Gunsmithing Objective research on Barrel Break-in procedures
- Thread starter Jeff in TX
- Start date
Epic post. I dont have the data to prove but Im pretty sure I buggered up my first LaRue Stealth barrel years ago by going over board on the “break-in”. Since then I’ll fire about 100 rounds of store bought ammo through a new barrel, (for my precision ARs, about 20-30 for bolt gun), clean and then start the hand load/tuning process.
I remember reading Molon’s review of Criterion’s CORE barrels and he also showed how everything smoothed out as initial round count went up. Makes sense.
Thanks for all the hard work to get us that info!!
I remember reading Molon’s review of Criterion’s CORE barrels and he also showed how everything smoothed out as initial round count went up. Makes sense.
Thanks for all the hard work to get us that info!!
I just ordered some from Tubbs after I read a few posts of guys recommending them for Shaw custom barrels. They felt it improved their accuracy. For 35 bucks I’m will to give them a shot on a new barrel.
Definitely report back I’m interested in the results, I guess it will speed up break in for sure.
Thank you for sharing
Great read! Thanks for the research!!
Great thread
I used them on a couple cheaper .243’s.
They are 1 moa rifles with hand loads now. 1.25 or so before so decent improvement. I only did the lighter grade 3 bullets on one of the rifles. Did all five on the other.
It's probably up here somewhere already, but nevertheless:
If Eric Cortina does not do break in, why the hell should i?
Or is he lying to fool his competitors and does actually break in barrels, even more than anyone?
If Eric Cortina does not do break in, why the hell should i?
Or is he lying to fool his competitors and does actually break in barrels, even more than anyone?
Apparently I am over thinking things... This is a good thread for shooters who are not sure if they are doing it right.
I thought we all agreed that barrel break in is actually the SOFT copper or lead fouling that gets into and filling the micro
machine marks and not WEARING down the hard steel be it 4140 or SS. Personally I didn't know who EC was until last week.
Do some people lie to try and keep what they consider to be important wisdom from others? Yes they do.... But I was never
one of them. Shooting or at work, I was always happy to see people succeed and do better. When I go to a match and other
TOP shooters cant make it, winning First place is a HOLLOW victory. Ask yourself what you feel the truth is about barrel break in?
What does your gut tell you? Worn steel or filled machine marks. If it's filled micro machine marks, should you use a liquid that
dissolves the Cu or Pb from your barrel ? Ultimately, it's up to you what you feel is the truth. I know what I believe.
Please.... let's not confuse properly fouled with DIRTY.
machine marks and not WEARING down the hard steel be it 4140 or SS. Personally I didn't know who EC was until last week.
Do some people lie to try and keep what they consider to be important wisdom from others? Yes they do.... But I was never
one of them. Shooting or at work, I was always happy to see people succeed and do better. When I go to a match and other
TOP shooters cant make it, winning First place is a HOLLOW victory. Ask yourself what you feel the truth is about barrel break in?
What does your gut tell you? Worn steel or filled machine marks. If it's filled micro machine marks, should you use a liquid that
dissolves the Cu or Pb from your barrel ? Ultimately, it's up to you what you feel is the truth. I know what I believe.
Please.... let's not confuse properly fouled with DIRTY.
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Who is "we"?
I don't know of any current top shooters in any discipline who do anything special to a new barrel except shoot it. There will be an initial velocity increase, and there's several opinions on why. But that's it. Nothing more, nothing less.
And except for stuff like PRS and such, they all clean their barrels down to the steel. Some will then use fouling shots and others will actually run liquid graphite into the bore after cleaning.
Watch several of Erik Cortina's podcast with Bartlien Barrels, Kreiger Barrels and Brian Litz where he asks each of them specifically what they do and recommend for barrel break in....Erik has stated numerous times he no longer breaks in barrels, and his guests seem to agree there is nothing wrong with it.....they also stated they have no way of inspecting the barrel to tell if you broke it in or not.....
Most barrel makers have a "break in procedure" purely because when they didn't, they received call after call asking for a break in procedure and pushback from consumers if they told them there was no need.
So, since it's almost impossible to mess up the barrel without specifically trying, they list a procedure that won't actually do anything, but appeases consumers who want a procedure.
So, since it's almost impossible to mess up the barrel without specifically trying, they list a procedure that won't actually do anything, but appeases consumers who want a procedure.
Rio Precision is 100% spot on. Call some of the top barrel makers and that is the general answer. Some people just like to feel like they are doing something lol. A premium barrel is thoroughly lapped and really doesn't require a damn thing.
This idea of "soft" and 'hard" brushes or rods might need some elucidation here. When we want to wear down a hard steel, we don't have to use a harder steel -- we can use a softer medium that is impregnated with something like carborundum or diamond dust or some other very hard abrasive material.
I once bought a reloading die that was cut for the wrong cartridge: a .450-400 instead of a .450 Nitro Express. The .450-400 is a .450 NE with a neck that reduces the bullet diameter to .400. By the time I found this out, I was living in East Africa and unable to send the dies back for replacement. i took a piece of fired brass of the correct caliber (.450 NE), drilled out the primer pocked and threaded a bolt into it, then coated the case with valve grinding compound. Chucking the tool in an electric drill, I honed the die until it was a perfect fit for my .450 NE cases. I reloaded a number of them over the next few years with no problem.
The point is, we can use a softer metal, plus some kind of abrasive, to cut a harder metal. Remember that next time someone tells you soft aluminum cleaning rods can't harm the rifling in your barrel. If it has any abrasive imbedded into it, including pieces of carbon, it can cut your barrel.
Exactly! And PRS is changing too. The top shooters in PRS are cleaning all the time now. All competitive shooters, meaning people that shoot a LOT, and especially shooters with high velocity, small caliber barrels already know that barrels are expendable - they all order barrels in threes or more. For them barrels are actually less expensive to replace than the cost of bullets and reloading.
For casual shooters, say less than 200 rounds a month, using Iosso is perfectly fine every 200-400 rounds depending on calibers, powder and velocity, and only if you know how to properly clean a rifle with abrasives. For hunters that only use their rifles sparingly this is not an issue.
Using Iosso is a lot better than leaving hard carbon in the barrel because that hard carbon retains heat longer than a clean barrel. Think about it, every round fired (exploded) on top of hard carbon is worse than lighting up a charcoal grill to glowing charcoal heat - every few seconds.
I'm one of those casual shooters. I use Iosso every 200 or so rounds, clean every time regardless of session shot count, and finish every cleaning with Lock-Ease graphite.
Yeah I get that I just don’t see aluminum grazing the lands and ruining my barrel
