[ridgerunner]

I am in the process of buying a new rifle. I was reading today in the Sierra news letter that I should break it in, but they didn't tell how. I would appreciate any help on this.

Thanks

Ridgerunner

 

[savageT]

I am in the process of buying a new rifle. I was reading today in the Sierra news letter that I should break it in, but they didn't tell how. I would appreciate any help on this.

Thanks

Ridgerunner

It's called Fire Polishing.......You go to the range (with a lot of ammo, and a lot of patches!). After 1st shot, clean the barrel with a good solvent. Then fire the 2nd shot and clean again. Do this for the first 10 rounds, cleaning after every shot. On the next 20 rounds, clean every 2nd round. On the next 30 rounds, clean every 3ed round. That's IT!
Or.....buy a jar of J&B Compound and a can of Kroil and follow the directions closely (go to Brownell's site www.brownells.com). Question.....Do you know how to correctly clean your gun's bore with a good steel rod and jag from the breech.....not the muzzle? Any more questions....just ask and we'll be here.

 

[Advocate]

Go to The Alaska hunting Forum (another web site) and read the thread on barrel break in. It is linked to Gale mcMillian's web site. McMillan is a match winning custom barrel maker who has some very intersting things to say about barrel break in. With due respect to others who may disagree, McMillian confirmed something I have long suspected: The barrel "break-in" ritual was invented by another custom barrel maker to increase barrel wear and tear and to increase sales of barrels among competitive shooters who replace their barrels every 1,000 rounds or so. McMillian specifically advised against JB compound and said its use would void the guarantee on his own, match winning barrels.

Actually, McMillian debunked my own favorite theory of this ritual. He said it was invented by a custom barrel maker of his acquaintance. I thought it was invented by cleaning supply manufacturers to generate additional use of and demand for cleaning components and accessories. Well, I can't be right all the time.

 

[Advocate]

the cites are as follows:

www.outdoorsdirectory.com

http://yarchive.not/gun/barrel/break_in.html

www.snipercoutnry.com/Articles/Barrel_Breakin.htm

 

[John (Rojo)]

Advocate, I checked the web sites you mentioned in your reply. Good reading from those who actually make the barrels. Interesting info that may open some eyes.

Rojo

 

[willyp]

Do what you want to,but I would break it in. Why ? Because it is not a custom polished barrel. Factory barrels are not honed and polished.
I don't hear of many people using many McMillan barrels,lately.
It can't hurt it !

 

[tominboise]

I follow the advice given by Varmint AL

http://www.cctrap.com/~varmint/ashot.htm#Break

In other words, on a new rifle, I clean the bore, and then give it 50 strokes of JB compound. I then clean it and go shooting. It seems to work out pretty well.

Tom

 

[ridgerunner]

Thank You all for the help. The conclusion I have come up with is that there are many different ideas as to what should be done. What I am going to do is. Clean to barrel when I get it. Take it out, shoot it and see how well it shoots. If it shoots well then I am going to leave it alone. If not then I will carefully and with caution us some JB. I will also try to develop some loads for it. I have never broken in a new barrel on purpose before, but I know that my 270 is shooting better then ever and it is 15 years old. It may be me that is shooting better and it maybe the load I have found that works well in it.

The gun that I purchased was a 300 WSM in the Savage 116ss. I have a friend that has one and it shoots great. I am not really crazy about the stock, but the deer never know when you hit them. I have shot deer with uglier guns. I am hoping to use some heavier bullets in it and use it for a future moose hunt. If I get a lucky draw I will use it for Elk in michigan.

Thanks again for the help.

Ridgerunner

 

[Yukon Jack]

If it was me, I'd clean good with common bore solvent, then shoot it. If you get a lot of fouling, pick the break in method you like the best (and I would do one that is the least abrasive). If it shoots fine out of the box and you don't have any significant fouling, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[SkyDancer]

If it was me, I'd clean good with common bore solvent, then shoot it. If you get a lot of fouling, pick the break in method you like the best (and I would do one that is the least abrasive). If it shoots fine out of the box and you don't have any significant fouling, I wouldn't worry about it.

Yukon Jack:

That is the best advice I have ever heard about "breakin in" a bore to a rifle. I have always suspected the "break-in" was just a bunch of someone's wishful BS just to conger up some "magic" mystic gun lore. I have been doing just as you describe with my rifles since I was a teenager and everyone of them lasted well beyond my expectations and were super accurate at long distances.

Hat's Off to You Yukon Jack for finally exposing this myth for what it is. :-D