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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

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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!