some of you might find a recent thread interesting.   I've been documenting my break in process with pictures on another forum.   i mentioned it 3 weeks ago in this thread but now have enough rounds on the barrel to be meaningful.

The result on these two barrels, to date, has been representative of most past barrels in my experience.

In short, i postulate that a short break in process is conducive to low SDs by eliminating copper fouling as a variable.  (i make no claims regarding accuracy, though tighter velocity spreads obviously affect vertical dispersion at longer ranges)

On one barrel, i document the break in, then clean again at various intervals, after 25 rounds, up to a couple hundred, to demonstrate that copper does not build up after break in.

On the other barrel, I document the break in (2 rounds), then just shoot it, and am up to 400 rounds (as of today).  
At 182 rounds, I chrono'd and got
2779
2779
2783
2782
2779

which is a 4 FPS ES and a 1 SD.

At 390-400 rounds, I chrono'd and got an ES of 11 and SD of 3 FPS.   The point being, the barrel hasn't been cleaned since the 2nd round.  So, 398 rounds since it was cleaned, and it's still shooting low single digit ES.  AND, once the velocity stabilized, from 182 to 400 rounds, the Mean has only moved 2 FPS.



you can read the thread here http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=797080.  feedback on either site is welcome.

If anyone can demonstrate similar results with a copper fouled barrel, i would be interested in seeing it.  It should be relatively easy since so many people "just shoot it" with no cleaning whatsoever.  That's not a challenge to anyone's manhood.  I am genuinely interested in the topic.   Specifically, I'd like to see chorno results for a barrel that has several hundred rounds on it and has never been cleaned.  Then if you're willing, either show bore scope video or clean it with a copper solvent to show copper removed.

Interesting. What solvent do you recommend?

i don't really know much about solvents.   i get the same results from shooters choice and butches.  i imagine they all work, though some may be harsher than others.  the foam seems to get good reviews too but i've never tried it.
i think the boretech guy is a member here, right?  he may have some useful insight.   i think the tiborasaurus rex sniper 101 videos had some recommendations too, but probably not worth watching 60 hours of it again to remember what they were

WipeOut foam is pretty epic. Easy to use and relatively easy to clean up after. Follow the directions carefully.

I'm doing a one shot and clean repeat 10-12 times, then 5 shots and clean a few more times on a new Lilja match barrel, per their protocol.  They recommended Butches Bore Shine, so that's what I am doing.  I'm in the five shot phase now and blue is almost completely gone on the patches.  Not really trying seriously for groups yet, but easily sub MOA already.

I always find barrel break in interesting, especially when elite barrel manufacturers are producing barrels from virtually the same material/stock yet one says some elaborate cleaning/break-in routine is their recommendation while the other basically says "clean upon arrival of your new barrel, shoot 3 to get on paper, clean, shoot 3 more to to zero, clean one last time, then shoot the piss out of it" (some of you probably know what video I'm talking about in terms of this)

I personally go with the latter method and don't look back until accuracy degrades (which can be 100s of rounds before any noticeable change...check some precision barrel owners go 500+). Sure, I might run a patch or two through it when I get home but a legit cleaning happens few and far between for me

With my Lilja 1-9" 6 groove chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor copper fouling pretty much stopped at 6 rounds. Then I switched to 5 and clean until I hit 50 and proceed to clean every 50 or so.

I'm no expert on if it matters or not, but I figure it can't hurt. If you deposit copper in the tool marks you're trying to smooth out I'd imagine it's going to take longer to break in.

But, most top level competition manufacturers DO recommend break in that is invariably some variation of a technique designed to simultaneously use copper jacketed bullets to polish the throat between the case mouth and rifling while removing that copper quickly afterward.  While the precise recommendation varies, this is the objective.

Once the break in is done, you can go extended rounds before cleaning.  But, it is very important to FIRST get the reamer marks out of the throat and even the barrel, if it was not lapped by the manufacturer, and remove those initial copper deposits before they get burnished into place and become difficult to remove later.  This may take as few as six shoot and clean cycles, or as many as a couple dozen until the patches no longer show green copper.

Use Butches Bore Shine or Barnes CR-10 ammonia based solvents on the copper during break in.  Might not ever need it later, except with pure copper monolithic bullets like Bsrnes TSX.

This applies to sub MOA match barrels.  If you are thinking the process will turn a 2 MOA barrel into a tack driving 1/2 MOA barrel, it will not. Such barrels need no break in except to promote ease of cleaning.