New barrel break in?

[jeepster106]

What do you guys think about breaking in a new barrel? I have read many articles and postings on other forums, and it seems about 50% say to follow one set of break in steps or another..while the other 50% say it is not necessary and will actually shorten the lifespan of the barrel... I would like to hear some of your thoughts/tips on this issue. I have a newly assembled 9mm AR that I am wanting to treat right so it will last a long time.

Thanks in advance!

I realized after submitting that this should prob be in the Maint section...doh...Could a Moderater please move this?

Edited April 1, 2008 by jeepster106
posted in wrong section

[molonlabetn]

Low velocity rounds such as the 9mm shouldn't really be much of a concern... but most break-in regimen consist pretty simply of frequent cleaning, and allowing the barrel to cool between shots.

[Smith]

With 9mm you not going to be target shooting beyond 150 yrds. just shoot it and clean when you get it home. Should be good to go.

[VERO1]

My break in consists of shooting all the ammo I brought, then going home and scrubbing the barrel out. Seems to have worked pretty well for the last 30 years or so!

[TripleDigitRide]

My break in consists of shooting all the ammo I brought, then going home and scrubbing the barrel out. Seems to have worked pretty well for the last 30 years or so!

+1

Well, not quite 30 years for me, but I've done the very same thing, without issues.

[Guest bigbuck_tn]

I personally have never really understood nor have I ever read any physics behind the break-in procedure.

It would seem to me that as a bullet is travelling a couple of thousand feet per second down a barrel with a relatively soft (in comparison to barrel steel) material, any imperfections that you have in the barrel will immediately be filled with material from the bullet. Coming back in and cleaning it out and then doing it again and again seems like a waste of time.

To me you should wait until the deposits of material get to the point that your accuracy has started to suffer then clean out the material. Especially since the very next shot is going to fill it right back up again.

I would also think that if you were scrubbing it down to the bare metal after x number of shots you were going to eventually make one to many passes and start removing barrel metal along with the bullet refuse.

Now if you used a lapping compound on your bullets that will of course clean out those imperfections right fast, along with a section of your barrel rifling too.

My advice (which is worth exactly what you paid for it) shoot it. Clean it if it acts funny.

[Guest price g]

It really depends on my mood. If the barrel has a fast twist, we toast to a Wrotham Pinot. If slower, usually a Monrachet.

[DWARREN123]

Depends on caliber and FPS and type of bullet. I always suggest going by the manual and if it doesn't say or explain well enough then call/e-mail the maker and find out what they say.

[Smith]

Try this. it seems like a sound and good procedure. It is a series of abrasive bullets in progressively milder "grits" to polish or "lap" the barrel. Here is the full article http://www.gunsandammomag.com/gun_columns/notes/0707/ and the company that makes them. http://www.superiorshootingsystems.com/

[Guest bigbuck_tn]

Don't forget.

Any type of lapping/polishing/etc is removing material from your barrel that can't be put back in. If you do it wrong....

I have had alot of experience "lapping" surfaces, usually to eliminate 2 and 3 microns of variation in measurements. I have had alot of Son of a %)^#@ ARRGGHH!!!!!! moments.

I have read articles that say those lapping bullets really help a barrel that leads/coppers up really bad but I wouldn't use them until it was the last resort.

I worry that I would be the guy that got the 7 or 8 grains of the wrong grit size in my last pass and now I have 7 new non-concentric,variable depth, random twist rifling grooves that are even worse that what I started with and now I have 200 microns less rifling lands than I had before. Son of #$%^& ARRGGHH!!!!!!!!

[Guest HogMan]

Shoot the hell out of it, then take her home and clean her out real good.

[DaveTN]

Do whatever the firearm or barrel manufacturer recommends.

Here is what Gale McMillan had to say about it….

http://www.6mmbr.com/GailMcMbreakin.html

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=12582

[jeepster106]

Thanks for the input guys! I think I will just run a few boxes of ammo through it without getting the barrel too hot and then clean it like normal.