Gunsmithing Objective research on Barrel Break-in procedures

[IntelSniper]

Jeff,

When you're burnishing with the 2 products, do you push and pull the rod through, or just push through the direction of bullet travel?

Sorry if this seems like a minor question, I've always been instructed to never go muzzle to breech.

 

[downrange67]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Ibelieve1776]

Great info!! I wish i would have found this before I made my fight causing post.

 

[MMP]

Good stuff! I work at Rock Creek barrels and it's spot on! Hand final lapping does the break in for you! I've lapped a handful of factory barrels and groups sometimes are cut in half. When you lap a barrel you are basically getting the "scratches" ,if you will ,parallel to the rifling. This limits fouling. I've literally bore scoped thousands of barrels factory and custom. Its amazing what you can learn if you know what your looking at!

After I chamber one of our barrels I like to shoot it 5 times and then take the bolt out and look down the barrel from the muzzle. That tells me a lot. I'm looking for fouling patterns.

One thing I have done and I haven't seen posted yet is after chambering I sometime polish the throat with some 1200 grit lapping compound . I'm just polishing where the lands are cut out from the chamber reamer. Like the original post said, "you want a smooth transition for the bullet as it engages the lands.

My two cents.. I just became a registered member today.

 

[Jeff in TX]

MMP,

Welcome to the hide and a great response! It always amazed me how Mike could get things done in a timely fashion. Everytime I'd call him it would turn into a hour or so on the phone getting a brain dump. The man really knows his barrels and internal ballistics inside and out and sharing what he knows, not to mention he builds some of the best barrels in the industry.

 

[cshann55]

Awesome info. Thanks for sharing the research!

 

[HAZORD]

Tag

 

[hillbilly grandpa]

Guys--

I'm a total; neophyte (newbie) to this whole process of breaking in. Elsewhere, with reference to lapping/breaking in/seasoning factory barrels utilizing lapping compounds, the posters were adamant that the strokes with the compound were to be in the direction the bullet travels. Pull, don't push the rod, taking care not to damage the crown. In the quote below, reference is made to "a hundred passes

"...Next [Mike] uses a second product for Sentry Solutions product called BP-2000, which is a very fine moly powder. Applied to a patch wrapped around a bore brush, he makes a hundred passes through the barrel very rapidly before having to rest...."

My question is this: Do I take this to mean that his passes are bi-directional, or is the bore brush removed, the rod reinserted, and the brush reattached at the breach end before the next pass? This is probably obvious to most "old hand" on this board, but I'm coming at this with "beginner's mind."

Thanks in advance for your guidance.

 

[Bender]

Objective research on Barrel Break-in procedures

Just spent two hours reading this.

First I admit I never "broke in" a barrel out of pure ignorance.

Second, I admit, I now will never "break in" a barrel out of pure laziness.

The "empirical" data some of you pocket protector wearing nerds demand was given by LowLight and ACTUAL barrel manufactures. Seems like some of you guys would rather shove a rod down the hole instead of shooting the damn thing. These guys do this for a living. To the rest of us, this is a hobby.

This is Snipers Hide forum after all........not clean crap and obsess over traditions forum.

See you on the line.

 

[zenbiker]

It's my opinion that more barrels are ruined by cleaning rods than anything else. I only clean a new barrel every 10 rounds or if I see A LOT of copper fouling at the muzzle; then i use a foaming copper remover and let the chemicals do the work while I take notes in log book, double check fasteners for loosening, or shoot another gun. After 10 minutes max, I give is a quick brush with JBs, a swab of Slip 2000, a dry patch, and get on with shooting. Maximum number of rod strokes: maybe 20.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[blakesrs]

Great info. Never did Barrel break-ins come up in GS School or in the Military. Here is a supplement to support your info. Great read

How to Break-in a Barrel

 

[Josie]

Whether barrel break in has beneficial results or not it helps me get familar with my new rifles. I don't believe it does harm if u are using quality products to clean with. It gives me an excuse to pump some rounds down the tube

I think the consensus here is that shooting the prescribed amount of rounds for barrel break in only deteriorated the barrel that much quicker. Secondly, many many shooters don't use the right cleaning products or methods, further deteriorating their barrels.

I was a sniper in the army and my first trip to the range with my M24 was going to be for barrel break in and to gather DOPE for the rifle. But as I was about to begin the shoot one clean one method with a metal cleaning rod, my STL corrected me prior to using that rod. And I was going to use it without a bore guide! It was a great lesson for me and one that practice every day.

 

[Drew9299]

Well said

 

[vitalemj]

Good stuff! I work at Rock Creek barrels and it's spot on! Hand final lapping does the break in for you! I've lapped a handful of factory barrels and groups sometimes are cut in half. When you lap a barrel you are basically getting the "scratches" ,if you will ,parallel to the rifling. This limits fouling. I've literally bore scoped thousands of barrels factory and custom. Its amazing what you can learn if you know what your looking at!

After I chamber one of our barrels I like to shoot it 5 times and then take the bolt out and look down the barrel from the muzzle. That tells me a lot. I'm looking for fouling patterns.

One thing I have done and I haven't seen posted yet is after chambering I sometime polish the throat with some 1200 grit lapping compound . I'm just polishing where the lands are cut out from the chamber reamer. Like the original post said, "you want a smooth transition for the bullet as it engages the lands.

My two cents.. I just became a registered member today.

MMP I see you haven't been on for a while but hopefully thins forward to your email. When you Polish where the lands meet the reamer marks with 1200 git compound what are you using? A cotton bore swab or something else? As MMP is no longer monitoring if anyone else is familiar I am interested in the correct way to polish the throat as described. Thanks.

 

[JePhyllis]

Well. For a quality match grade barrel, it is really no need for barrel break-in. It is already in post 'break-in' stage. I normally shot match grade barrel...so I agree with the post.

 

[djpaintles]

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/266555/lyman-borecam-20-digital-borescope-with-monitor

$260 for a usable bore scope seemed like a bargain to me. IMO it's well worth it for serious shooters that want to do further research into their cleaning methods. Just be ready to be dissappointed in some of your barrels and pleased with others.

 

[Dwilliams88]

Thanks for the information! Lot of good stuff.

 

[BroncoMustang]

A guy who goes by TiborasaurusRex has a number of videos on YouTube. One that pertains to barrel break in is entitled "SNIPER 101 Part 43 - Barrel Break In Procedures Compared." As of this writing, it has been viewed 248,942 times. I hope that this helps.

 

[gilbh]

I agree with everything you say but what I think is you should clean the first few rounds down the barrel and then after that no more cleaning except when it really needs it. This is the reason why. number 1 when chambering a barrel the reamer cuts in one direction and it will push a burr over on one side of the land and most of the time the other side is burr free but it is possible for it to have a burr also. Now when the gun is fired the bullet can only do a couple things to this burr since it is connected to the land it will either roll over or break off or just a little piece may break off and the rest may just roll over. No one can know what actually happens unless you bore scoped between shots. So where did this piece go? or not go? and the next bullet down the barrel may grab it and drag it down the barrel scratching it. Sorry I have no proof of this but I would rather do preventative Maintenance just for the first few shots.

 

[RioKid]

Good information all around. I do have a question though. And please take this as a legitimate question, I'm not trying to get anybody wound up or defensive, but would just like to understand...if shooting the rifle and sending projectiles down the barrel smoothes out rough areas of the metal, or tooling marks, how does a gunsmith look through a borescope and see damage that has permanently been made by a cleaning rod? Doesn't shooting the next handfull of rounds smooth those marks out also? And aren't most cleaning rods made of "softer" metal than the bore? I know I have seen multiple times on these threads where people point to more marks being put in the bore by use of cleaning rods without bore guides than damage from not " breaking in" a barrel.
Thanks for info and a very nice write up by Jeff.
Chris

 

[Unknown]

I have long thought that it would be the height of arrogance for me to think I could improve on the barrels from the really respected barrel makers like Kreiger, Obermeyer, Rock Creek, Schneider, Lilja others just by shooting some abrasive coated bullets through the barrel, or by running a few patches through them. Their knowledge of what a finished barrel is supposed to be like inside is why people pay premium prices for those barrels.

 

[TXSGFmrCWO3]

Reading the earlier statement about the process of treating the bore with the alcohol/moly mixture, waiting for the alcohol to dry, then polishing the bore with patches saturated with moly powder made me think...

Since hBN (hexagonal Boron Nitride) is much more slippy than moly, why not use that?

To be honest, I did toy with the procedure a bit a few years ago. Now that I see it actually may have merit, I think I'll try it on the new factory barreled Howa 6.5 Creedmoor action I just got.

Action plan; mix hBN with 90% isopropyl alcohol and saturate the bore with wet patches, let the alcohol evaporate. Instead of patches with hBN powder, I'm thinking of heavily dusting a bore mop to pass back and forth through the bore about 200 times. The nano sized super lubricant hBN should reduce friction considerably, especially since I shoot only hBN coated bullets.

I'm also considering heating up the barrel with a hair dryer before the exercise. When I learned about hBN coating, I ran across suggestions that heating the bullets help the hBN penetrate better.

One very important consideration with trying something like this: the bore guide MUST seal the bore from getting hBN into the chamber. Experts would probably agree that you don't want the chamber to be so slippery that cases will not seal against the chamber wall.

 

[TXSGFmrCWO3]

Well, that's done. I took my alcohol/hBN powder solution, shook it up, and applied it liberally to a succession of three patches through the bore of my new, unfired Howa 1500 barreled action, heavy #6, 24 inch in 6.5 Creedmoor.

After letting it dry thoroughly for a couple of hours, I then saturated a patch with hBN powder, tapped off the excess, and proceeded burnishing the nano particles into the bore by stroking the patch back and forth through the barrel, concentrating more on the throat with short strokes. After several patches and around 300 passes through the bore, I clean patched the bore three times and cleaned the chamber to ensure all loose powder is removed.

We will see what happens when I break in the barrel. I intend to push around 40 factory rounds through the new barrel, waiting for it to cool completely between firings with no further cleaning.

 

[Jeff in TX]

Not all cleaning rods are the same. The coated ones from Dewey and Tipton are safe on a bore. The stainless steel ones and the ones you screw together in sections along with the type of tips can do damage. I stay away from anything stainless steel (rods & tips) going down my bore. I use bore foam products to clean and cotton patches and on occasion nylon cleaning brushes now and for the past few years. They work great for me!

I think over the past few years folks have or are figuring out a lot of the nonsense and myths of break-in procedures and cleaning. Take care of your weapon properly and should last you a lifetime!

 

[MichaelEber]

I cannot remember which barrel maker I was watching. His motto is simple: do you want to break in your barrel? Just go shoot it.

 

[Unknown]

It isn't just the cleaning rod, to get the best results, when using a high quality cleaning rod a bore guide should also be used so the patch and rod begins and stays more centered in the barrel.

 

[Sharpshooter3]

Great thread! I just got my first custom built rifle and was looking for good advice like this on break in.

 

[Gibble888]

I have been reading on how to clean properly for accuracy for a long time and have tried many different methods and came to the conclusion that factory barrels from clean only have so many shots till accuracy falls off at least to some degree (same hole vs acceptable for hunting).
Some guns would lose it shortly after 10 rounds and some around 50 or so but then I bought my first Shilen select match and after the initial cleaning then after 10 rounds I have almost 100 down the tube and running consistantly around 1/4" c to c With boron nitride and hasn't seen a patch since.
D

 

[willy peet]

After many email requests I thought I'd repost the research I did on barrel break-in procedures. In addition I also added a short overview on Internal Ballistics 101 to help tie everything together.

This has been posted on many shooting boards over the years and has been modified as I uncover more information. This is a quick synopsis of my finding which has been generalized. I had lots of test results and data I looked through. It’s also not based on the opinions and hearsay. I set out to take an objective look of barrel break-in procedures. I wanted to find out if there was any hard fact evidence to support barrel break-in procedures or was it a waste of time. In the end all of the data I collected supported the fact that barrel break-in procedures are a waist of time and in some cases damages barrels. To research this project I spoke with a few metallurgists, originally three of our top barrel makers (Shilen, Hart and Rock) and have since talked with a handful of others including Bartlein and Broughton. I also talked with a few internal ballistic engineers and some our nation’s best gunsmiths.

A little back ground on myself. I have degrees in Engineering and Business Adminstration. I’m a data network engineer in real life. I’m an avid long range shooter and due to my knees gave up tactical competitions about 6 years ago. One of my hobbies is external ballistics and I enjoy reverse engineering new ballistic programs to see what ballistic models, mathematical calculations, formulas and algorithms the creator used. I have a pretty good knowledge on ballistics and long range shooting. By no means am I an expert, when I'm in doubt I talk with Bryan Litz. I have spent more time than I care to admit to trying to uncover the science behind the scene. With regards to this write up, I feel I've done a fairly good job with my research and conclusions. Though some may disagree with my finding which is fine.

Before blasting away at what I've written, offer insight supported by facts and test data and not hearsay or opinions. This is what I’ve tried to do. It’s ok to disagree as the more information we can get the better informed we are. Also remember my conclusions were the collective data from some of the best minds and subject matter experts in the business.

Back in the 2001/2 time frame I trashed a brand new Shilen stainless steel match barrel in under 400 rounds shooting moly coated bullets. Yes this was during the moly bullet craze and I jumped on the band wagon. Let’s just say I was not a happy camper. I live local to Shilen so after a few hand lapping jobs on the barrel which failed, Doug Shilen cut the throat section to see what was really wrong. The throat area showed the black moly ring of death which was so hard Doug could barely scrape it with the side of a flat head screwdriver. Let’s just say I’ll never shoot another moly coated bullet....ever!

After my new Shilen barrel was installed I set out to on a mission to understand this barrel break-in process and if I really needed it. After all this research my conclusion supported the fact that barrel break-in is a waist of time and effort.

Let’s talk barrel break-in shall we: I believe Kelly McMillan of McMillan rifles said it best, “This barrel break-in processes keeps us in business”. “This shoot and clean, shoot and clean every round or few rounds break-in process only damages your new match barrel and/or significantly decreases the barrel life”. Though I didn’t speak with Kelly on this subject I’ve read what he’s written and it mirrors my own findings.

Some barrel manufactures have now re-clarified their stance saying that a barrel break-in procedures helps to smooth the transition from the newly cut chamber into the throat area of the bore. Now there is some merit to statement except for the fact a cotton patch with bore solvent or bronze brush isn’t going to do squat to help remove any rough areas. Bullets passing down the barrel will help smooth the chamber/throat area. It may take just a couple of shots or it could take a lot, but it depends on how well the chamber/throat was cut and polished. Last I checked stainless steel and chrome moly steel is much harder than a cotton patch or bronze brush.

Speedy Gonzalez (Hall of fame bench rest shooter and one of the nation’s top gunsmiths) was a wealth of information as were the techs at Hart barrels. As Speedy says, “my $3000.00 video-bore scope doesn’t lie”. I've looked through lots of barrels at Speedy's shop while he was working here in North Texas. Looking through his bore scope I learned a lot and saw a lot of good the bad and the ugly when it comes to barrel and barrel maintenance. Speedy's video bore scope never lied. When looking through his video bore scope at the internal surfaces of trashed barrels, one thing we did see a lot of were cleaning rod marks. The cleaning rod marks showed too much cleaning with poor and improper cleaning techniques and equipment. This was also noted by the techs at Hart Barrels with regards to barrels they replaced.

There are probably less than a dozen individuals in the US that understand internal and external ballistic as well as Stan Rivenbark and Mike Rock. Stan is retired ballistic engineer from Raytheon Corporation and Mike Rock of Rock Creek Barrels. They both understood this whole internal ballistic equation more than all the others I talked with. This is because they worked on internal ballistics in their real lives, used state of the art test equipment to perform actual tests and record the actual data. They are true subject matter experts and both of their views points and explanations were very similar. A slight twist here and there and different approach but there test data and conclusion were the same. A lot of folks claim to understand all or part of the internal ballistic equation, but these people had the hard data to back up there statements and claims. I like solid test data and not opinions on what someone believes.

As I stated Stan and Mike Rock gave me some of the most detailed explanations on barrels and internal ballistics. Both were ballistic engineers and both have degrees in metallurgy (Stan has an masters in metallurgy); Mike was a ballistics engineer for the US Army for many years at the Aberdeen Proving grounds. When Mike worked at Aberdeen, the US Army used high speed bore videos with mirrors, thermal imaging and computers to analyze any and everything that happens when the firing pin strikes the primer and the round goes off. While working as a ballistic engineer for Raytheon Stan used similar equipment and processes to view and record internal ballistics though most of his work was focued around the .50 cal.

Before we begin take a step back and be objective. Ask yourself what you are trying to really accomplish by breaking in your barrel. What issues and/or problems inside the barrel need to be corrected or fixed? Now I do recommend cleaning your rifle after you purchase it to clean out all of the junk, oils and grease from the factory before shooting it, but also realize...

• The vast majority (99%) of shooters don’t own or have access to a quality bore scope to view the interior surface of their barrels.
• Without a bore scope to view the interior surface of your barrel what exactly are you trying to fix by a shoot and clean process?
• If there are burrs or machine marks from the machining process are they in the chamber, throat or barrel where are they located?
• Do the machine marks run parallel or perpendicular to the barrel finish?
• If there are high points and low points inside the barrel again where are they located?
• Does shooting and cleaning between rounds correct/fix all barrel imperfections if they exist? If yes how?
• Do you think cleaning between rounds is going to change the molecular structure of the steel or condition it in some fashion? If so, I’m/we’re all ears
• Without a bore scope again you have no idea what the actual condition of the interior barrel surface
• So far if you don’t have honest solid answers to these first few questions and you’ve been performing a barrel break-in process you’re working off a SWAG (scientific wild *** guess)
• Even if you have a bore scope can you truly identify a change in burrs or machine marks from a before or after cleaning. If so please provide detailed photograph’s

Couple more questions while I still have your attention.

• Pushing a cotton patch with solvent or a bronze brush down the barrel will do what to remove a 416 stainless steel or chromemoly metal burr or machine marks?
• Last time I checked, 416 SS or CM is much harder than a cotton patch or bronze brush and is most likely impenetrable by most bore solvents.
• Yes it will remove copper fouling caught by the metal burr, but how will it remove the metal burr?
• How many shots will it take to remove the burr or imperfection and how will you know when the barrel issues have been corrected? Is it always x-amount of shots?

Let's take a few minutes to gain a basic understanding of internal ballistics and what really happens when you pull the trigger. This will also help you to understand why you don't want to clean after every shot.

High level view of Internal Ballistics 101:

When the firing pin strikes the primer, the propellants in the primer ignites. With this initial ignition there may or may not be enough pressure to dislodge the bullet from the case (this depends on neck tension and seating depth as well as a few other variables), if there is enough pressure to dislodge the bullet, it moves forward into the lands where it stops. As the primer ignites the powder, more pressure builds moving the bullet forward where it can stop again. Once there is enough pressure from the round going off, the bullet is moved down and out the barrel. All of this happens in nanoseconds (billionths of a second). Your bullet starts and stops as many as two times before it leaves the barrel. This is fact. Bet you didn’t know that…….neither did I!

Internal Ballistics on the brass case:

As the primer ignites the powder, pressure begins to fill the brass case. As the pressure builds the case expands to completely fill the chamber sealing off the chamber and preventing any gases from leaking around it. The pressure will also cause the brass case to move rearward pushing it flush against the bolt face. In addition the shoulder and neck area of the case will be force forward into the shoulder and neck area of the chamber. All of this pressure will have elongated and lengthen the total size and diameter of the brass case. As the bullet is moved down and out the barrel, the chamber and barrel pressure drops. The brass begins to cool and contract allowing the brass to be extracted from the chamber.

Internal Ballistics on the bullet:

As the bullet is forced from the case, it can only support a small amount of force. The force on the base of the bullet will cause it to expand. As more force is applied the bullet expansion will increase from the base of the bullet towards the bullet nose. Basically the bullet begins to stretch. In addition the bullet enters the lands and grooves of the barrel. The bullet will engrave itself to the lands and grooves as it proceeds through the barrel. The throat of the barrel takes on the majority of stress from the heat and pressure created from the firing of the round. This is why the throat area of the barrel is always the first point of barrel deterioration. Depending on the round being fired the flash point of the round going off can cause instantaneous burst in temperature upwards to 4000 degrees Fahrenheit and create a pressure spike upwards toward 60,000 PSI’s.

Why thorough cleaning between rounds is not good for a barrel:

Think of a car engine for a moment. Why do we use oil in the engine? To prevent any metal-to-metal contact as well as reduce friction between two metal (bearing) surfaces. Your barrel is no different from the engine. If you clean every round or every few rounds during your barrel break-in process or clean your rifle so well after shooting that you take it down to the bare metal, you’ve created a metal-to-metal contact surface for the next time you shoot the gun. So what’s the problem with this you ask? Just like your car engine, metal-to-metal contact will cause friction which can sheer away layers of metal from each surface. So if your bullet is starting and stopping as many as two times before it leaves the barrel, that’s two places for metal-to-metal contact to happen as well as the rest of your bore. Even though copper is a gilding metal it can still sheer away barrel surface in the bore when traveling at high velocities under extreme heat and pressures.

Remember it is these copper jacketed bullets passing down the barrel at high pressure and velocity that will ultimantly be the source of smoothing out those rough marks left by the chambering tool and machining process. The more bullets passing down the barrel will help smooth the barrel not cleaning it between rounds.

Cleaning between rounds especially thorough cleanings can take you back down to bare metal which can actually harm your barrel. In addition all this cleaning, done improperly with cheap bore guides and cleaning rods can scratch and damage the interior surface of your barrel. This was very prevalent in the barrels we looked at through Speed’s video bore scope. To preserve your barrel you need to avoid cleaning down to bare metal. A light wash of copper fouling in the barrel is not always a bad thing, as the copper fills in a lot of the micro groves left by the machining process. You don’t want layers of copper which effect accuracy, but filling in the micro grooves can be a good thing.

So what do we need to really take care of our new rifle and/or barrel?

According to Mike Rock and the other barrel manufactures agreed, all you need to avoid this metal-to-metal contact is a good burnish in the barrel. Some barrel manufactures will void your barrel warranty if you shoot moly bullets. This is not to say that moly is necessarily bad for a barrel, but it can be when applied to bullets. Never shoot moly coated bullets as they are bad juju for the throat of a rifle.

There are numerous ways to achieve a good burnish in your barrel such as just shooting a long string of rounds without cleaning. I like Mike Rock’s method and have been using it on all my match grade and factory barrels.

When Mike re-barreled my tactical rifle with one of his 5R barrels, I talked with him about my new barrel, any barrel break-in process and how to get the best performance out of my new barrel. This is what he had to say. When he makes a new barrel, he hand laps the barrels with a lead lap. Most if not all custom barrel makers hand lap their barrels. Mike takes his barrels a step further to provide a pre-burnished finish. He uses two products from Sentry Solutions. One product is called Smooth Coat, which is an alcohol and moly based product. He applies wet patches of Smooth Coat until the bore is good and saturated and lets it sit until the alcohol evaporates. The barrel now has loose moly in it. Next he uses a second product for Sentry Solutions product called BP-2000, which is a very fine moly powder. Applied to a patch wrapped around a bore brush, he makes a hundred passes through the barrel very rapidly before having to rest. He repeats this process with fresh patches containing the moly powder a few more times. What he is doing is burnishing the barrel surface with moly and filling in any fine micro lines left by the hand lapping. He then uses a couple of clean patches to knock out any remaining moly left in the bore. He also included a bottle of each product when he shipped my rifle back which is what I’ve been using on all my other rifles.

With the barrel burnished with moly, this will prevent any metal-to-metal contact during the barrel break in process. My instructions for barrel break-in were quite simple. Shoot 20 rounds (non-moly bullets) with no cleaning, as this will further burnish the barrel. Done! Now shoot and clean using your regular regiment of cleaning and if you have to use JB’s or flitz type products, go very easy with them as they can clean the interior barrel surface back down to bare metal removing your burnish. Never clean so well you clean back down to bare metal surface.

He said most of the cleaning products do a great job, don’t be afraid to use a brush and go easy on the ammonia-based products for removing copper fouling. Basically don’t let the ammonia-based products remain in the barrel for long lengths of time.

What’s my cleaning regiment you might ask? I’m not one who puts his firearms up without cleaning them; it’s what I was taught growing up. I'm also not one who wants to spend a lot of time and effort cleaning so my process is pretty simple but highly effective. I use only a Lucas bore guide and Dewey cleaning rods, something I learned from Speedy. Most other bore guides will allow your cleaning rod to flex inside the barrel which can scratch the barrel surface...not a Lucas bore guide.

I clean my rifles using WipeOut Accelerator and WipeOut foam. I use a few patches soaked in WipeOut Accelerator just to push the bulk of the gunk out of the barrel and then give it a shot of Wipeout foam. Let sit for 3-hours or so and patch it out. If I know it will be a few weeks before I get to the range or lease I’ll run a single patch of kroil oil down the barrel followed by a couple of dry patches. The process is quick and simple and works well for me. I have one barrel on my sons Win Featherweight where we need use a nylon brush with a little JB’s to get most of the fouling out as it’s a stubborn factory barrel. I’m considering using Tubbs Final Finish on this barrel.

For badly fouling factory rifles, I know of quite a few folks who have used Tubbs Final Finish with very good to outstanding results. TFF are lapping compound impregnated bullets you shoot down your barrel which can really help smooth out and polish a factory barrel.

I’ve used my buddies bore scope quite a few times to see just how clean my process gets my rifles. My Bartlein and Rock barrels hardly ever foul so I rarely if ever see any copper fouling in those barrels. My DPMS and Tikka both show very light and faint traces of fouling here and there after cleaning. I figure that fouling is just filling in some of those micro grooves as well as I know I have a good burnish in the barrel and I don’t give it a second thought as they all shoot lights out!

I hope that helps folks to understand what I’m trying to say.

*regimen

 

[TexasUplander]

Very good post other than your take on moly.

 

[Diablo]

I cannot remember which barrel maker I was watching. His motto is simple: do you want to break in your barrel? Just go shoot it.

This

Suggest you quit fussing about the minor stuff, just get out and shoot.

Barrels are consumables, some are better than others due to better manufacturing processes, or luck. Some really suck.

IMO, if you have a "problem" barrel, consider getting a new barrel put on unless you enjoy the potential extended aggravation of trying to make it work acceptably.

 

[Lynn Jr]

Jeff n Texas
Barrel break in and cleaning are Benchrest requirements for the utmost in accuracy and not required on precision rifles or factory barrels
Much of what you wrote contradicts itself.
For the vast majority of shooters on this website barrel break in and for that matter cleaning is a waste of time.
The Gale McMillan story is so old it dates back to when he was in a huge fight with Bill Wiseman who was the guy actually making the barrels.
Speedy must have gotten his nickname from a girlfriend as anyone who has used him for a gunsmith would never call him Speedy. He was a world-class marketer but a horrible businessman.
On the cleaning rod you want it as stiff as humanly possible so it doesn't bend or bow which is what allows it to make contact with the bore if a proper rod guide is being used.
You break in a barrel to remove the perpendicular scratches created by the reamer bushing and nobody polishes out the leader or throat on a barrel.
The tiny scratches run perpendicular to the lap and you want them as smooth as possible so they don't strip jacket material off of your bullets. The same reason you lap a barrel.
If you don't clean between your first few shots it takes longer to burnish the scratches.
On Benchrest guns the barrels routinely get setback and recrowned at 250-300 rounds and tossed at 900 rounds and they are burning very little powder.
You are getting to the barrels full potential sooner so it's worthwhile. In the guns shot here were 2000 rounds is considered normal there is nothing to gain as gilt edge accuracy is never achieved.

 

[crunchy]

Reading so many replies in this thread, I decided to go check out some of the more well known barrel makers websites (Hart, Krieger, Benchmark). I quit after three or four. All had some kind of barrel break in procedure.

 

[ThePretzel]

While I personally subscribe to the theory that barrel break-in is unnecessary, reading the Krieger website I saw the only scientifically plausible explanation for barrel break in that I've ever seen.

They claim the break in is actually just keeping to keep copper out of the bore while your first few bullets smooth out the marks left by the reamer that cut the throat of your rifle. They're saying the bullet jacket is shedding more copper on the initial tool marks from the reamer, which is then deposited in the bore and the cleaning procedure is simply to prevent additional copper from accumulating in the bore since more copper is being deposited during the first few shots according to their theory.

They do not claim that break-in will have any effect on the accuracy of the rifle barrel, they simply state that if too much copper accumulates on top of itself within the bore it will be more difficult to clean later on. Here's the quote from their website:

If this copper is allowed to stay in the bore, and subsequent bullets and deposits are fired over it copper, which adheres well to itself, will build up quickly and may be difficult to remove later. So when we break in a barrel, our goal is to get the throat polished without allowing copper to build up in the bore. This is the reasoning for the fire-one-shot-and-clean procedure.

Remember the goal is to get or keep the barrel clean while breaking in the throat with bullets being fired over it.

Besides, cleaning is not a completely benign procedure so it should be done carefully and no more than necessary.

This is something I could see as being legitimate, unlike the others that claim the cleaning itself is going to do anything to your bore or that the break-in process will improve accuracy in any way. Krieger is just saying that it'll be a PITA to clean the first time if you let all the extra copper accumulate, so they recommend cleaning it more frequently while the tooling marks from the throat wear in since extra copper will enter the bore during that time. They also address the fact that you should not clean more than necessary because it can and does damage the bore in many cases.

I've yet to see any claim that break-in improves accuracy substantiated with data or anything besides anecdotes. Barrels being ruined by damage from cleaning is supported by data. The only break-in theory that makes any sense at all, objectively speaking, is Krieger's break-in justification where they just say it's to prevent the first cleanings from being a PITA because there's more copper accumulated in the bore than usual. Every barrelmaker that makes any claim regarding accuracy or that the cleaning itself will affect the bore is doing nothing but talking straight out of their ass, because I guarantee they can't back up their claims with data.

 

[barronian]

a question to highlight my ignorance... the copper fouling that everyone is talking about, is this from the casings or from FMJ rounds ? And how relevant is it to .22 subsonics with lead bullets ?

 

[ThePretzel]

a question to highlight my ignorance... the copper fouling that everyone is talking about, is this from the casings or from FMJ rounds ? And how relevant is it to .22 subsonics with lead bullets ?

Copper fouling does not happen with bare lead bullets.

Copper fouling is a result of the copper jacket of the bullet being squeezed by the rifling and leaving deposits behind that got shaved off the jacket in the process.

The case for rounds is made of brass (or steel or aluminum) rather than copper.

 

[barronian]

@ThePretzel
Thanks one point less ignorant !

 

[Lawless]

 

[dangerdan87]

Ive never did a barrel break in, even when some manufacturers suggested it. I didn't see how it would help. Even so when I ordered quality barrels, they are advertised as being hand lapped after barrel making. To me, it kind of seemed like sanding a piece of wood that has already been sanded smooth and finish.

 

[KeyboardKiril]

Re: Objective research on Barrel Break-in procedures

This is interesting, but I am skeptical about the bullet stopping up to three times before leaving the barrel. I would think the bullet would tend to accelerate the entire trip down the barrel. I know that there is a point where a barrel is longer than the burn of the power, but for the most part I don’t see the bullet stopping. I have seen squibs (rounds with only a primer) push a round an inch or so into a barrel. I can’t help but believe that by the time a round is an inch into the chamber the power would be fully ignited. Tell me why I’m wrong.

Muzzle flash occurs because of powder still burning upon the projectile exiting the barrel. The powder column ignited? Yes. fully burned? No

 

[KeyboardKiril]

The "break in" procedure is BS concocted by a businessman in the business of selling barrels. A barrel will shoot good or it doesn't. My best shooting rifle was built with a broche cut barrel from classic barrel works looking down the bore the tool marks are attrocious. I considered lapping it but decided to shoot it first i never bothered lapping it. Capable of a ragged hole 5 shot group at 200 yards and consistent 8" groups at 1000 yards it's good to go. No barrel procedure post manufacture will improve a barrels ability. Just shoot your rifles!!

 

[seansmd]

This all has me very confused, I currently have a factory gun and barrel that I did not break in and have not cleaned once with around 700+ rounds through it. If anything it seems to be getting better (me too). I am in the process of building a really nice gun built by a pro with a custom barrel and very interested in ensuring I understand what I should do.

This is the most recent groups when i was zero'ing a new scope. The top left group, lower shot I said "crap" before I saw the impact, I rushed the shot. Order was center, top left, top right, lower left. Top right, and lower left were confirmation after turrets locked.

 

[Near miss]

Looks like this discussion runs with so many variables. But having read the whole thing through I'd say that there is consensus that

Custom barrels:
-Do not need breaking-in. But many makers advise so.
-And few mentioned that most custom barrels have reamer marks, although there is reason to predict that they are much lighter than on factory barrels.
-Have far better bore surface and by default suffer less of copper depositing.
-Shoot well right out of the box. If it does not it is not going to.

Factory barrels:
-Many have noticed and testified the fact that keeps breaking-in process alive. It is that when cleaning between first shots, the amount of copper depositing to the bore reduces by the shots made. In the definition of breaking-in, "breaking" happening here makes the product better by accumulating less copper. This is something I have noticed too.

-It is an open topic if one should go the Tubb's Final Finish way or just shooting. All of the commenters here who used TFF felt they benefited from it. Afterall isn't this practically what the custom barrel makers do also. I'd even say that Lapping the tool marks and evening out the bore surface parallel to the rifling is one of the most important steps in making a custom barrel.

-Many here agree that breaking-in reduces copper depositing but not that it increases accuracy. I agree. But it is a well-known fact that accuracy will be affected when too much copper has accumulated.

-I found that the only downsides to breaking-in is that it causes marks to the bore from the rod movement. I found this both ironic and silly.
>Ironic in the way that some shooters go through the trouble of break-in to remove the tool marks and only manage to add them.
>Silly in the fact that the rod markings are assumed to be only made in the breaking-in process. If the user does not hold the reason to go easy with the rod on the barrel during the breaking-in, why should he not be able to cause rod markings in the bore later on too?

My insights on this matter:
1. Things can be done right or wrong.
Making assumption that breaking in a barrel is bad because I will use some harmful tools/ways to do it is not rational/nice. I am however worried about the number of "Cold bore" type of shots made during the process but I have no real facts whether they really are so harmful.
2. Breaking-in is not mandatory for factory barrels. Like couple of commenters have proved. @seansmd Could you take a photo of the crown to see possible copper accumulation in the rifling?
3. If I will get another factory barrel I will be probably lapping it. Has anyone here a good guide to it?

 

[seansmd]

Looks like this discussion runs with so many variables. But having read the whole thing through I'd say that there is consensus that

Custom barrels:
-Do not need breaking-in. But many makers advise so.
-And few mentioned that most custom barrels have reamer marks, although there is reason to predict that they are much lighter than on factory barrels.
-Have far better bore surface and by default suffer less of copper depositing.
-Shoot well right out of the box. If it does not it is not going to.

Factory barrels:
-Many have noticed and testified the fact that keeps breaking-in process alive. It is that when cleaning between first shots, the amount of copper depositing to the bore reduces by the shots made. In the definition of breaking-in, "breaking" happening here makes the product better by accumulating less copper. This is something I have noticed too.

-It is an open topic if one should go the Tubb's Final Finish way or just shooting. All of the commenters here who used TFF felt they benefited from it. Afterall isn't this practically what the custom barrel makers do also. I'd even say that Lapping the tool marks and evening out the bore surface parallel to the rifling is one of the most important steps in making a custom barrel.

-Many here agree that breaking-in reduces copper depositing but not that it increases accuracy. I agree. But it is a well-known fact that accuracy will be affected when too much copper has accumulated.

-I found that the only downsides to breaking-in is that it causes marks to the bore from the rod movement. I found this both ironic and silly.
>Ironic in the way that some shooters go through the trouble of break-in to remove the tool marks and only manage to add them.
>Silly in the fact that the rod markings are assumed to be only made in the breaking-in process. If the user does not hold the reason to go easy with the rod on the barrel during the breaking-in, why should he not be able to cause rod markings in the bore later on too?

My insights on this matter:
1. Things can be done right or wrong.
Making assumption that breaking in a barrel is bad because I will use some harmful tools/ways to do it is not rational/nice. I am however worried about the number of "Cold bore" type of shots made during the process but I have no real facts whether they really are so harmful.
2. Breaking-in is not mandatory for factory barrels. Like couple of commenters have proved. @seansmd Could you take a photo of the crown to see possible copper accumulation in the rifling?
3. If I will get another factory barrel I will be probably lapping it. Has anyone here a good guide to it?

I am over 1000 rounds now, it may be opening up.
I have a brake area 419, not sure how I would do that?

 

[98Vandal]

I'm in agreement regarding the value of this article and the level of effort put forth in its production. With all this being said though, why are so many major barrel manufacturers sticking to the shoot-clean-shoot methodology or the shoot three-clean-shoot three process?

 

[Unknown]

I have owned quite a few rifles with high end barrels. While I'm not convinced that break in will really do much to a PROPERLY hand lapped barrel from a custom maker, I am not so arrogant that I think I know more than someone who makes barrels for a living.

When I buy high end barrels, I buy from barrel makers who have a well established reputation for selling products that perform well. While still not convinced that break in really helps a properly lapped barrel, I will follow the makers instructions simply because they know much more than I do, and they have a well earned and far better reputation for knowing barrels than I do. Even though I may not believe it will help, and I may not understand the logic behind the recommended break in instructions, I will follow them out of respect for the maker's reputation.

I have a general knowledge of how a barrel is hand lapped, but I haven't ever lapped one, so I will rely on the maker's experience. It would be sheer arrogance to think I know more about barrels than makers like Kreiger, Obeymeyer, Rock Creek, Schneider, similar makers. I don't want to be "that guy".

 

[Jeff in TX]

Just an FYI, not all custom barrels are hand-lapped. The barrel of choice for Chad Dixon at LongRifles Inc are KP Barrels. KP barrels have ruled the .50 cal competitions for decades. Then they branched out into all the other calibers. They don't hand-lap their barrels as they don't see a need, unless a customer absolutely insists. Their barrels are drilled and cut on state-of-art equipment and they use bore scopes to check each and everyone they produce. They've done extensive testing and with and without and saw no difference. Once you lap a barrel by put lapping compound into a barrel it's very difficult to remove all of the lapping compound. The way it was explained to me, it's almost like fire lapping a barrel without using lapping compound impregnated bullets. I'm no expert on the subject, but most everything I've read is fire lapping a barrel is a huge no no and can do plenty of negatives to the barrel. I know this goes against everything we've read or thought. However, I'm no expert, I leave that up to the individuals who make their products, stand by and support them.

Chad is currently re-barreling my custom Tikka .243 win to a 6.5 Creedmoor and will be using a KP barrel. Those that know Chad, know his rifles, work and attention to detail are second to none.

 

[Country]

" This is not to say that moly is necessarily bad for a barrel, but it can be when applied to bullets. Never shoot moly coated bullets as they are bad juju for the throat of a rifle "

Rubbish , those people don't want moly used because it makes the barrel last way longer .
I have been using it for 30 years and have one barrel on 7000 rounds and still shooting well .

 

[Country]

Re: Objective research on Barrel Break-in procedures

This is interesting, but I am skeptical about the bullet stopping up to three times before leaving the barrel. I would think the bullet would tend to accelerate the entire trip down the barrel. I know that there is a point where a barrel is longer than the burn of the power, but for the most part I don’t see the bullet stopping. I have seen squibs (rounds with only a primer) push a round an inch or so into a barrel. I can’t help but believe that by the time a round is an inch into the chamber the power would be fully ignited. Tell me why I’m wrong.

Your not wrong . There is so much variation in the size of cartriges and their powder capacities , length of powder columns , speed of powder burning rates and power of primers it can't be right for every cartridge , powder and primer combination . Not to mention free bore variations and seating distance of the lands variations . Those people mentioned are theorists wanting to fit every effect into a single explanation experience proves otherwise . The 22 Hornet is not going to behave internally the same as a 6 mm / 06 .

 

[47guy]

" This is not to say that moly is necessarily bad for a barrel, but it can be when applied to bullets. Never shoot moly coated bullets as they are bad juju for the throat of a rifle "

Rubbish , those people don't want moly used because it makes the barrel last way longer .
I have been using it for 30 years and have one barrel on 7000 rounds and still shooting well .

what are you shooting that you have 7000 rounds through and is still shooting well?