SmallCaliberCentral

Good Morning,
This is my first venture into small caliber rifle shooting (and this forum). I just purchased a new Ruger Mod. 77 Target in .204. I've had it less than a month. Another shooter at the range yesterday was talking breaking in the barrel. Honestly, as a hunter for the last 40 years with mostly used rifles, I never thought much about that. So, what should I be doing with this new rifle other than shooting and cleaning it and about how much time or shots does it usually take to break it it. As with anything I realize that each gun is different and there could be no exact answer to my question, but I would like your thoughts.
Thanks,
OtH

You can ask ten different people about breaking in a barrel and you'll likely get ten different opinions. I have read a lot about the topic and can't really say that I have strong views either way. In the end, I follow a basic break-in procedure because I'm relatively certain that doing so can't hurt anything. I believe that there are a few threads here on the topic that have some people's methods.

The way I understand it, barrel break in is due to small imperfections in the barrel that were left during manufacturing. This is with every new barrel custom or not. When you first shoot your new rifle these small imperfections "catch" the bullet and hold parts of it causing a significant amount of fouling vs when the barrel is broken in. The purpose is to clean the barrel well in the beginning after your first shots until the inside of the barrel is "smoother". As for the procedure there are as many methods as there are people on this forum. It is always interesting looking at them on line. The bullet manufacturer’s usually require twice the amount of shooting until they feel the barrel is broken in. HHHHHmmmm wonder why Any way, a method I have used in the past that seems to work, at least for me, is, the one Savage recommends. I have used this prior to using Savage Rifles. IN that case I just bought my first Savage and have not yet shot it. Either way, fire one round and clean for the first 10 rounds. Then start with three round groups cleaning between each group for five groups. Lastly, shoot five shot groups for five groups cleaning between each. As for the cleaning procedure I use Bore Tech Eliminator. I have used several over the past years and believe this works best for me. It cleans copper and powder with one solvent. It also is safer for you no harmful nasty stuff. "Nasty Stuff" technical term... Any way for a more details on the cleaning procedure you can go to the Savage web site. They list it more detailed. Just my 2 cents. Hope it helps.

I used Calhoons barrel breakin procedure. Look on his web site.

I get a couple of boxes of ammo and do the following:

- One shot and clean routine for 10 rounds.
- Two shots and clean for 10 rounds.
- Two 3-shot groups, cleaning between each one.
- Three 5-shot groups, cleaning between each one.

Usually, most of the heavy fouling is gone after the 1st 20 rounds. Also, I never allow the barrel to heat. When I detect heat (by hand) I let the barrel completly cool.

Also, remember that a barrel make take several rounds, upwards to 100 or more before it starts to "consistently" group accurately.

HTH

Over The Hill,
Welcome to the forum! So far the advice is hitting the mark. There are tons of opinions about break-in but most folks agree that some form of break-in procedure is a good idea. Look at custom barrel makers sites as these guys usually post their recommendations.
Enjoy! Gary

I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. It looks like taking my time and keeping the barrel clean initially are the basics. I did a forum search and as stated there are lots of different ideas.
Thanks again,
OtH

I also just finished using SAVAGES method. Lots of cleaning & not sure i accomplished anything or not; but i did find out that my SAVAGE M 25 seems to like the HORNADYS 40gr over the 32grs. Especially when i got to shooting the 5 shot groups. The barrel seems to clean nicely also. Cant wait to start loadind SIERRA 39grs whenever they become avalible again. If nothing else ; i got 3 more boxes of empty brass !!!!! Im new here also and gonna try to post pics later on when i get familiar with it . Very nice forum from a new .204 shooter.

Just curious, what happens if you don't run a barrel in? Will it never group? What chance have we got if we buy a used rifle, and can't tell by using the mark 1 eyeball whether the bore is good and has been run in? thanks KB.

Ken: The primary advantage of properly breaking-in a barrel is to eliminate excessive copper fouling. Barrels that have been broken-in properly foul much less and are far easier (quicker) to clean as a result. They usually exhibit more accuracy also, but this can really vary from one barrel to the next.

With a used rifle, we pay our money and take our chances. We just have to trust the MK-I Personal Eyeball Test lacking a borescope.

For the record, when breaking-in a barrel, I use a modified version of the Sinclair and Pac-Nor methods, and it has worked extremely well over the years since I became aware of such matters. I'm told Sinclair should have their new edition of their excellent work, "Precision Shooting and Handloading" available soon, which goes into great detail on the subject.

Thanks for that Rick, i hadn't realized that it would facilitate the cleaning each time afer the barrel had been broken in, as well as potentially better groups. KB.

There are a lot of ways to break in a barrel, but one thing I always do is, After cleaning the bore (after however many shots you do it) each time I run a clean bore brush and a couple of patches soaked with plain Windex Window Cleaner down the barrel. Then i run dry patches through the bore to make sure it is dry.

The reason for this is, that the bore cleaner you use has some type of petroleum (oil) in it. Petroleum, under heat and pressure turns into carbon, which in turn fills the pores in the steel of your barrel negating the Polishing or smoothing process that you are trying to accomplish.

I got this information from the barrel break in procedure that came with my Howa 1500 204.

Does this window cleaner contain ammonia?

Jim White wrote:Does this window cleaner contain ammonia?

Yes, Windex does or did contain ammonia. Glass Plus does not and is clearly labeled as ammonia free. I learned this by cleaning my glasses with Windex, only to find it stripped anti-glare coating off the lenses due to the ammonia. My optician scolded me!

I use a squirt of carburetor cleaner, it strips oil based lubes and even some carbon. Patches squeak going down the bore it gets so clean.

Then some recommend using a break in fluid, Pac_Nor recommends Holland's Witch's Brew, and Greg Tannel supplies Grafoil.

Holland's Witches Brew is a most excellent barrel cleaner. I use it when home from a multi-day squirrel shoot, and it really cleans out all the carbon and copper that is still there after "normal" cleaning.