With the range a hour away and the you can’t clean you’re gun here rule the shoot one round and clean for proper barrel break-in was out of the question. So here is the break-in process I used on a new bolt action rifle:

Clean new rifle first before shooting.

Shoot 6 rounds without the barrel getting hot and clean after.

Shoot 12 rounds without the barrel getting hot and clean after.

Shoot 18 rounds without the barrel getting hot and clean after.

Shoot 24 rounds without the barrel getting hot and clean after.

Break-in complete.

Can someone explain the importance of breaking in the barrel<and other parts of the rifle>?  How well do you clean the rifle while braking in, can you use your brushes?  I’m asking this because I did not break in my pistol like this and it’s just fine, so it just leaves me wondering…

Gale McMillan had some interesting things to say about breaking in rifles, and argued against any special procedure for normal rifles.  First time: Clean it, shoot it, then clean it again before putting it away.  Next time, clear the bore, shoot it and clean it per normal procedures.

More damage is probably done to accuracy through over-cleaning than is gained by these special "break-in" procedures.

See the maintenance forum here for lots of advice on how to maintain your rifle.

Here are Krieger's instructions for barrel break-in:  

www.darrendong.com/tactical_shooting/breaking_in_a_barrell/breaking_in_a_barrell.html

And here are Gale's comments:

www.darrendong.com/tactical_shooting/Barrel%20break%20ins%20-%20The%20Firing%20Line%20Forums/Barrel%20break%20ins%20-%20The%20Firing%20Line%20Forums.htm