AR Sponsor
Posted: 12/28/2016 1:12:20 AM EDT
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I got a buddy who is quite knowledgeable in long distance target shooting. He was telling me that a barrel needs to be polished.....and was an all day process..it went something like this.....
clean barrel shoot 1.....clean barrel shoot 1....clean barrel.... do this a total of 10 times..... then shoot 2.....clean shoot 2 clean..... Eventually working up to 50 rounds.... I have never heard of this.....though he mentioned military....and he was Marines....many years ago.... thoughts? Do you do something similar? thanks |
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Yes, we've all heard of that method. However, I, and several other members here, believe in the "just shoot it" method.
ETA: If you search google and type in ar15 barrel break in, you will get tons of different answers. What your friend said is one of the most common methods out side of just shooting the hell out of it. And when it comes to cleaning, clean it properly. |
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Stainless= about 200 rounds will get any gas port burrs and/or machining burrs out
Chrome lined= no such thing as break in 4150 cmv (no lining) = same as stainless maybe add 50 rounds All in all just shoot the dang thing For every 9 barrels a barrel maker makes he makes a 10th for "break in" |
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Thanks for the quick reply....
I have 4 ar's.....and as you, clean....then shoot maybe 50 rounds....clean again every 50 rounds till I hit 200 rounds......and just clean every few hundred. I just put together a 308 which cost me some bucks and wondered.... I just wonder if anyone here ascribes to the shoot 1 clean...etc....seems like overkill.... Also, as you stated, I got a thousand opinions. thanks again.... |
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For match grade barrels there is a recommended break in procedure similar to the one you describe, though much shorter.
Key word - recommended. My break in is lube, shoot 50 rounds, clean, done. Shoot more. The rigamarole described only makes sense for true precision/competition rifles, not your typical range toy. Though there are many who will swear by the whole day affair. Cheers, S. |
| as others have commented... I did an abbreviated break in for my AR15T stainless barrel, RRA chrome lined, and my Clark 10/22 blue steel barrel... shoot 2 clean x 5, then shoot 5 clean x 5.... I could feel progressively smoother sections as I ran the patch through the non chromed barrels... I have a couple of melonited / nitrided barrels that seem to shoot better with use... one is 10.5 and other 16" 9mm |
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I shoot one and clean between each shot for the first ten rounds and use each shot for adjusting zero on the irons and then the scope/red dot. It hurts nothing and may help some.
With rack grade chrome lined barrels I don't bother. I only spend this effort when I buy match grade barrels. Lots of times barrels come from the factory with a burr at the gas port. You can definitely feel it when you push a patch through. By the time I'm done with ten rounds it's usually gone. |
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Quoted:
Load mags, install bump-fire stock, let loose simulated F/A fire until all ammo is expended, then give the bore a good cleaning. Yup, this is what I do, or if I am feeling really froggy, I will pull out one of the M16, and change the uppers and start rock and rolling! 
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not sure what good some of those procedures would do
my HOWA (I know, not an AR) came with instructions in the box to shoot 1 round,run a litely oiled patch through the barrel, to cool it down shoot 2 rounds, run a patch shoot 3 run patch shoot 4 run patch shoot 5 run patch the idea was to build level of heat slowly within the first 15 rounds. somehow treats the steel let it cool to ambient temp and after that, shoot away this Howa is the most accurate rifle I own and the most accurate rifle I have ever shot. my brother had a Howa that he didn't do the break in procedure on because he didn't read the instruction card in the box and it was never as good a shooter as mine. that said, I've never bothered with any of my other rifles with any break in procedure |
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I've done this painstaking process on a few rifles, all bolt action. Aside from scratching my subconscious itch, I never noticed any appreciable difference in accuracy. The last few rifles I built, AR and bolt, I have skipped this process. Reason being, most reputable barrel makers (especially high end ones) will polish the bore after cutting the rifling, thus negating the need to fire polish it yourself.
Just shoot it. If groups are bad to start, then try the barrel break-in procedure. If it doesn't clear up send it back. |
Just shoot it. If it delivers the level of precision you hoped-for, celebrate; if it doesn't, sell it and try something else. Don't dwell on it: you're not trying to hit a Lego at 500 yards, fer pete's sake. And if you *are*, you may need to reconsider the whole issue....
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Lilja barrel break in procedure. Use this on true match grade barrels only. Its a waste on standard grade stuff.
The idea is to use the bullet to remove the reamer marks in the throat between the cartridge case and the rifling. As you do this copper gets laid down that will be very difficult to remove later, so you clean aggressively as you go until you stop seeing copper on your patches. The bore does not really benefit, at least not on Lilja and most other custom match stainless barrels, as they leave the shop hand lapped. I followed this procedure on my Lilja AR barrel. It shoots .4s when I don't blow the groups with a break in technique. Lilja Break in and Maintenance Recommendations |
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Quoted:
Lilja barrel break in procedure. Use this on true match grade barrels only. Its a waste on standard grade stuff. The idea is to use the bullet to remove the reamer marks in the throat between the cartridge case and the rifling. As you do this copper gets laid down that will be very difficult to remove later, so you clean aggressively as you go until you stop seeing copper on your patches. The bore does not really benefit, at least not on Lilja and most other custom match stainless barrels, as they leave the shop hand lapped. I followed this procedure on my Lilja AR barrel. It shoots .4s when I don't blow the groups with a break in technique. Lilja Break in and Maintenance Recommendations Higher end match grade barrels need a break in to squeeze out as much accuracy as possible. Rack grade mil spec ARs do not. |
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I do it on stainless barrels, especially higher end ones.
Was a little annoying to do it with an LMT barrel that had run-out issues, only to need to do it again now. Do it for higher quality barrels you want to squeeze as much accuracy out of as you can get. You should get less variance than the people who say guns need 200rds of fouling to be accurate. You'll also get better accuracy with a clean bore, minus the first shot depending on what you cost the bore with. People are lazy. Also, a stock maker said you don't have to. Lol. On most of the guns and barrels bring bought here... Don't bother. |
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Just got a new chrome lined 20" .gov profile yesterday. I punched the bore with one CLP patch (i usually forget). This gun won't see another patch for probably 500 rounds or more.
That is how I handle break in for any barrel I have ever purchased. If I ever get a high end barrel and that isn't ready to shoot like butter out of the box, it will be going back. Check into what the big names recommend for barrel break in. Don't listen to here-say couch commandos. |
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In a precision SS barrel, there are often tiny imperfections in the throat that will strip off copper from the first few rounds fired.
IF you believe in break-in (which I do as Krieger shooter), you are trying to make sure these first rounds fired eliminate any rough edges without laying down an uneven layer of copper. Ultimately, the thing that does the most damage to precision barrels is heat at the throat. So shoot slow. For CL, of course no break in. |
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Just to pile on, if you're talking about a $200 rack grade barrel, the only "break in" needed is to clean the preservative coating off of and out of the barrel and then shoot it. On the other hand, if you paid more for your top-of-the-line, precision barrel than I did for my last two builds put together, then you have a different situation.
"Follow the manufacturer's suggested break in procedure" sounds kind of trite, but it's spot on. Say "Super Barrels" says your $2,500.00 ultra-super match stainless 24" barrel needs to be shot/cleaned one round at a time for 50 rounds "resting" the barrel for 24 hours, they probably have a good reason to recommend that. I get what I consider "better than rack grade" accuracy out of my supposedly rack grade barrels (nice ones, generic ones, and cheap ones), but I neither mag-dump nor treat them like thoroughbreds on a quarter horse farm. I shoot them, then when I'm done I clean them from the very beginning. I will say that it's a good idea not to do mag-dumps in general, but also it's not a great idea to do any dumps until you've run several hundred rounds through the gun. Get the rest of the gun properly broken in before you stress the barrel or the gun. |
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