The proper way to break in a new barrel

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - The proper way to break in a new barrel

Posted: 3/22/2006 7:09:17 AM EDT

I have this DPMS upper, 20" stainless varmit barrel, about 1" in dia. I asked DPMS about break in procedure and they said this.

DPMS Barrel Information

To achieve the best results for accuracy you should clean the chamber and bore after every round for the first 25 rounds, then every 10 rounds up to 100 rounds. It usually takes about 200 rounds per barrel for optimum accuracy. Please keep in mind that our barrels are production barrels, not custom barrels. Accuracy is dependent upon many factors such as bullet weight, powder load, rifling twist, rifling lands, operator technique, etc. Our production barrels have achieved anywhere from 1/8” to 1 ½” M.O.A.. Obviously, we would hope that every production barrel would shoot ½” M.O.A., but with all of the above factors, we cannot guarantee a specific group size. NOTE: Using reloaded ammunition will void warranty. Modifying chamber or barrel voids warranty. This includes re-reaming of chamber, returning barrel to a lesser diameter and/or re-threading barrel for compensator or attachments.

Sounds like alot of trouble, does anyone follow this procedure or is it company hype? I do want to get the best accuracy from my barrel and will follow this procedure if it is in fact the best way to do it. So, what say you experts?
Thanks...
Steve R.

Posted: 3/22/2006 7:23:45 AM EDT

[#1]

The search function will reveal several threads on this.

As a minimum, it would seem that it is a good idea (for a match barrel) to shoot a single round, and then clean with a copper solvent, and repeat that procedure for every round for at least five to ten times. Then, shoot three rounds, stop and clean and repeat at least five times or so, and then perhaps move on to bigger "batches" of rounds between cleaning.

As I understand it, the purpose is to get the copper fouling out of the barrel while it is still "polishing" itself (getting manufacturing irregularities out) during the first 20-50 rounds.

Depending on the barrel, some will get broken in faster than others, but the consensus seems to be that some kind of procedure like this is important for stainless match barrels.

I'm just getting my first couple of stainless match barrels myself, so I am interested in understanding this too (and want to see what the other responses might be).

Posted: 3/22/2006 8:01:50 AM EDT

[#2]

go to range, zero sights/optic on new firearm. go home and clean. done

Posted: 3/22/2006 8:13:11 AM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
go to range, zero sights/optic on new firearm. go home and clean. done

Seriously? None of this shoot-clean-shoot stuff?

I know nothing about it myself, just what I've read on the forums here, so I appreciate the advice if it will save me a lot of time and hassle.

Thanks.

Posted: 3/22/2006 8:24:30 AM EDT

[#4]

The advice I've seen for chrome-lined barrels has always been to shoot a few hundred through it before cleaning it.

For non-lined barrels I've seen break-in advice like the DPMS posted above given out by respected match barrel makers and also opinions from respected match barrel makers that say that all it does is use up barrel life by firing shots you could have fired doing something useful.

Personally I've never had the patience to do any more of a break-in than bigbore suggested. But I don't even clean my guns after every range session.

Posted: 3/22/2006 8:27:50 AM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
go to range, zero sights/optic on new firearm. go home and clean. done

+1

I've never "broken in" a barrel (shoot/clean/shoot/clean etc etc) and never will.

Posted: 3/22/2006 8:30:05 AM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
Quoted:
go to range, zero sights/optic on new firearm. go home and clean. done

+1

I've never "broken in" a barrel (shoot/clean/shoot/clean etc etc) and never will.

+2 clean all you want, but I've heard and read from reliable sources that the whole shoot and clean thing is bunk.

obviously you wouldn't shoot it until you could cook a steak on it...common sense prevails (hopefully)

Posted: 3/22/2006 9:01:44 AM EDT

[#7]

There are two great links on the Bushmaster website.

For SS Barrels:
Bushmaster SS Break-in

and for Chrome-Lined:
Bushmaster Chrome Lined break in

Rob

Posted: 3/22/2006 9:08:50 AM EDT

[#8]

I've got upwards of 30 precision rifles in my vault, all used regularly to train Department of State designated marksmen. Seasoning a barrel is a recognized procedure, both by industry professionals and military leadership. Our instructors here are by and large former USMC 8541 instructors and though it wasn't as lengthy as DPMS recommends, our barrels were seasoned.

The same is recommended by the former FBI HRT team leader, former Devgroup, and other BTDT's that abound here.

I'm not going to explain what it does, others can do it as well or better than I can. You can certainly still begin zero proecedures while you're seasoning the bore, so they aren't wasted shots.

Here's a topic... leaving a bore purposely fouled for a clean bore vs. fouled bore shot. The temperature really won't matter anyway, right?

Posted: 3/22/2006 9:11:55 AM EDT

[#9]

shoot the hell out of it

Posted: 3/22/2006 9:13:24 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
There are two great links on the Bushmaster website.

For SS Barrels:
Bushmaster SS Break-in

and for Chrome-Lined:
Bushmaster Chrome Lined break in

Rob

Your 2nd link is wrong, that is for NON-Chrome lined.

This is for the chrome lined: www.bushmaster.com/faqnew/content_by_cat.asp?contentid=182&catid=101

Posted: 3/22/2006 9:57:38 AM EDT

[#11]

i've "broken in" some, and not bothered on others. i can't notice a damned bit of difference. it might make a difference on ultra-high-end precision gear, but for your HD/utility gun i really think any actual gains are minimal to the point of being statisticaly insignificant.

closest i come to "breaking in" AR's now is making sure i use good ammo for the first 500 rounds or so. after that, it's all wolf baby!

Posted: 3/22/2006 10:59:30 AM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
go to range, zero sights/optic on new firearm. go home and clean. done

same thing I do. sight it and shoot till the ammo i brought with me is gone. Then i go home and clean the rifle and put away in its case and get some food. Never had a problem with any of my weapons doing just that.

Posted: 3/22/2006 11:06:48 AM EDT

[#13]

And to make it just a bit more difficult. The above link says to NEVER pull the brush back thru the bore. So the procedure is to insert bore guide, push bore brush (wet with solvent mounted on coated one piece cleaning rod) thru bore, unscrew from end of cleaning rod, withdraw from bore.

I can of course do that, but what a PITA. But this one I can believe since the crown of the muzzel is very important and you don't want anything to touch it and pulling a brush back thru the bore would drag all of those brass bristles across the edge of the crown as it was being compressed back into the bore. Oh, wait, is a brass bore brush ok, or should I be using a nylon brush? Man, I feel like I'm obsessing.

Posted: 3/22/2006 11:08:53 AM EDT

[#14]

How do you guys feel about oiling the barrel after cleaning? Like a coat of CLP? How to apply and how much?

Would you clean it before you go shoot again?

Posted: 3/22/2006 11:14:12 AM EDT

[#15]

Load, aim, shoot, zero..............
I didn’t get caught up in the hype and my 24" ss shoots just fine. Congrats on the purchase.
hug.gif

Posted: 3/22/2006 11:15:39 AM EDT

[#16]

I never put oil in the bore. No reason to on a chrome-lined bore and IMHO no reason to for normal storage on a non-chrome bore either. If you do put a coat of oil in it I would pull a patch through it before shooting it. If there's enough in there it'll act like a bore obstruction and raise pressures. If nothing else it would make the first shots really smoky and probably affect POI.

Posted: 3/22/2006 11:17:35 AM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
I never put oil in the bore. No reason to on a chrome-lined bore and IMHO no reason to for normal storage on a non-chrome bore either. If you do put a coat of oil in it I would pull a patch through it before shooting it. If there's enough in there it'll act like a bore obstruction and raise pressures. If nothing else it would make the first shots really smoky and probably affect POI.

Alright that's what I figured. thanks.

Posted: 3/22/2006 11:18:16 AM EDT

[#18]

Fire 1 round Clean, and remove all copper from bore, let coold down to air temp, fire next round, Clean, and remove all copper from bore and repeat until its dark out, and do again for 5 days.

IMHO its all bunk

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
go to range, zero sights/optic on new firearm. go home and clean. done

+1

I've never "broken in" a barrel (shoot/clean/shoot/clean etc etc) and never will.

+2 clean all you want, but I've heard and read from reliable sources that the whole shoot and clean thing is bunk.

obviously you wouldn't shoot it until you could cook a steak on it...common sense prevails (hopefully)

+3
Seriously, Just shoot it and then shoot some more.

Posted: 3/22/2006 12:57:23 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
go to range, zero sights/optic on new firearm. go home and clean. done

Good! That's exactly what I did with my SS barrel from you...

Posted: 3/22/2006 1:44:06 PM EDT

[#20]

Gale McMillan knows more about barrels than all of us combined...

Barrel break in is a myth.

Posted: 3/22/2006 6:02:32 PM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
I've got upwards of 30 precision rifles in my vault, all used regularly to train Department of State designated marksmen. Seasoning a barrel is a recognized procedure, both by industry professionals and military leadership. Our instructors here are by and large former USMC 8541 instructors and though it wasn't as lengthy as DPMS recommends, our barrels were seasoned.

The same is recommended by the former FBI HRT team leader, former Devgroup, and other BTDT's that abound here.

This doesn't prove anything.

Unless there is a study done under controlled conditions it's just one person's opinion vs. another's.

There are many examples of things that used to be considered "conventional wisdom" until someone actually examined the results scientifically. For example, race cars used to be designed to remain stiff in a crash. When they had the technology to study this they found out this was just transferring all the energy of the crash into the driver's body. Oops.

Posted: 3/22/2006 6:15:12 PM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
Quoted:
go to range, zero sights/optic on new firearm. go home and clean. done

+1

I've never "broken in" a barrel (shoot/clean/shoot/clean etc etc) and never will.

+2

Posted: 3/22/2006 6:15:28 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
I have this DPMS upper, 20" stainless varmit barrel, about 1" in dia. I asked DPMS about break in procedure and they said this.
DPMS Barrel Information

To achieve the best results for accuracy you should clean the chamber and bore after every round for the first 25 rounds, then every 10 rounds up to 100 rounds. It usually takes about 200 rounds per barrel for optimum accuracy. Please keep in mind that our barrels are production barrels, not custom barrels. Accuracy is dependent upon many factors such as bullet weight, powder load, rifling twist, rifling lands, operator technique, etc. Our production barrels have achieved anywhere from 1/8” to 1 ½” M.O.A.. Obviously, we would hope that every production barrel would shoot ½” M.O.A., but with all of the above factors, we cannot guarantee a specific group size. NOTE: Using reloaded ammunition will void warranty. Modifying chamber or barrel voids warranty. This includes re-reaming of chamber, returning barrel to a lesser diameter and/or re-threading barrel for compensator or attachments.

Sounds like alot of trouble, does anyone follow this procedure or is it company hype? I do want to get the best accuracy from my barrel and will follow this procedure if it is in fact the best way to do it. So, what say you experts?
Thanks...
Steve R.

"Barrel break in" is a BS myth/theory started by barrel manufacturers.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - The proper way to break in a new barrel

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