Do you need to break in a rifle barrel

[johnyanu]

Do you need to break in a rifle barrel

[Lunatic]

Yes, keep shooting :-)

[nickmarch]

I never heard of breaking in a rifle barrel. An air pellet gun yes a rifle no.  

Take it to a range and sight it in! 

 

[username]

I am not sure where I stand on this topic.  I haven't seen a lot of good data to convince me either way.  

Thus, I err on the side of caution.

For a precision rifle or heavy hitter, I would use a basic 10 or 20 (at most) shot break-in procedure.  

 

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by username

[Live to Hunt]

All a matter of opinion.  I agree just shoot it. 

[username]

13 minutes ago, johnyanu said:

Do you need to break in a rifle barrel

What caliber?  What does the rifle do: hunt (accurate), benchrest (precision), or general merriment?

Factory loads?  Hand-loads?

[johnyanu]

6 minutes ago, username said:

What caliber?  What does the rifle do: hunt (accurate), benchrest (precision), or general merriment?

Factory loads?  Hand-loads?

Factory 22-250

[username]

That's a hot round.  I would do a break-in, just to sleep better at night.

Which one did you get?  I am thinking about the Savage Model 12 single shot.

I have only "broken-in" two rifles: a precision bench rest and a heavy hitter.  If I pick up a 22-250 or 6XC, I will bring a box of 20 with me to the range and:

(1) shoot 1 round and dry clean with a patch around a brush

(2) Repeat (1) 5 more times

(3) Shoot 2 rounds and dry clean.

(4) Shoot 3 rounds and dry clean.

(5) Shoot 4 rounds and dry clean.

(6) Shoot 5 rounds and dry clean.

That's my feel-better break-in. 

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by username

[Bucndoe]

No

[nmc02]

Competition shooters will say yes...

[MGHunter66]

49 minutes ago, johnyanu said:

Do you need to break in a rifle barrel

Yes you should. The whole idea is to make it easier to get the copper ALL out after the bore has been smoothed, otherwise there will be build up that continues to get worse creating a less sharp edge on the cut rifling. More guns suffer accuracy problems from copper build up than anything else. 

[Haskell_Hunter]

I consider a gun broken in after about 500 rounds.  Which is about one day at the range for me.

[Gobblengrunt]

All new rifles should have a 10-20 shot break in period.  Shoot, clean, shoot,clean, etc.  It doesnt take that much effort but i believe in the long run definitely aids in better accuracy

[Bonefreak]

Our beloved SteveO, God rest his soul, had a post on here bout 1.5 yrs ago bout breaking in a rifle....will see if I can find it via search. He believed in the break in of a new rifle. 

[archer36]

My Savage rifle came with a 3 shot target that was used to test my gun. I guess you can say it was broken in.