handi barrel break-in

[fullup3]

I know, I know......everyone has their own opinion of how to break in a rifle barrel, or if it even needs to be done.  Some say it is bad for the barrel and a scheme cooked up by the custom barrel makers to sell more barrels..... yet others say completely necessary and can greatly increase accuracy and speed up cleaning.  I have my opinion and my method that I normally follow, but wanted to see if perhaps the Handi makers have any recommended or endorsed procedures.   

[Jason F]

Load up 100 ,shoot five, clean it,then repeat. After those 100 are gone clean it when it starts shooting bad.

[OSOK]

  Mine is a little different.
  Clean it absolutely clean before you fire a shot. Fire one and clean. Do this for the first 5 minimum, unless I still feel rough spots. Once I feel it start to smooth up, I go to cleaning after every 2.  I continue until the first 20 rounds are gone. This is usually good enough for me.
  Back when Mossberg first came out with the 100 ATR I bought one in .270 for my wife. Man, the bore was horrible, like running a patch down a file card. So, I got creative and put a smear of Iosso on the first 10 rounds. Fired 1 at a time and cleaned after each one. Really helped smooth it out. It is a solid 3/4" shooter now, and a breeze to clean, rarely getting any fouling from the bullets. That rifle has turned a bunch of heads at the range. A $225.00 gun shooting tiny little groups with a $70.00 Bushnell scope. I'm positive my barrel break-in and a little barrel channel clearing have everything to do with it.
  I know some say it is a waste of time and bullets, but every rifle I have done that way is shooting sub-MOA.

[Fred243]

Mine yet a little different. First, clean very well out of the box. Then the most important or at least it's right up there is be sure and not let the barrel get to hot while doing the break-in. I go ahead and shoot 3 shot groups from the beginning, and clean between for five groups. Then 3, 5 shot groups and clean between each. Then shoot what you want just don't get it hot. I think it's important myself to get any little tool marks or imperfections out of the barrel from the factory and the break in will help smooth them out. When you get home give a real good cleaning and a kiss put in the safe until next time.  Best to ya !!

[mechanic]

I clean mine out of the box, then just use it.  Accuracy usually improves with time.  I clean it only when accuracy goes south.  To speed the process, I load up the rifle, a lot of ammo, and a grandson.  He does all the hard work then!
 
Ben

[fullup3]

thanks for sharing you guys' practices.  My method normally is to clean really well before shooting....which I did tonight.   Then I load up a bunch of stuff to test for groups.    I will shoot one, clean, shoot two, clean, then clean between a couple of three shot groups until it either feels pretty smooth in the bore, or the copper stops.  Then I just clean it usually after each range session for a target rifle, or at the end of the season for a hunter.     I plan on using this tomorrow with my new 35 whelen barrel that arrived installed today.  Got a bunch of rounds loaded up with the Hornady 200 grain FTX bullets....some with Varget and some with H4895.   Gonna see if I can make some small holes tomorrow.     

[jaysouth]

Mississippi Delta graveyard dirt http://www.deltablues.net/dirt.html sifted real fine and mixed with burnt motor oil and carbolic acid makes a good mix.  Plug the barrel and let it set for a couple days.  Run a couple of patches to get the 'mix' out.
Cut the head off a bantam chicken and sprinkle the blood around your shooting bench.  Drain the 'mix' out of the barrel and shoot a couple of hundred rounds.
Accuracy, especally on full moon nights, is exceptional, I garoon-tee.
 
 

[fullup3]

well, Jaysouth, it just so happens that I grew up in the Mississippi Delta so I have access to at least one ingredient of your elixer. 

[jspartin]

I followed the instructions I found in a post here at the forum. Gotta say, that little .223 is shooting great.


Here's the link to the page with the info:  [size=78%]http://www.varmintal.com/ashot.htm#Break[/size]


Now I only clean it when it really needs it and it will shoot nickel sized groups at a hundred yards with me having a shaky hand!

[kennyd]

Clean, shoot 1, clean, shoot 1, clean shoot 5, etc.   


A barrel is a machined piece of steel, so you want to lap the fine burrs away with the bullets.  The biggest thing is to make sure you are not pushing dirt or burnt oil into the "pores" of the barrel.  The same goes for things like a new/rebuilt engine, regardless of what some may claim.


OTH, I have bought a lot of used guns, so have no idea how they were treated at first, and most of them shoot OK.


Will Colorado graveyard dirt work?

[AtlLaw]

Well, to each his own, but when this "Barrel Break-In" fad first became popular, it sounded reasonable to me so I did it for a good long time.  Never could tell any difference from what I had always done; clean the bore after every session.     All I did was wear out a half dozen cleaning rods and develop an arm like a go-rilla!   
 
Actually, the smoothest bore/easiest to clean rifle I have is a M-70 F'weight I shot a bunch back in the day.  Probably much more then any other rifle I own.  It also was cleaned after every session.  No matter how many rounds were fired.   
 
Nowadays, shooting mostly Handi's, when I get a new rifle I work on the bore with JB paste some, then shoot it.  Never shot one till the accuracy fell off.     The bore usually gets cleaned for some other reason first.  i.e. gonna be sitting in the safe for an extended period.   
 
Do what you want, but I'm old...    I'll save the time and effort I'd put into the shoot/clean bit and use it and the ammo I'd save and shoot it up in live fire practice!     That's what I'ma gonna do with my brandy new 50-140 barrel and I can see the tool marks in that barrel's rifling with the nekkid eye!   

[quickdtoo]

More often than not, I just clean good and then shoot it, most H&R barrels come pretty smooth from the factory being button rifled, some don't, I'd let the rifle tell you what to do after shooting it some. I use the Varmint Al method myself sans the moly bullets if I do anything other than cleaning prior to shooting it, it's always worked well. The only time I've done the shoot-clean-shoot-clean routine is on rebores(I hear ya Richard!!  ). The targets below are from my latest new acc barrel, both shot without any cleaning after the first shot, about 40 rounds down range total, the TTSX was the last group shot.

Tim

 

[quickdtoo]

I need to mention one more thing, the shoot-clean method can bite ya since any solvent on the latch and/or shelf will throw accuracy right out the window, the big reason I don't like to do it, using one of the delrin O-ring bore guides helps(FAQs). Any solvent left in the chamber will stick the fired brass on an ejector barrel, been there, done that too. 

Tim

[gcrank1]

Call me lazy........
Any gun, new or used that comes home gets cleaned good. Then we get 'acquainted' through some shootin' time. I havent shot jacketed in so long I cant remember, but I used to to think I would smooth up a new bore; now Im too cheap. Mind you, it was not shoot some and clean, repeat, etc., it was shoot. My loads now are like .22s, lubed lead bullets at moderate velo, they lay down a layer of lube in the bore and usually get to stay that way. They shoot better than I do, and Ive usually held my own or placed and even won some matches against some pretty good shooters with these 'indifferently cared for' rifles.
Like Richard, sometimes I dont know how long something will sit or think 'I outta', so a couple of Ed's Red patches downbore and into the safe. I swab the bore dry with two when a gun comes out and go shoot a couple of 'foulers' to warm the gun and me up and get to it.
Works for me.

[gendoc]

break in,,,     clean !!!    yall got 2 many words go'n on rite now !!!
deffinition of  :break in......  apply saddle soap to a new catchers mitt and exercize use....
 
:clean... to rid of soil, dirt and contamination.    i hope yall ain't put'n dirt down ya barrels !!!
 
 
when its time to get tha scatters redi for tha gobblers..... then i'll runa lps-1 swab down my centerfires
a coupla times for storage, maybe   
 
don't let nobody fool ya by say'n "handi's are tha only shoot'n iron that performs better dirty and bore paste treatment isa must for break in"............to each his own
 
that quote don't get my vote.......no !!
 

[Shu]

I just shoot them. I clean them when they get wet to prevent corrosion. I take a look down the bore to make sure there isn't any obstruction, if there is I'll clean it. Otherwise I prefer to spend my time shooting.  To each his own.
 

[knight0334]

My procedure:

1.  Clean the snot out of the barrel and chamber
2.  Lap the barrel with a polishing compound and a bore mop to nearly a mirror finish
3.  Polish the chamber to a mirror finish
4.  Shoot 5 shots, adjust sights/scope
5.  Clean bore and chamber
6.  goto #4
7.  goto #5
8.  Shoot 10 shots
9.  clean again..

After that I usually have a consistent shooter.