Rifle Break in process?

Deleted.....Found thread

https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=207984&highlight=rifle+break+process

Shoot it til it hurts!

Just shoot the thing...

Op. C'mon back and share what you found with others. Meanwhile, a tried an true method...

Clean the barrel. Shoot one round. Clean the barrel. Shoot two rounds. Clean the barrel. Shoot three rounds. Repeat til you get to five rounds, then go home, clean and lube barrel. Doneski.

IMHO, waste of time, but hey, what do I know?

For what it's worth, here are the instructions that came with the GAP Gladius I had built a couple years ago. I followed the procedure exactly when I first got the rifle. I did find that the copper fouling greatly diminished as the process went along. I am shooting 3 shot ragged one hole groups at 100 yards with this gun almost every (sometimes I fail in doing MY part, the rifle always does its part perfectly) Sunday afternoon so the procedure can't HURT the barrel. Whether it helps is up to debate by people more experienced than me! Anyway, here is the text:

The G.A. Precision Break In Procedure

For break-in, the barrel should be cleaned after every shot for the first 10-12 rounds or until copper fouling stops. Our procedure, outlined below consists of removing the carbon fouling followed by the copper fouling.

Step 1

Carbon Fouling: Push 2 saturated cotton patches through the barrel (Bore Tech C4 Carbon Remover or Eliminator Bore Cleaner). This will remove the loose powder fouling and wet the inside of the barrel with solvent. Next, wet a nylon brush with solvent and stroke the inside of the barrel 5-10 times. This is followed by another wet patch and then 2 dry patches.

Step 2

Copper Fouling: Now, push 2 saturated cotton patches through the barrel (Bore Tech Cu+2 Copper Remover or Eliminator Bore Cleaner,). Next, wet a nylon brush with solvent and stroke the inside of the barrel 5-10 times. Let the chemical soak for 3-5 minutes. This is followed by another wet patch and then 2 dry patches. Repeat steps if necessary.

REPEAT: Steps 1 & 2 after each shot for the first 10-12 rounds.

The copper fouling will be heavy for a few rounds and then taper off quickly in just one or two shots. Once it has stopped or diminished significantly (normally 10-12 rounds) it is time to start shooting 5 shot groups, cleaning after each one. After 25-30 rounds, clean at a normal interval of 10-25 rounds. Your barrel is now broken-in.

IMPORTANT: Be sure to dry out the chamber after cleaning to remove solvent, a pistol rod with a 45 cal nylon brush works well using a patch over it. Failure to keep the chamber clean and dry will raise pressure to extreme levels.

Even with my long range setup I never did any break in process.

Heck, I don't even clean my guns much anymore. Sometimes it's just overkill with the way some people clean their barrels.

I'm new to rifles but my research turned up that it was a process people did many many years ago before barrels were manufactured with the precision they are today. 100+ years ago computer aided hammer forging wasn't available so imperfections might have been present and break in process might have done something. As improvements and changes were made to barrel manufacturing habits didn't and it was passed down from generation to generation.

Not necessary but if it makes you feel better than what do you lose?

edit: Thanks MagDump. I appreciate another thorough response. I called LWRCI and they stated their barrels didn't need break in. They wouldn't speak about other manufacturers, of course.

I'm sure none of this is news to anyone but newbies like myself. I shot the new rifle a day at the range then saw "rifle break-in" on some website and panicked because there was nothing in the LWRCI manual about it.

Mag Dump said:

For what it's worth, here are the instructions that came with the GAP Gladius I had built a couple years ago. I followed the procedure exactly when I first got the rifle. I did find that the copper fouling greatly diminished as the process went along. I am shooting 3 shot ragged one hole groups at 100 yards with this gun almost every (sometimes I fail in doing MY part, the rifle always does its part perfectly) Sunday afternoon so the procedure can't HURT the barrel. Whether it helps is up to debate by people more experienced than me! Anyway, here is the text:



The G.A. Precision Break In Procedure



For break-in, the barrel should be cleaned after every shot for the first 10-12 rounds or until copper fouling stops. Our procedure, outlined below consists of removing the carbon fouling followed by the copper fouling.



Step 1



Carbon Fouling: Push 2 saturated cotton patches through the barrel (Bore Tech C4 Carbon Remover or Eliminator Bore Cleaner). This will remove the loose powder fouling and wet the inside of the barrel with solvent. Next, wet a nylon brush with solvent and stroke the inside of the barrel 5-10 times. This is followed by another wet patch and then 2 dry patches.



Step 2



Copper Fouling: Now, push 2 saturated cotton patches through the barrel (Bore Tech Cu+2 Copper Remover or Eliminator Bore Cleaner,). Next, wet a nylon brush with solvent and stroke the inside of the barrel 5-10 times. Let the chemical soak for 3-5 minutes. This is followed by another wet patch and then 2 dry patches. Repeat steps if necessary.



REPEAT: Steps 1 & 2 after each shot for the first 10-12 rounds.



The copper fouling will be heavy for a few rounds and then taper off quickly in just one or two shots. Once it has stopped or diminished significantly (normally 10-12 rounds) it is time to start shooting 5 shot groups, cleaning after each one. After 25-30 rounds, clean at a normal interval of 10-25 rounds. Your barrel is now broken-in.



IMPORTANT: Be sure to dry out the chamber after cleaning to remove solvent, a pistol rod with a 45 cal nylon brush works well using a patch over it. Failure to keep the chamber clean and dry will raise pressure to extreme levels.

Click to expand...

I know GAP rifles are well known for their accuracy but the "After 25-30 rounds, clean at a normal interval of 10-25 rounds."
A normal interval of 10-25 rounds? Perhaps I'm wrong but that seems F'ing insane.


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What a coincidence this was posted today:

https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2017/7/21/back-to-basics-rifle-barrels/

Quote from the article:

"Modern metallurgy and manufacturing techniques have made the barrel straightening press as appropriate as a buggy whip. Computer-operated machines control everything from alloy composition and purity rough cuts with .0005" of final dimension. Tolerances are so small now that decent barrels can be knocked out nearly as fast as soda bottles."

rinse lather repeat.

rbird7282 said:

I know GAP rifles are well known for their accuracy but the "After 25-30 rounds, clean at a normal interval of 10-25 rounds."
A normal interval of 10-25 rounds? Perhaps I'm wrong but that seems F'ing insane.


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Click to expand...

Haha yea that is a bit much. I clean my target gun at about 150 rounds or so and I'm trying to hold 1/2MOA at 600 yards.

Most people do more damage cleaning than what would happen if they went 1k rounds of not cleaning. Some actually clean too much, as copper fills in some imperfections in the rifling that needs to be built up again.

Do most use bore guides? I would venture not...only clean when accuracy degrades.

I clean my general purpose weapons that wear optics till I get a cold shot zero. No special formula just based off how the patches read during the process when new but always avoiding excessive heat. These are primarily used for hunting and do give good accuracy but sometimes I will run one through to protect for rust and then carry if I know maintenance might be a problem. I can see the difference on paper between a cold shot and a barrel that is starting to warm up that hasn't always been through the (my) break in period. I'm also just shooting a few rounds to monitor performance anyhow but I think that a new barrel usually doesn't start to shoot well until its had about 150 rounds put through it anyway. Its easy enough to keep them clean in between shots during that period to allow some burnishing to take place without a lot of crud or abrasive powder residue to build up in between. Initial cleaning during break in in my opinion almost always allows for easier cleaning afterwards and more consistent accuracy which in my mind allows me to concentrate on other things like bedding, ammo optic performance etc. Its just what I do and what works for me. I'm not going to select an air gauged barrel, labor over a build fiddling over every little thing and then fit a stock and then roast a barrel because I think it can take it.