Barrel Break In/Cleaning etc

[MoA]

There are two camps around Barrel break in, those who say do it, and those who say dont bother.

However what is barrel break in? Well the theory is that for the first 60-100 shots the barrel needs to be cleaned and shot in a prescribed manner. Typically this would be Fire five, clean, jb paste(or some variant), brush, swab. Shoot 5 more and repeat.
Why? This is supposed to remove any tooling marks and imperfections in the barrel.

Personally I equate this with snake oil.
A good barrel is lapped and finished to a very high degree of smoothness and barrel break in is pure bunkum.
Other than speeding up throat erosion, (which begins the first time you fire the gun), and possible damage to the barrel due to improper cleaning, I am not sure what it is supposed to achieve.

A match grade barrel has a life of 1000 -2500 shots dependent on caliber, with absolute exceptions like the .30 BR which are next to impossible to wear out.
Something like a .243 Win or .22-250 being run hot, will have peak accuracy of about 1000-1200 rounds. Shooting a hundred to break in the barrel will reduce that by 10%.

Sure Krieger etc do have break in proceedures, but in reality they are there because customer's keep demanding a break in guide rather than a real need for a break in.

I do believe in shooting from a clean barrel. And do generally clean mine every 10 shots or relay what ever comes first with the match guns. However I generally do not use JB paste etc. I rely on KG-1 for removing carbon, and KG-12 for copper. I do brush my barrells every 50 or so shots.
For really tough carbon, I use a petrol engine decarboniser, or automatic transmission fluid or even white spirits. Works well. I have been known to use ammonia to remove copper, but dont let it dwell in the barrel.
The very best cleaner I have come across for reoving carbon and copper is Mercury, however it is very toxic, and very difficult to get.

For non match guns, I generally clean after I am done at the range. Which could be anywhere between 50-250 shots.
Now the .22 gets a cleaning about once every six months or so, which is about about 3-5K rounds. When I do clean the .22 it takes about 10 or 15 shots for accuracy to return.

When practical, I clean my rifles from the breech side and do use a bore guide. When not possible, like with the Vz 58 I am still careful about the crown. Personally I like the Dewey 1 piece coated rods.

So what is your routine?

[eljefe]

Agree with the BS about breaking in with X no of rounds and cleaning and swabbing.Mainly because I'm a lazy so and so. and the logic is impeccable.Do we actually expect to clean up with a brass / nylon brush the chatter marks or other imperfections on a STEEL barrel? or will a cotton swab and super dooper agent smooth out the STEEL imperfections ? I think its a big stunt by barrel makers to get the clients to wear out barrels faster, so they buy more.
I clean my rifles with a cloth patch and some decent solvent-Sweets, Sureshot, whatever.Back home in India, it used to be a home made version of Ed's red(isnt all ed's red home made? )I find it hard to beat
I dont run very hot loads, my barrels dont need extensive scouring with a brass brush, I usually do 2 x 25round matches a day and needs minimal effort to get the barrel clean and a decent, clear return on the cleaning patch
I need to break in ( for the lack of a better term just now) a new rifle, to get it to print on paper at 50m, then fine hone it for 100 or 200m-maybe 30-40 rounds all told? wet it with a cotton patch , dwell time 5-10 min,a couple of good passes with the brass brush, then cotton patches 1 soaked, 5 dry.Why 5? because i know my 5 times table well, 10 times is easier, but my arms hurt
While most of the above has been in a lighter vein, IMHO, clean your gun after you fire it. Dont use vigorous brass brushing unless you've used home made black powder with lead styphnate primers and soft cast bullets, a decent cleaner is ED"S RED-how to make it? simple
100ml Auto transmission fluid from any petrol bunk
100ml acetone-from any chemist
100 ml paint thinner-your nearest paint shop.
basically, 1 part each of the above, a 1l can of ATF is enough to make ed's red and distribute to your rifle club
Careful if you have a synthetic stock-the thinner will chew it up, making it look like some non organic leprous patch
PS - I dont use valve grinding paste coated on 5 'special' bullets for that special break in either-try it if you want-caveat emptor!

[Amit357]

Hi MoA,here in India we dont have to worry aboyt this stuff, the state govt/DMs offices is so concerned about clean barrels that they stamp 25 cartridges purchaseable in a year.With 25 Cartridges on ones license an year i dont think we need to worry about corrosive primers,throat damage, etc etc,thats why you will still find GUNS/Rifles/Handguns, NIB condition even today when import was banned 26 years back

[winnie_the_pooh]

Amit,

With corrosive primers,failure to clean after even one shot can lead to a lot of heartache.

My cleaning procedure,

Clean every time I finish firing.

My magic formula,

Hot water followed by WD40 followed by light machine oil.Lots of elbow grease and torn pieces of discarded T shirts,banians or any other cotton cloth.For copper removal dissolved ammonia followed by,you guessed it right, hot water.

[MoA]

Personally I dont use brass brushes. Prefer Nylon ones, they seem to fit the purpose a little better.
Try brushing your bore with a brass brush and soaked in an ammonia based solvent. The blue patches never stop...

JB Paste/Iosso Paste et al are abrasive compounds, so its like running very fine sandpaper or valve polishing compound through the tube. I dont want to convert my 6mm rifle to 6.5 mm so I avoid using them.
What I do want is a borescope, but those are really expensive, and I am afraid of what I might find. Its cheaper to buy a barrel or two or three than a borescope.

[winnie_the_pooh]

MoA,

Read somewhere,do not know where,that nylon is in fact more abrasive than brass.

[MoA]

MoA,

Read somewhere,do not know where,that nylon is in fact more abrasive than brass.

I have read that too, but ammonia will not dissolve nylon.

[eljefe]

Personally I dont use brass brushes. Prefer Nylon ones, they seem to fit the purpose a little better.
Try brushing your bore with a brass brush and soaked in an ammonia based solvent. The blue patches never stop...

JB Paste/Iosso Paste et al are abrasive compounds, so its like running very fine sandpaper or valve polishing compound through the tube. I dont want to convert my 6mm rifle to 6.5 mm so I avoid using them.
What I do want is a borescope, but those are really expensive, and I am afraid of what I might find. Its cheaper to buy a barrel or two or three than a borescope.

+1

[shooter]

wah bhai wah.
good thread. esp for a guy whos about to buy rifles.
i was actually anticipating breaking the gun in. read so much about it. but i guess shooting it at the range without those tedious pauses is gonna be more fun.

[eljefe]

thought this will be informative


http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthr ... ost1562996

[MoA]

Informative yes. Dont agree with some of the stuff on that thread, and definitions of when to clean the barrel and accuracy are wll subject to opinion.
however breaking in a barrel, will do about as much good as self flaggelation.

[lazybones]

Pooh bear: Nothing wrong with nylon brushes. I think you're referring to nylon mono filament - that than cut the crown when improperly used as a pull through.

Ashok

[nagarifle]

i had a rifle made and the makers advice only 5 shots then leave and clean. one shot per day for five days. after that i only clean after shooting due to old time habit.

what are the view of barrel sweating?

[MoA]

i had a rifle made and the makers advice only 5 shots then leave and clean. one shot per day for five days. after that i only clean after shooting due to old time habit.

what are the view of barrel sweating?

What do you think that achieves? And what exactly does a barrel sweat?

[nagarifle]

barrel sweating, not sure if that term is used all over, but in certain parts/groups, it basically refers to moisture in that barrel after shooting, when the rifle is left overnight, sometimes moisture tends to gather in the barrel.