Chrome lined barrel break-in?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Chrome lined barrel break-in?

Posted: 1/17/2011 8:33:20 PM EDT

What is the proper way to break-in a Chrome lined AR barrel, 1/7 twist?

Posted: 1/17/2011 8:38:07 PM EDT

[#1]

Shoot it and watch where it hits (note any key holing or wandering zeros) and take note of malfunctions (if any). Examine the brass. After a couple hundred rounds it's broken in.

Posted: 1/17/2011 8:38:51 PM EDT

[#2]

Check the bore, run a patch down it to clean out any gunk from the factory, then shoot.

Posted: 1/17/2011 8:48:36 PM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
Check the bore, run a patch down it to clean out any gunk from the factory, then shoot.

oh ,yeah. Forgot that step. Actually looking down the bore can be helpful too. I saw metal shavings in a new chrome lined barrel that could have scratched the rifling on their way out with the first shots. A brass brush took care of them.

Posted: 1/17/2011 8:53:15 PM EDT

[#4]

i like to have a boresnake handy to run down the barrel every 20 rds oir so for the first 100.

Posted: 1/17/2011 9:03:04 PM EDT

[#5]

Follow manufactures recomendations. As stated function test, clean first, then shoot. Hard chromed is a little different than stainless steel or chrome moly. Put a little heat in it maybe a 20 round mag while you sight it in, run a couple of patches through it wet, while it cools down, and repeat a few cycles. Run the internals wet with CLP or LSA and let everything seat in nicely (BCG). Keep it well lubed but don't go overboard. There is a hole for oiling the gas rings. Most all quality rifles are pre-tested from factory unless it's a DIY. 1-7 twist is a little fast so lube will extend it's life but hard chrome will probably out live most of us. Have fun.

Posted: 1/18/2011 5:11:19 AM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
Check the bore, run a patch down it to clean out any gunk from the factory, then shoot.

This.

Chrome for the win.

Posted: 1/18/2011 6:01:07 AM EDT

[#7]

Just shoot it!

It's a 900 dollar combat weapon, not a 3000 dollar finely tuned precision target rifle.

Breaking in barrels is a myth.

Posted: 1/18/2011 8:46:32 AM EDT

[#8]

Posted: 1/18/2011 8:48:03 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:

Just shoot it!

It's a 900 dollar combat weapon, not a 3000 dollar finely tuned precision target rifle.

Breaking in barrels is a myth.

This...

Shoot it

Posted: 1/18/2011 8:54:16 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Just shoot it!

It's a 900 dollar combat weapon, not a 3000 dollar finely tuned precision target rifle.

Breaking in barrels is a myth.

This...

Shoot it

Again...this. Shoot and enjoy.

Posted: 1/20/2011 4:32:37 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
Just shoot it!

It's a 900 dollar combat weapon, not a 3000 dollar finely tuned precision target rifle.

Breaking in barrels is a myth.

Then call me Myth Buster!
I shot 5rds and cleaned the bore 20 times (100rds) and then shot groups, 5 - 5 shot groups at 250yds largest was 1inch, smallest was 3/4 inch with 69gr SMK over Benchmark from Winchester brass.

Posted: 1/20/2011 4:42:43 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Just shoot it!

It's a 900 dollar combat weapon, not a 3000 dollar finely tuned precision target rifle.

Breaking in barrels is a myth.

Then call me Myth Buster!

I shot 5rds and cleaned the bore 20 times (100rds) and then shot groups, 5 - 5 shot groups at 250yds largest was 1inch, smallest was 3/4 inch with 69gr SMK over Benchmark from Winchester brass.

Do that in front of another arfcom team member someone who's been around more than a day. I'll be compelled to buy you a team membership.

Posted: 1/20/2011 5:31:35 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Just shoot it!

It's a 900 dollar combat weapon, not a 3000 dollar finely tuned precision target rifle.

Breaking in barrels is a myth.

Then call me Myth Buster!
I shot 5rds and cleaned the bore 20 times (100rds) and then shot groups, 5 - 5 shot groups at 250yds largest was 1inch, smallest was 3/4 inch with 69gr SMK over Benchmark from Winchester brass.

Do that in front of another arfcom team member someone who's been around more than a day. I'll be compelled to buy you a team membership.

Would also like to see this

Posted: 1/20/2011 5:35:36 PM EDT

[#14]

Chromelined barrels dont need breaking in.

Posted: 1/20/2011 5:35:41 PM EDT

[#15]

Chrome lined barrels are not for shooting groups, they are for shooting faces.

Posted: 1/20/2011 6:31:59 PM EDT

[#16]

Any barrel that truly needs breaking in is not properly finished. The difference between a barrel that is "seasoned" by a few very slow shots and extra-heavy, obsessively frequent cleaning and one that is "just shot" in an AR-15 is lost in the variability of the rest, the shooter, the optic, and the conditions. There is, however, a major problem in demonstrating this definitively: no two barrels, no matter how carefully matched they are in production, will respond identically. They'll be close, but they won't be identical. So there is no real way to do a scientifically controlled test with one barrel "broken in" and another "just shot" that has any real validity for comparison.

A brand new GI rifle (which will of course has a brand new chrome lined barrel) will go right onto the rack, and the rifle will be fired. No break in is required.

Posted: 1/20/2011 7:35:38 PM EDT

[#17]

I remember seeing history channel with the FN factory making full size rifles not only were new rifles test fired they ran them brand new on full auto right off the line before being shipped out...no break in procedure there.

Posted: 1/20/2011 9:55:05 PM EDT

[#18]

Posted: 1/21/2011 12:44:07 AM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
Just shoot it!

It's a 900 dollar combat weapon, not a 3000 dollar finely tuned precision target rifle.

Breaking in barrels is a myth.

Posted: 1/21/2011 4:35:15 AM EDT

[#20]

Just clean it an shoot it. If it makes you feel better to do a break in procedure... or dance around it under a full moon shaking a bag of chicken bones over it or whatever other type of voodoo magic you like then go for it. Just think how fast a barrel would shoot out and be a smooth bore if a couple hundred rounds or less actually did anything to that barrel worth noticing?

Posted: 1/21/2011 4:38:47 AM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
Just clean it an shoot it. If it makes you feel better to do a break in procedure... or dance around it under a full moon shaking a bag of chicken bones over it or whatever other type of voodoo magic you like then go for it. Just think how fast a barrel would shoot out and be a smooth bore if a couple hundred rounds or less actually did anything to that barrel worth noticing?

Holy shit.

Posted: 1/21/2011 5:07:34 AM EDT

[#22]

Shoot it til it breaks, repair, repeat as necessary.

Posted: 1/21/2011 5:11:42 AM EDT

[#23]

Posted: 1/21/2011 5:20:52 AM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Just shoot it!

It's a 900 dollar combat weapon, not a 3000 dollar finely tuned precision target rifle.

Breaking in barrels is a myth.

Then call me Myth Buster!
I shot 5rds and cleaned the bore 20 times (100rds) and then shot groups, 5 - 5 shot groups at 250yds largest was 1inch, smallest was 3/4 inch with 69gr SMK over Benchmark from Winchester brass.

What did it shoot for groups out of the box? Probably the same exact super groups you are posting about after your break in.

BW, I have a 5.56mm ball point pen that will shoot better than that, just don't look when I go out to check the target.

Posted: 1/21/2011 6:26:27 AM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
Check the bore, run a patch down it to clean out any gunk from the factory, then shoot.

Then...

Posted: 1/21/2011 7:07:28 AM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Just shoot it!

It's a 900 dollar combat weapon, not a 3000 dollar finely tuned precision target rifle.

Breaking in barrels is a myth.

Then call me Myth Buster!
I shot 5rds and cleaned the bore 20 times (100rds) and then shot groups, 5 - 5 shot groups at 250yds largest was 1inch, smallest was 3/4 inch with 69gr SMK over Benchmark from Winchester brass.

so you shoot your CL barrel more accurately than a krieger or douglas barrel from a bench rest. Let me guess, your also a marine sniper? Go shoot 100yd 10 shot groups and post pics. No powder burns on the paper either, dude.

but yea, no break in.

Posted: 1/21/2011 7:16:06 AM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:

Then call me Myth Buster!

I shot 5rds and cleaned the bore 20 times (100rds) and then shot groups, 5 - 5 shot groups at 250yds largest was 1inch, smallest was 3/4 inch with 69gr SMK over Benchmark from Winchester brass.

Correlation does not equal causation.

Since you didn't have an identical barrel handy to use as a control, you can't stated that the accuracy you observed was due to your break-in/cleaning method. A barrel which would not have gone through your procedure might have produced the same result.

As far as your group size is concerned: I find it highly unlikely that you were shooting 1/4MOA out of your gun unless you're running a top-of-the-line barrel in custom rig. Plain ARs, even those with decent barrel, are simply not capable of that kind of accuracy.

Posted: 1/21/2011 7:48:59 AM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Just shoot it!

It's a 900 dollar combat weapon, not a 3000 dollar finely tuned precision target rifle.

Breaking in barrels is a myth.

Then call me Myth Buster!
I shot 5rds and cleaned the bore 20 times (100rds) and then shot groups, 5 - 5 shot groups at 250yds largest was 1inch, smallest was 3/4 inch with 69gr SMK over Benchmark from Winchester brass.

Do that in front of another arfcom team member someone who's been around more than a day. I'll be compelled to buy you a team membership.

Would also like to see this

Heck,I'll buy him a extra gold,platinum-plated super secret BOTD multiple lifetime nembership!

JK! Would like to see that,though.

Posted: 1/21/2011 7:50:53 AM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:
Chrome lined barrels are not for shooting groups, they are for shooting faces.

Love it!

I agree.

Posted: 1/21/2011 9:19:24 AM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Just shoot it!

It's a 900 dollar combat weapon, not a 3000 dollar finely tuned precision target rifle.

Breaking in barrels is a myth.

Then call me Myth Buster!
I shot 5rds and cleaned the bore 20 times (100rds) and then shot groups, 5 - 5 shot groups at 250yds largest was 1inch, smallest was 3/4 inch with 69gr SMK over Benchmark from Winchester brass.

Where do I start.

Its a chrome bore. Clean out whatever the factory left in there, and enjoy a nice 30 round magazine dump. Its broken in, now you can enjoy it.

Posted: 1/21/2011 11:13:06 AM EDT

[#31]

When I break in a rack grade M4
Im breaking in the parts
Im shooting several types of ammo , seeing if theres any problems

I would treat a 500$ Match Grade SS barrel different