NOT a "barrel break-in" question... I swear...

[Wannashootit]

But...
New barrel just arrived (Savage, DIY). Anyone have an opinion as to whether rounds need to be sent down the tube before I start the OCW load workup (if so, how many?), or just start putting rounds on target?

 

[TonyAngel]

Re: NOT a "barrel break-in" question... I swear...

There's no set number of rounds. Usually, the better the barrel the less breaking in it needs. I shoot once and clean with a copper solvent and repeat until I see a marked decrease in the amount of copper. With Krieger barrels, this has meant five rounds or less.

 

[oldfatguy]

Re: NOT a "barrel break-in" question... I swear...

TA is right, no set number. With my Remmys I've done the old "one round & clean" for 5 rnds. Then 3 & clean for a few more reps, then 5 & clean. Total rnd count about 25. The two Remmys still show some copper at 1300 & 750 rnds.

One change I've made that seems to help is going to aluminum jags & nylon brushes. Brass will give you a false show of copper with the copper removers. Clear nail polish on the brass rod tips helps too.

OFG

 

[pjparker]

Re: NOT a "barrel break-in" question... I swear...

In the past, I have religiously done the "break-in" thing with all new barrels (Krieger, Bartlein) but on my last build I did a .223 on a Rem 700, Krieger 30" 4 groove 8 twist and just started shooting. It is the easiest cleaning barrel I have ever had, got a load from a fellow FTR shooter that worked great and I never changed it. Is this evidence that barrel break-in is over rated and not needed ? I don't think so. I think I just got lucky. To answer your question, though, even if you dispense with the break-in procedure, I would think it prudent to at least fire a few rounds through your new barrel to settle things in before any starting any serious load development.

Paul

 

[nashlaw]

Re: NOT a "barrel break-in" question... I swear...

Tony A, I am still driving that Geraci. Sweet hammer, it is.

 

[TonyAngel]

Re: NOT a "barrel break-in" question... I swear...

Well, with a good barrel, it isn't so much the bore that you are "breaking in." It's the throat area that you want to massage the remnants of machine marks out of. I'm sure that with a good barrel, breaking in may not be an absolute necessity; but after spending all of that money, it just seemed to be something so easy to do that there was no sense in not doing it.

nashlaw, good to hear it. Don sure can put pieces together right. I'm still shooting the one that replaced the one that I sold you. I'll tell ya. If you ever get the hankering for a new build, you should look him up. His delivery times are estimated in weeks rather than months or years and he does really good work. I had him on the phone today and we were talking about, of all things, putting together 10/22s for a 200 yard match.

 

[Wannashootit]

Re: NOT a "barrel break-in" question... I swear...

So...
Logic is that any "micro" machining marks can actually be eroded by the bullets- and since they would hold copper, when copper decreases I should be GTG?

That the gist?

 

[Shooter McGavin]

Re: NOT a "barrel break-in" question... I swear...

I have a few Tac Ops rifles and have followed Mike R.'s barrel break in procedure each time and all of the rifles shoot better than .25 MOA. Mike recomeds no break in at all! Just shoot the rifle! Also, I only run a dirty bore snake threw it when I am done shooting. Of course, that's till about 600 rounds when it starts to open up and that's on my Echo 51. All of the other rifles have not hit that many round yet as I shoot the .308 a lot more.

 

[nhm16]

Re: NOT a "barrel break-in" question... I swear...

My barrel break-in, to the extent it exists, are the shots I use to zero the scope after bore sighting. After that it's straight on to load development. Gale McMillan posted on USENET years ago that he thought barrel break in was a waste of barrel life.

 

[Wannashootit]

Re: NOT a "barrel break-in" question... I swear...

Thanks.
I'm in the "no break-in" camp, and didn't want to start that crap again. Just wanted to confirm that I could do load development right off the bat.

I'll send a few to get the scope on paper with the new barrel (and the 162 Amax's I bought it for) and start scoring.