While wating to pick up my ArmalLite rifle I read the manual.  It says that to break in the National Match barrel that I should fire one round, then run a bore brush with solvent down the barrel 5 times, follwed by patch.  Repeat for 4 more rounds.  Then move on to shooting 5 rounds before cleaning, for about 30 rounds total.

This seems like an awful lot of cleaning.  I don't even know if my range allows cleaning at the shooting stations.  I know that can't shoot the rounds at my normal cleaning station at home

Is this a normal break-in procedure?  I did not think I bought a National Match barrel.  It is a carbine with a midlength handguard, not free floated.

I'll likely follow the manufacturer's instructions if I can.  Patience.....

I wouldn't bother but I have chrome lined not match barrels, so maybe ya should.Seems like a lot of work!

I have never broke in an ar barrel I generally shoot 60 or so quality brass cased rounds downrange ( LC m855 or M193) then just whatever I bring to the range for the following sessions. I don't notice a difference in cleaning or accuracy. I don't own any match ar's though. I have three ar's right now a 16 BFH bcm, a 16 RRA, and a 12" PSA all have chrome lined barrels and shoot better then I can using M193.

Well..you read the manual right?  If that's what they say then I would.  I did it with mine because that's what the barrel mfg. said should be done.  

Why would the range care if you do it?  You paid for the time/membership to use the lane right?

Hogwash just shoot the fucker.

Yep...crappy barrels get crappy maintenance.  Match barrels get proper maintenance.

I don't break in my match barrels either, just a nice easy sighting in and then once a solid zero w/ladder test I'll clean at home. Maybe 40-60 rds.

If you didn't realize you bought a National Match, then I'd assume you aren't planning on super accurate match shooting.  In that case I'd just shoot it like a regular barrel since you plan to use it as a regular barrel.
If you plan to shoot it as a match barrel, I'd follow manufacturer's instructions.  I don't know if it would make any difference, but I assume they have a reason for giving those instructions.
If you don't follow the instructions, you won't wind up with a "bad" barrel, but you may wind up with one not quite as accurate as it could be, but still plenty good for most shooting.

bobmcc,

I could understand if it was a bolt action but since you have a carbine it doesn't make too much sense. If you have a chrome bore then accuracy beyond service standards isn't an issue. I would clean it after each range outing myself.

Impala

First thing to get straight is, do you have a National Match barrel on it.
If so, follow the manufactures directions.  They know more about their barrels than anyone else.

If you have a chrome lined barrel, no break in is needed, and in fact, no break in is even possible.  
The hard chrome is so hard that you can't break  the bore in, you just wipe the bore out and go shooting.

If you have a non-hard chrome lined barrel, you can break it in if you want.
Note that "Chrome Moly" simply refers to the type of steel the barrel is made from.  Unless you bought a rifle that specifically says it's hard chrome lined it probably isn't.

So, find out if you have a national match barrel, a hard chrome lined barrel, or a non-chrome lined barrel, and do what the manufacturer tells you to do.
Since you bought a carbine, I doubt you have a NM barrel.

For chrome lined don't bother, for match, I would err on the side of caution and break it in. You lose nothing but time. Here are some instructions: http://www.bordenrifles.com/clean.pdf

Thanks everyone.  I think the manual from ArmaLlite covers all their AR pattern rifles, so some sections don't apply.  My receiver is marked SPR MOD 1, but I've seen a YouTube video by ArmaLite president introducing this rifle, and it is not line mine at all. The one in the video had a rail integrated into the receiver.  

Can I tell if the barrel is chrome lined by looking at it?

bobmcc,

I'd pull the bolt back and lock it in place and suing a falsh-light look at the chamber area. If it's silvery looking then it's a good indication it's chromed but it has to have a non shiny type of chrome (mat appearance).

IImpala

I think I found the exact model that I purchased:

http://www.armalite.com/ItemForm.aspx?item=15A4CB-CA&ReturnUrl=Categories.aspx?Category=f7c054fc-87a1-41f1-89bf-df84e8fd90f4

Barrel: 16" Chrome Lined Chrome Moly Vanadium Steel
Rifling Twist: RH 1:9"

That is great.  I don't need a super-accurate barrel, and I don't want extra maintenance.  This will be for plinking and home defense.  I hope it shoots the 50gr AMax as well as my Mossberg MVP with 1:9 barrel.

----
A friend just posted a picture of a group he shot at 1,100 yards with a Sako .308.  Looks to be about 10", handloads that he has worked up over time.  Pretty amazing.

I don't know if this helps but I bought a Wilson Combat Match Grade Barrel, 300 Blackout, Recon Tactical, 16", Stainless. I emailed Wilson about a "break-in Procedure" and this it what the tech told me,

Quote:

Do you have a break-in procedure you recommend?

Thanks,
Gary

Anthony (Wilson Combat Support)
Sep 07 07:28

Gary,

Your barrel has been polished internally before it left our shop. We recommend that you initially clean the barrel with a patch and light solvent before you shoot for the first time to remove any debris it may have collected during storage. Surgically cleaning your rifle barrel is not advised. For best accuracy remove heavy carbon fouling every few hundred rounds and remove copper fouling only when accuracy starts to degrade.

To remove Carbon buildup use our Carbon remover.

For Copper removal use our Bore Cleaner/Copper remover

Finish your bore cleaning job with Bore Polish

After a complete cleaning, you will need to fire a few rounds to foul your bore before you see accuracy back at peak levels.

Sincerely,
Anthony
Online Technical Support

For what it's worth, I hope it helps.

I've read a fair amount about break in from folks that take accuracy seriously. Although breaking in has its supporters, the majority seems to fall out on the side of unnecessary. The opinions against break in range from "it's an old wives' tale" to "it will reduce your barrel life." Ultimately, the reason I don't do it is I've never seen a fact-based explanation for why it would help anything.

I've never seen any actual testing of whether break in is helpful either. I doubt anyone will ever do it because you would have to have quite a few of the same barrels and then shoot half with and half without breaking in for at least several hundred rounds to learn anything useful. The time and cost involved is pretty well prohibitive.

Best break in is as follows:














 

Follow the directions.



 

Upon a more careful reading, I found that only the stainless steel barrels need breakin, and I have a chrome-line chrome-moly barrel, so I'm shooting away.

I can't say that the manufacturers are wrong and there's certainly nothing inherently wrong with following their recommendations; obviously they're not going to give you a set of instructions that is going to have significant downsides.

With that said, I've not done any barrel break-in procedures and I've had 3 moa to sub moa systems out of the box.   I do clean every weapon after every range trip but that's me being OCD about having clean guns.   If I'm doing load development then I run a patch or two down the barrel between each set which usually consists of 18 or 21 rounds. (OCW method) just to try to even the playing field between sets.

Personally I don't like cleaning guns so I don't want to do it any more than my OCD forces me to .

OP has a CL barrel, so just run a patch thru to catch production/shipping debris and shoot til it's dark.

However, Krieger SS barrels are worthy of their specific instructions to break in, running a patch after each of the first 5 rounds, then after several groups of five, then after ten.

The reason Krieger gives is that after the rifling is CUT (their barrels are cut rifled, not buttoned) and the chamber is cut, there are microscopic stainless steel shavings left in the barrel.  when a copper jacket is sent down the pipe at 2800 fps or whatever, the superheated copper bonds with these fragments, causing unevenness near the throat.

This causes a higher rate of copper buildup as the rifle is used, which in turn leads to more rapidly diminishing accuracy as the rifle ages, or as its daily/match round count progresses through a long match day.

For my Kriegers, I've always followed the instructions, and have always had excellent results.  What's an extra 30 minutes of hassle for a barrel you may own for a decade?

But with chrome, fuggedaboudit.

Official Mrgunsngear Channel barrel break in procedure outlined in detail here :

 

Only very pricey, very delicate barrels, which are air gauged to prevent scratches and are then polished on the thighs of young virgins need an extensive barrel break in process.  Some of them really do need that kind of TLC, but they'll be used in ultra-precise match shooting and be part of a gun that costs way over $5k (before optics), and the owner will pack that gun in enough foam an bubble wrap to keep it completely immobile while being transported.  99.999% of AR shooters would be wasting their money on such barrels.

Any chrome lined barrel is as smooth and deburred as it's going to get by the time it gets installed in an upper.  The chrome plating process involves etching the bore to allow adhesion and make room for the thickness of the chrome, and then evenly laying down a very, very smooth layer of hard chrome to build up to the finished bore diameter.  The nature of the process makes it really smooth - and barrel break in is supposed to be about smoothing out tiny irregularities in hand-rifled and hand-lapped bores.

Some manufacturers encourage buyers to go to the trouble of breaking in their barrels because they want buyers to think they're getting higher-level barrels than they are.  Others just humor folks who don't know any better.

The ultimate waste of time and ammo?  "Breaking in" a CHF, chrome lined barrel.

 

http://www.larrywillis.com/Barrel.html

This

The break in period on 99.99% of AR style rifles is around 10-60 rounds.  You are doing nothing to the chamber and bore, but the BCG does need to settle in.   A new BCG will not lock into battery if you ride the charging handle (obviously never do this when shooting any semi or FA weapon, but we all do it when we first get a firearm and are safely function checking at home) until it has been fired for a mag or 2.

I have found the best way to break in new firearms is to clean and lube them/check bore for any obstructions, do a proper functions check, take them to the range, load only 2 rounds to ensure it is not going to run away, fire them, load a full mag and enjoy.

bobmcc you bought an ArmaLlite; unless something feels, sounds or smells funny after 2 rounds, you should be GTG.   If you notice that your rifle has some carbon deposits on it when you get it that means it was test fired and is GTG and you can ignore the 2 round thing and go hog wild with it.  Do always check for obstructions in any new firearm from packing material before you fire them, though.