Barrel break-in How many rounds?

[D1gger]

I know barrel break-in procedures are about as different as fingerprints, but my question is how many rounds do you find it takes before you consider a barrel broken in? I've got a new Savage that I would like to take to my first PRS in April. I'm going to have limited range time, so I figure I'll need 1 session to break it in and another to get my zero and a little dope on the rifle. Thoughts?

 

[Spblademaker]

My breakin: Check torque on what you can. Shoot. Clean with a few patches. Recheck toque. Done. Enjoy

Also running a savage.

 

[Eric1977]

IMO, minimum 20 rounds. Truthfully, only the rifle can tell you. Some can clean up and not foul after 5 shots, others can take 50. All depends on the reamer and the bore and how it was manufactured. I am breaking in 2 right now and my process is shoot 1 and clean till no blue for a minimum of 5 shots. In theory the rifle should have less copper fouling and easier to clean after every shot. I'll do 1 shot and clean for 5 shots and see how it is going, if needed I will do this for another 5 shots. Otherwise I will shoot three and clean, then 5 and clean.

There are many people who do not break in a barrel at all.

 

[Spblademaker]

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...l-break-in-question-please-just-read.6873492/

Give a read. Lowlight’s post #19

 

[Deleted member 10043]

The first round should do it.

 

[...]

for me....barrel "break in" is more a mental thing than it is a physical thing......

i like to put at least a box or two through a rifle before i feel confident that it is going to perform as i expect.....but ive never had a rifle shoot significantly different from round 1 than it did 100 rounds later.

either your barrel/ ammo combo meshes well and it shoots.....or it doesnt.....unlike a fine wine, its not going to get better with age.

you cant shoot a barrel more to make it shoot better......if that were the case, all the insurgent weapons in the middle east would be .1 MOA tack drivers.

 

[Supersubes]

I chambered up a 6 creedmoor this week. One round on steel from a bore sight. Here are rounds 2,3,and 4. Just shoot it.

 

[gconnoyer]

"break in" to me more so just entails breaking the barrel in so that it smooths out and velocities level off and stay consistent.

I dont bother with actual load development until a barrel has 100-150rds down it.

As far as the whole cleaning procedure I'm assuming you're talking about....
Some do fancy wizardry, some dont do anything. It probably doesnt make a real difference either way.

I clean them initially
Shoot 1, clean
x5
Then shoot 5-20rds and clean one or two more times depending on time and what I feel like doing.
Clean when I get home.
Done.

FWIW... here is what I'm talking about with velocity. Granted there is some cleaning involved, but you can see that it still sped up and leveled off and got way more consistent. I clocked the first 20, and the last 10, of 144 rounds of a thrown together load in virgin brass.

 

[Sheldon N]

Don't worry about break in, worry about getting 100 to 150 rounds down the barrel so it has sped up and settled for velocity.

Sucks to go to a match and all of a sudden half way through they day you're missing high on everything because your barrel is now shooting 75fps faster and all that dope you gathered is wrong. Seen it happen to a lot of guys.

 

[ShtrRdy]

Some barrels break in really fast and others take a lot of rounds. The last few I've broken in with about 20 rounds. The first 5 to 10 rounds were "fire one shot and clean". Then " fire three shots and clean" for 3 times. Then " fire five shots and clean" 2 times. You may not have to do all that depending on how much copper you're getting out of the barrel during each cleaning step.

 

[Basher]

Like Frank posted in the linked thread above, however many it takes to zero, then chrono and work up some basic dope, then check chrono again.

But since I’ve yet to buy a rifle that was brand new, or used any of the new barrels I have lying around, I just go zero, chrono, and have at it. I’ve never kept a rifle long enough to wear a barrel out yet, but now that I’m settled on an AI, I see myself having that experience in the not TOO distant future, at least w/ 6.5 barrels. My .308s have several thousand rounds to go before I’d even worry about replacing them.

 

[Alan101]

I agree with Sheldon. Break it in however or if you wish but your velocity will increase from 0 shots to about 100 shots.

 

[D1gger]

Good info, thanks. I guess my main question was about where you were seeing your velocities level out. But again, every barrel will be different.
Thanks for your input!

 

[ShadowBear]

and yet, no one mentioned the candles! How many candles to you light, and in what sequence? Never mind the chicken....