• What Optic Hill Would You Die On? - Only a Few Hours Left To Enter!

    We all have strong opinions about optics, now’s your chance to share yours. What’s the one thing you firmly believe? Winner gets new limited edition Hide merch. Remember, subscribers have a better chance of winning!

    Join contest Subscribe

Barrel break in? 1st AR-15

aur0ra145

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
May 25, 2012
391
7
36
DFW, TX
Howdy!

How do I go about breaking in an AR-15 barrel? I'm new to this whole AR thing. In fact, this rifle (which I built) is the first AR-15 I have ever owned.

Also, picture

Ldo6O.jpg
 
Re: Barrel break in? 1st AR-15

Make sure the bore is free of obstructions or oil/grease. You can just run a boresnake down it. Then shoot it. There's no special break in needed for the barrel.
 
Re: Barrel break in? 1st AR-15

Clean first and shoot it.

I found that the AR platform requires cleaning less often than my bolt guns. In fact after cleaning the AR needs 10-15 rounds before the groups tighten up.

I now only clean the carbon when the groups open up.

good luck
 
Re: Barrel break in? 1st AR-15

I guess I'm an odd ball then. I follow this procedure for my new barrels

1. Clean the barrel. (boresnake works great)
2. Shoot 5 rounds, 1 minute apart with a boresnake in between each shot
3. Repeat step 2 twice more.
4. Shoot 5 within a minute then clean
5. Repeat step 4 twice after barrel cools each time.
6. By now I have my baseline groups for warm and cold barrel for the weapon and will use that to judge handload improvements later.
7. Have fun!