Ar-15 Barrel Break In

[Jaxshooter]

I have broken in barrels doing the old standby shoot one and let it cool then clean for the first 20 rounds, then 5 shots cool and clean., then 10 shots cool and clean until I had 100 rounds down the tube. Have also started with first 10 etc. Have also just shot one without letting the barrel get to hot and clened at the end of the days shooting. I can't see any difference in accuracy or ease of cleaning etc.

Would like to hear what others do and have experienced.

Thanks

[tpe187]

I used to do all the fancy break in procedures, but after a while, its just plain boring and I don't have the patience for it.

Also depends on the weapon and intended use. For an AR that is going to see gaming or maybe some home defense, its not worth it. Just shoot it and clean it when you are done. I don't use a brush. If I'm at the range and doing some CQB, I try to run a couple wet patches down the bore every couple hundred rounds. About every 500rds, use some JB bore paste. A good copper remover goes a long way as well. Just don't mix cleaners or you might get etching of the barrel.

If its a varmint set up, it might make a difference, but I don't think so. A good quality barrel has all the work done to make it shoot well. I have multiple Krieger barreled rifles and they are more accurate than I ever will be, and I didn't do anything special to break them in.

If it was a precision bolt gun, I might do the break in, but it would probably have a good barrel on it already and not need much.

In the end, just shoot the rifle and have fun.

[Brian Payne]

Shoot it like you stole it

[Vlad]

Just shoot it.

[warpspeed]

Unless the builder / mfg has specified a method to guarantee accuracy claim, Sgt has it down. Just make sure that you clean it sometime

[George]

I did the careful breakin thing on a new 1:7 match bbl many moons ago, it shoots fine now at 10k+

I didn't do anything but burn rounds through another 1:9 heavy bbl a few years later and it still shoots fine at 15k+

I got a JP 1:8 supermatch bbl a couple three-4 years ago and did what John Paul said to do, Just Shoot It. I shot it hot and heavy at it's first range outing and then took it right to an MGM IronMan with barely over a hunnert' rounds on it. It's still shootin' fine with 10k+ on it.

I see no need for break-in at all with competition AR's ;-)

[EricW]

JB or Iosso on a bore mop will do more to cure any roughness in a barrel than all the rubber chicken waving voodoo combined.

Pretty sure my "cleaning plan" from here on out is going to be the occasional JB treatment and some of Tubb's throat maintenance bullets down the pipe every 500 to 1000 rounds. All the bunny-suit cleanroom barrel sanitation procedures are a bunch of hokum IMHO.

E

[John Dunn]

Even if the barrel break in accomplished something, which I'm not sure it does, it wouldn't be worth it. Shoot it. Shoot it some more. Avoid repeated mag dumps and bump firing and you should be fine.

[Jaxshooter]

Thanks for all the replies. I was leaning to no break in and just shoot and clean when I finished shooting for the day. I have a JP CTR-02 18" 1:8 twist on the way. I like George's reply based on the same gun. Just shoot it.

[cking]

Ok now my opinion -- most of us don't have bore scopes so we are guessing. Clean the new barrel with some JB, shoot it. Then clean again with JB. Shoot it. Keep this routine up until you notice that the barrel stays clean longer and is easier to clean. Then don't bother with the JB until you get the carbon ring in front of the chamber. A dry barrel in the sunlight will let you see carbon ring build up.

[ArturoJ]

Here is what Gale McMillan had to say about barrel break in McMillan on break in

[wsimpso1]

In High Power we shoot to 600 yards and expect 1 minute rifles. More matches are lost at 600 than anywhere else. What would be small accuracy issues for anybody else can be a big deal in High Power.

Break-in is fairly highly regarded in High Power, and those of us that do it attribute it with more consistent zero and a longer accurate life of the barrel. The idea is to smooth out the roughness of the throat area and then allow for a nice uniform progression of the throat over time. This takes a clean barrel for each shot for as many as 10 to 25 rounds. If you just shoot it and clean every couple hundred rounds, that 10 rounds each on a clean barrel could take 2000 rounds, with the zero and your loads floating around the whole time. Not fun if you are trying to refine your zero using 1/4 minute clicks.

Cleaning is not so highly regarded by High Power shooters. Most High Power shooters will clean before the last practice session prior to a big match, and then not touch the barrel until after the big match. This might 200-250 rounds for a weekend match or over 300 rounds to get through the Nationals. And there are folks that say "just shoot it" there too, like Derrick Martin of Accuracy Speaks, but he is in the minority, even among the 'smiths. 12 time High Power champ David Tubb practices what he preaches, and he preaches break-in, either with shoot and clean or with his abrasive bullets, and then a few fine abrasive bullets every 500 rounds.

For us shooting fast a furious? How many of us need a one minute rifle for our game? Well, if all you do is 100 yard matches on nothing tougher than IDPA targets, you do not. But if you are faced with a rack of 8" plates at 300 yards, you might like to know that your rifle will consistently place rounds inside of a 3" circle after you correct for distance and wind.

Billski

And the neat thing is that you get to choose. See ya on the range.