of the finish is in the direction of the bullet travel, so fouling is minimal. This is true of any properly finish-lapped barrel regardless of how it is rifled. If it is not finish-lapped, there will be reamer marks left in the bore that are directly across the direction of the bullet travel. This occurs even in a button-rifled barrel as the button cannot completely iron out these reamer marks.

Because the lay of the finish is in the direction of the bullet travel, very little is done to the bore during break-in, but the throat is another story. When your barrel is chambered, by necessity there are reamer marks left in the throat that are across the lands, i.e. across the direction of the bullet travel. In a new barrel they are very distinct; much like the teeth on a very fine file. When the bullet is forced into the throat, copper dust is released into the gas which at this temperature and pressure is actually a plasma. The copper dust is vaporized in this gas and is carried down the barrel. As the gas expands and cools, the copper comes out of suspension and is deposited in the bore. This makes it appear as if the source of the fouling is the bore when it is actually for the most part the new throat. If this copper is allowed to stay in the bore, and subsequent bullets and deposits are fired over it; copper which adheres well to itself, will build up quickly and may be difficult to remove later. So when we break in a barrel, our goal is to get the throat polished without allowing copper to build up in the bore. This is the reasoning for the "fire-one-shot-and-clean" procedure.

Barrels will vary slightly in how many rounds they take to break in because of things like slightly different machinability of the steel, or steel chemistry, or the condition of the chambering reamer, etc. . . For example a chrome moly barrel may take longer to break in than stainless steel because it is more abrasion resistant even though it is the same hardness. Also chrome moly has a little more of an affinity for copper than stainless steel so it will usually show a little more "color" if you are using a chemical cleaner. (Chrome moly and stainless steel are different materials with some things in common and others different.) Rim Fire barrels can take an extremely long time to break in -- sometimes requiring several hundred rounds or more. But cleaning can be lengthened to every 25-50 rounds. The break-in procedure and the clearing procedure are really the same except for the frequency. Remember the goal is to get or keep the barrel clean while polishing out the throat.

Finally, the best way to break-in the barrel is to observe when the barrel is broken in; i.e. when the fouling is reduced. This is better than some set number of cycles of "shoot and clean" as many owners report practically no fouling after the first few shots, and more break-in would be pointless. Conversely, if more is required, a set number would not address that either. Besides, cleaning is not a completely benign procedure so it should be done carefully and no more than necessary."

Notice that they aren't telling you some set procedure because it's different for every barrel and different materials. The barrel is broke in when it's not fouling as much, because the burrs in the throat area have been cleaned up. Can you do this without a "break in" procedure? Sure, you can do it without a break in procedure, but you'll usually have a pretty good plating that will take a while to get out. I will say that you should NOT do any type of lapping on the barrel. Lapping is an art, and not something that the average joe should do, the lapping compounds and shooting is a shortcut and not really how it's done. When a true final lap is done on a barrel, the custom barrel maker makes a lead cast of the entire barrel that are within very tight tolerances. They insert different lapping compounds in different orders, and sometimes even make new casts that are diferent tolerances of certain parts of the barrel to get it done right. 5R barrels are not a normal stock Remington barrel, they get special attention, because it's the thing that sets the rifle apart from the normal line. With production runs of usually 250, and now sometimes 500 year, these are NOT the normal Remington rifle off of the line. The 5R barrels have a reputation of being easy to clean up, and shooters, why the heck would you want to try to lap it some more? On a normal Remington rifle like a 700P (which are sometimes notoriously dirty and long throated, especially the 90's 700P's), or a SPS or something like that throw in a new stock; it might help them out a little bit. Either way, there is NO need to lap a 5R barrel, and I would advise against it.

I realize that you don't have a Krieger barrel, but the principles of breaking it in and why you can do it, still apply. It's not that it will necessarily affect the accuracy so much, or that the rifle won't shoot properly if you don't do it. The principle is that it's easier to clean the rifle a few more times when there's just a little bit of fouling, then letting all the copper build up and try to get it out in one sitting. It's difficult to get a lot of copper out, and don't believe all the hope about how easily the "blue scrubbers" (blue indicates copper, etc) take the copper out, it's not that well. I have tests where people tested bullets in different onces and weighed them to see which one removed the most copper. In 2 different tests it appears to be "wipe out" with and without the accelerator worked best, which is what I use, but even it did not remove all that much copper fouling. Some people say that break in procedure was made up by custom manufacturers to shoot out barrels faster, so that the BR crowd would spend 10% of their barrel life just breaking it in, another good percent making their reload, and then the last half competing with it before they needed another one. This might be the case for some rifles, but even if it took 100 rounds to break in your barrel (which it won't), on a .308 that's not even close to 5% of the barrel life. I personally cleaned my Krieger after every shot for the first 3 shots( 1-1-1). I then cleaned it every 3 shots for the next 9 (3-3-3). I then cleaned it every 5th shot for 10 more (5-5). After that it wasn't fouling significantly anymore and I haven't cleaned it since.

You should be aware that you damage barrels WAY more often by over cleaning them, than you do by not cleaning them. Shooting clean bore rifles is much more hard on the barrel than shooting it dirty. You also have the potential to damager the crown and/or the chamber by not properly cleaning your rifle. Even with a bore guide, it's possible to damage your barrel. This is why I refuse to clean my rifle after every shot for 20 shots, or something like that; you run a much higher risk making the barrel not shoot by damaging it, than you do if you just shot it dirty. There are differences between cold bore and warm/hot bore shots in LR shooting. Shooting a clean bore rifle all the time DOES have an effect on your cold bore shot as well. There is clean cold bore and dirty cold bore deviation. When you want to talk about true tactical shooting, it's VERY important to know the differences. My rifle gets put up fouled, and it shoots GREAT fouled, that's how it should be. You're gonna have to account for it every time if it's constantly clean bore, and how it varies from your dirty bore shot. This results from the bullet sealing differently than if the bore was dirty. Since the carbon fouling and slight copper fouling helps fill in any low spots in the lands and grooves, and makes a better seal on the bullet.

You can break it in or not, it will not have any significant impact on how it shoots at any distance. It will merely have an effect on how easily the rifle cleans when you do decide to clean it after the throat area is smoothing out. After the barrel is "broke in" (meaning shot and the throat is smoothed out), the barrel will be just as easy to clean, regardless of if you used a break in procedure or not. If you don't do a "break in" and do it gradually, it could be a pain and take several cleanings that first time, but it might not. it's very rare that I clean my barrel so intensely that it's bare steel, in fact only when I was breaking it in. Lots of people may disagree, but that's just what I think.