barrel break-in?

Do what the owner’s manual says…

I personally believe barrel break-in is a myth. For a new rifle I’ll clean the packing grease out and then use. I’ll clean again when the range session is over. Of the 10 or so rifles I’ve owned new over the years I’ve never experience any accuracy problems with the above method. If anything the rifles have become more accurate with use.

Follow the directions, what’s it going to hurt? I have heard that procedure or very similar ones from several people and manufactures.

I've never found nylon brushes to stand up to any real use, especially with solvents. The benchresters use copper brushes almost exclusively.

I love the smell of Hoppe's #9 but haven't found it to be especially good for much of anything. I'd use Butch's Bore Shine, again banking on the benchrester's experience. (You can start a range war over solvents, so bear in mind this is just one mans opinion.)

And I would do a search on "barrel break-in" for a full education. An awful lot of knowledgeable folks have decided that break-in is bunk, manufacturer's suggestions be damned.

Have fun!

I would follow the recommended break-in procedure. The $300+ replacement barrels such as Lothar-Walther are usually hand lapped to perfection and really need very little break-in. The Savage barrels, usually very accurate, are standard production barrels and do not receive the hand lapping to smooth them as much as the high dollar barrels. Therefore the smoothing takes place by shooting and the cleaning removes the initial buildup of bullet debris that collects as you break it in. I have used Hoppe's for many years, and hope to for many more. The smell of Hoppe's means clean to me, with bronze brushes.

NCsmitty

Why doesn't anybody sell barrels that are already "broken-in?"

Why doesn't anybody sell barrels that are already "broken-in?"

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They do! They're called 'hand lapped.' The Shilen that's on my Savage is advertised as 'no break-in required.'

I've never found nylon brushes to stand up to any real use, especially with solvents. The benchresters use copper brushes almost exclusively.

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Really? Interesting...I spent a lot of time over at 6mmbr.com to find out what kinds of cleaning procedures the benchrest folks use so I'd be on the right track with my new Shilen. Seems like a bunch of those guys use nylon. I'm not trying to be obtuse or anything. I just think it's interesting how varied the cleaning/break-in procedures are! Guess there is no 'right' answer.

Why doesn't anybody sell barrels that are already "broken-in?"

They do! They're called 'hand lapped.' The Shilen that's on my Savage is advertised as 'no break-in required.'

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Not really. When you are breaking in a barrel, you are removing the tooling marks in the throat, which is not touched by the barrelmaker's hand lapping procedure. See Krieger's website for details.

Don

Why doesn't anybody sell barrels that are already "broken-in?"

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Because then you no longer have a NIB barrel and/or rifle.

Having said that, unless the customer says otherwise, on our higher-end rifles we will do the barrel break-in for two reaons:

1) We know it was done correctly, and

2) We can verify the rifle's accuracy and function before it ships.

Really? Interesting...I spent a lot of time over at 6mmbr.com to find out what kinds of cleaning procedures the benchrest folks use so I'd be on the right track with my new Shilen. Seems like a bunch of those guys use nylon. I'm not trying to be obtuse or anything. I just think it's interesting how varied the cleaning/break-in procedures are! Guess there is no 'right' answer.

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Well, my benchrest experience is nearly ten years behind me, so I should probably stop passing it off as gospel. If the benchresters are finding that nylon brushes are doing the job these days, then there you go. Of course, it's always safest to bear in mind that the internet and reality aren't always the same thing...

I clean, shoot, clean, shoot, keep repeating.

Use a copper brush with copper solvent and it will go away in no time. You will keep on scrubbing and keep getting blue on the patches. And that blue you keep getting on the patches is not the copper fouling coming out of the bore.
You don't even want to know how I found this out.

Thanks theken206, that seems reasonable to me.

Yeah, great post theken206, that oughta put this one to rest. At least it did for me.