Krieger "break in"

[scullti]

I've ordered a krieger 16.5" barrel for an AR build I am doing and it should be here in the next few days. I've read a few times that kriegers can be a bit finicky when you first start shooting them and it takes a few rounds for them to hit their stride. I'm wondering what I should expect out of this krieger starting out? Did any of you krieger owners do anything specific when you first started shooting, and did you notice how many rounds approximately that you put through it before it started performing at its full potential? Basically I want to gauge what is normal starting out with so I don't get mad at krieger if things are a little jumpy at first.

 

[leadbullet]

Re: Krieger "break in"

I put 105 rds through my krieger barrel the first day, shot it up to 430 rds before accuracy was declining a bit so I cleaned it. it has over 1700 rds through now and still holds half MOA at 1000 yds, still don't get the break in rumor.
shoot it, it is a barrel, not a baby's butt.

 

[HPLLC]

Re: Krieger "break in"

The NRA ran two barrels to 10,000 rounds, one with regular cleaning and the other without and accuracy was not substantially different between the two.

I can't say that would be the same in a match barrel of very high quality, but it seemed to suggest cleaning was less important than people might suggest it to be.

 

[scullti]

Re: Krieger "break in"

So you were getting good accuracy out of it from the start? I agree with you about not doing anything special for a break in procedure, I was curious though if there was a measurable period before the barrel gets in its groove so to speak.

 

[fw707]

Re: Krieger "break in"

Mine got in its groove pretty quick.

The picture below is rounds #16-#20 on the first trip to the range. Rounds #21-#25 produced an almost identical group.

 

[leadbullet]

Re: Krieger "break in"

yes, it shot great from the first group on, it liked some loads better than others but other than that it is a very good barrel.

 

[LoneWolfUSMC]

Re: Krieger "break in"

The .243 barrel on my AE is a Krieger. Although it's not an AR barrel I believe the rifling is the same.

I did no break in. I just worked up a load before packing up for the Kentucky Precision Rifle Challenge.

The load confirmation group before I rolled out was half-MOA. That was with about 30 rounds down the tube.

However that was Krieger blank, chambered by SAS and sold through Mile High.

In short. The barrels don't need to be broken in. Just shoot them.

I don't know if we are still under the previous rules for posting shot groups, so I am not posting the photo of the shot group.

 

[Howa4AU]

Re: Krieger "break in"

Whether you clean the barrel every so many shots, call it break in or not, or even clean it all, I've heard several precision shooters say they prefer cut rifle barrels and they tend to shoot in to their best accuracy near 100 rounds or so.

 

[ColtJ]

Re: Krieger "break in"

I followed the break in procedure that came with the barrel as I ordered a 20" Krieger for my AR from Compass Lake Engineering.

From what I understand there is no real proof that the "break in" does anything to help accuracy but I figure it couldn't hurt either so I followed it.

I would suggest spending more time finding a good factory load for your rifle assuming you are not going to reload.

Personally I wasted some time and money constantly shooting a certain brand assuming something was wrong to find that the rifle did much better with something else. Not saying one brand is better but i now know what my rifle prefers.

Good luck.

 

[ghostdog]

Re: Krieger "break in"

I agree that although it might not make a difference breaking in the barrel couldn't hurt. Also the maker of the barrel says you should do it so why not?

http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/Break_In__Cleaning-c1246-wp2558.htm

 

[TonyAngel]

Re: Krieger "break in"

On all of the Krieger barrels I've used, I have gone through a break in process, if you can call it that.

I clean the barrel, shoot one round and then clean with a patch soaked in a copper solvent, swab with a couple of dry patches and repeat the process. What I'm looking for is a significant reduction in the amount of copper that I get. Once I get a significant reduction, I'll do five rounds and clean, just to be sure. With Krieger barrels, it usually take about 3 rounds to get to the significant reduction in the amount of copper that I get. Krieger makes some fine barrels.