thanks to this web site i now know about barrel "break in"(after i bought my gun)
my question is how important is this?
when i bought my ar, i took it to the range an shot it without first cleaning or breaking it in. how much loss in accuracy can really be expected? actually i never broke in any of my guns! i probably will from now on

    If you've got a chrome-lined barrel, you'll have to fire about 250 rounds to really 'polish-in' the chrome bore.
    And all the mechanical parts need to start 'wearing-in' together. Your rifle might sputter for the first couple of magazines, but then it'll start purring.
    After you're done with about 250 rounds, give your black beauty a good, thorough cleaning & lube, and you're set.
    I put some TW25B Kleen-bore lube on my bolt carrier, and it's slick as glass now. The TW25B is outrageously expensive, but works well. I use Break-Free for everything else.

What kind of rifle do you have? A chrome lined barrel wont need "breaking in" at all really. And in fact, it is debatable if breaking in any barrel is required.

i dont break my barrels in .. i just shoot em out .. take out of box .. oil and shoot .. all there is too it ..

my ar is a armalite m15a4(2years old)
im 99% sure by looking thats its chrome lined.
but i also didnt clean or break in my ruger 10/22 target rifle from the start.
it's the idea of paying $900 for a rifle and not knowing about break in.
i thought if its that important would'nt every gun dealer say to someone purchasing a new rifle "it's a good idea to clean and properly break your barrel in"
im sure every gun dealer knows more about guns than most people who walk off the street to purchase one of their products!
but i never heard one dealer mention cleaning and breakin. i'll shut up now
thanks

You Armalite is chrome lined and everyone agrees that it wont need any breaking in aside from shooting it.

Just shoot and, keep clean.

[url]http://snipercountry.com/Articles/Barrel_BreakIn.htm[/url]

Bradd

Just follow the manufactures recommendations (or not) If you have a premium barrel, it should not need a break-in.

do what the mojo bag tells you

I think of the barrel break-in question as one of those "less filling... tastes great" type of debates. I suppose you could throw in moly coated bullets and barrel fluting in the same category. There's no conclusive evidence supporting one or the other, rather it's one of opinion. Just the same, I did go through a break-in procedure on my RRA NM A-2. Figured it was better to do it than not do it. Overall, it's the kind of thing I would do on a rifle that I wanted to (and paid for) be a tack driver. If it could shave .01" off a benchrest or target rifles MOA, why not? Anything else, like an M4orgery, why bother?... Unless you want to throw a monkey wrench into any "ballistic fingerprinting database". [:D]

That's what I meant about breaking in your barrel, just shoot it 250 rounds or so, to polish-out the chrome. According to BUSHMASTER, it greatly reduces fouling.

I don't know about the barrel break-in for my gun, but I can tell you that my rifle definitly needed a few hundred rounds fired through it to wear down all the little kinks and such. It worked so much better after I fired and cleaned it a few times.