Rich 10mm
Member
I’m interested in hearing how some people “break in” their new firearms. Snake oil and magic theories welcome.
Breaking in a new rifle or handgun
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MarshallDodge
Member
It depends on the barrel. Factory barrel, I just shoot and clean whenever I get a chance. I might spend a little more time with a match barrel.
Picked up a savage 12fv in 223 not long ago. They way I did it as followed using a coated single piece rod:
get the gun home and take the action out of the stock and give it good cleaning. Using hoppes no. 9 in the barrel, bore brush and then Followed by multiple dry patches.
took it to the range, fired one round, and cleaned again as noted above. I did this a total of three times.
fire a three shot group and cleaned as above. I did this twice.
fire a five shot group and clean again with hoppes, bore brush, and dry patches. I then used slip 2000 carbon killer followed by dry patches and finished up with a lightly coated patch of slip 2000 gun oil and put it away.
I’ll run a dry patch through it before I take it out to shoot it next.
May or may not be the best way to do it but it’s worked for me so far. But I am by no means a world class shooter or bench rest guy.
get the gun home and take the action out of the stock and give it good cleaning. Using hoppes no. 9 in the barrel, bore brush and then Followed by multiple dry patches.
took it to the range, fired one round, and cleaned again as noted above. I did this a total of three times.
fire a three shot group and cleaned as above. I did this twice.
fire a five shot group and clean again with hoppes, bore brush, and dry patches. I then used slip 2000 carbon killer followed by dry patches and finished up with a lightly coated patch of slip 2000 gun oil and put it away.
I’ll run a dry patch through it before I take it out to shoot it next.
May or may not be the best way to do it but it’s worked for me so far. But I am by no means a world class shooter or bench rest guy.
Chuck R.
Member
Factory barrel I used to just clean than shoot, custom barrel I follow the manufacturers break in process.
This winter I bought a new REM M7 in .223 and just for chits and giggles I tried a break-in process, just to see the effect. I ran 3 patches coated with JB bore paste through the barrel before ever firing to smooth things out. I than ran a similar process that I used on my most recent Bartlein barrel. While performing break in I was zeroing and getting a baseline for MVs with different charges, so I'd be better set for load development.
At the end I then fired a 20 shot string and cleaned the barrel. It only took a couple wet patches, no brushing. I know it's just a sample of one, so I'll probably repeat it on my next factory barrel to see if it has the same effect.
This winter I bought a new REM M7 in .223 and just for chits and giggles I tried a break-in process, just to see the effect. I ran 3 patches coated with JB bore paste through the barrel before ever firing to smooth things out. I than ran a similar process that I used on my most recent Bartlein barrel. While performing break in I was zeroing and getting a baseline for MVs with different charges, so I'd be better set for load development.
At the end I then fired a 20 shot string and cleaned the barrel. It only took a couple wet patches, no brushing. I know it's just a sample of one, so I'll probably repeat it on my next factory barrel to see if it has the same effect.
bassjam
Member
I always plan on cleaning the guns before I shoot them, but then I get excited and shoot them as soon as they get home. For the actual "break-in semi-auto's get a few hundred rounds of cheap ammo run through them to ensure reliability. Revolvers get a ton of dry-fires to smooth out the action. I don't really do much to break in bolt actions.
"The sun shouldn't set on a dirty gun." An old saying, attributed to black-powder days, but a good idea, speaking from one who, in his early adulthood, didn't clean his varmint rifle bore much during the season, lest the first shot from a clean bore miss the quarry. The last time I went hunting one season and put the rifle in the closet, next to a sewer stack, I forgot about cleaning the .22-250. A few months later, I picked it up to look at the bore and couldn't see much light through it, due to corrosion. My heart sank and I worked hard to dissolve the rust and get the bore clean, but it was damaged badly.
I was afraid it wouldn't shoot worth a darn, so quickly made up some handloads and drove to the rifle range, 20 miles away. Once there, I posted a target at 200 yards and because none of the portable benches were downrange at the 100 yard mark, I went back to 200 and shot 5 rounds prone, without a rest or sling.
When I walked to the target wondering whether any shots made it that far and hit paper, I was absolutely amazed to see a 5/8" 5-shot group!!! I'd never shot groups prone before and was pleasantly surprised, but my surprise changed to wondering what the heck I put in those handloads!!! Finally, I determined that they were of my regular handload recipe, using CCI 55 grain bullets.
Sorry about the long post. JP
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