Thanks to the tons of help from this board I'm the proud owner of a brand spankin' new RRA ar.  Stainless steel barrel, match grade trigger.  It's a hell of a nice looking and feeling, rifle.

So... I'm a complete rookie.  I've shot my friends AR's a bunch but never a brand new one.  I have heard different ways of breaking in a new one but I'd like to solicit you'alls help so I do it right.

I've heard of shooting 10 rounds, then sweeping the barrel with a swatch of cloth and oil.  Shoot another 10 rounds and do it again.

I'm certainly not gonna load up my 30 rd clip and just go to town on it.  Melting gas tubes etc.....

I'll be using good ammo.  No wolf or other shit.

Suggestions?????     Thanks in advance.....

1. No you don't "need" to.

On a match grade barrel I WOULD.

Lastly it's going to take a hell of a lot more than a 30 round mag to melt a gas tube.

height=8

Quoted: 1. No you don't "need" to. On a match grade barrel I WOULD. Lastly it's going to take a hell of a lot more than a 30 round mag to melt a gas tube.

it is a match grade barrell...... so what is your suggestion???

I knew a 30 rd clip wouldn't do it..... i was just joking around.....

I've never done any of that.  

I'll lube it up good with Mobile 1 and cycle the BCG by pulling back on the charging handle about twenty times, then run a boresnake through it and fire one round.  

Once one round is down range, I load three rounds in a magazine and shoot a group of three.  After that, I'll shoot about forty more rounds, then punch the bore.  I also periodically check the fired brass and headspace to ensure all is OK, since I build all my own.

Since yours is a factory gun, I wouldn't worry about headspace.

Jim

Barrel break in

More on barrel break in

Would you do this on a new M4 barrel?

Since it's stainless I'd follow some kind of shoot three-five times and clean routine.  If it were 4140/50 CL, I'd just dump 300 rounds through it (not as fast as I could though) and call it broken in.

IMO, clean it before you shoot the first shot.

From someone who has found metal in the bores of new barrels.

Danny

RRA SS is a great first AR, you did good.

I like using FP10 before shooting a new weapon..

Here's what WES at MSTN has to say about breaking in a barrel...  Most of his uppers shoot much better than I would be able to take advantage of...

MSTN Barrel Break-In and Cleaning

Spooky

From snipercountry

1 of 2 options have worked very well for me on my competition rifles.  Method # 1 is the following:

Fire 1 shot and clean the barrel x 5
Fire 3 shots and clean the barrel x 5
Fire 5 shots and clean the barrel x 5

Done.

Method # 2 is using the Tubb Final Finish.  I've never used this, but friends have and say it's a viable option.

The big thing that breaking in a barrel will do is that if you have a good barrel, it'll last a little longer when it starts to go away (i.e. groups open up).  A good barrel will still shoot without break-in, but they seem to wear out faster.

I'd break it in, 'cause it's too easy to do and takes less than 30-40 minutes.

Rich

most of the barrels I have purchased and some of the guns, have been fired before I received them. I have a hard time believing that bushmaster/colt / ? would take the time to clean between test shots and then pack up your barrel "dirty"

On a non-match barrel I would swab it out and then shoot the hell out of it

Now on my MK12 I cleaned after every shot until my round count was up to 20.

First, I clean any new firearm.  Give the bore a good scrub, not just a swab.

Don't leave oil in the bore and fire it.  A bore should always be swabbed dry to avoid bulging the barrel.  If you run an oily patch, follow it with at least two dry patches.  Ditto the chamber, don't leave the chamber oily, it should be dry and clean.

For a new AR, then I fire once just to test, only one round in the mag.  If OK, and bolt locked back, I load and fire two.  This has nothing to do with the bore and everything to do with testing that the fire control group is working correctly.  Look for doubling.

Then I load and fire three rounds.  If this is OK, I then dump a full 30 round mag.  Give it 10 minutes to cool, and dump another 30 round mag, using this time to rough in the sights.

Now it's "broke in".

I will then shoot 300-500 rounds before calling it a day and going home.  

There I will do a normal cleaning, and put the rifle away for the next time.

If the rifle was put away with an oily bore (I do with chromemoly barrels, but not with chrome lined or stainless) then before going out for the next range session I'll run a couple of dry patches through it.

Next range session I will concentrate on fine tuning sights, group sizes.  Through all of this I will watch for any malfunctions.  After the first range session, there should be no more "new rifle" malfunctions.  Heck, after the first two mags there shouldn't be any new rifle malfunctions.

It seems so tedious to take all your cleaning equip to the local range for this type of stuff.  

It's hard to see myself with my 36" dewey inbetween shoots at the bench after every shot.

What happens if I just go light the first time with her out (under 100 rounds) and then give her a nice sound cleaning when I get home?

Mine is a new M4 Chrome lined, not stainless like the O.P.

Thanks to everyone for your help.  I decided to shot 5 rounds, clean, shot 10 more, clean and then I shot another 400 or so.  When I brought her home I really really scrubed it good.  I had a great time at the range and I'm very happy with my new/first ar.

Thanks again for everyone's help.

Quoted: Quoted: Mine is a new M4 Chrome lined, not stainless like the O.P. Chrome lined, non match barrels are different.  I see it is time to reports my detailed Chrome lined barrel break-in process again. To break in a new chrome lined barrel: BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM Clean.

Shoot 100 rounds then clean her. Simple for Chrome-Lined.

Nathan