Barrel break in? Fact or fiction?

[ghosthunter]

So with a new rifle on the way. Someone asked how I was going to break in the barrel?

Well never gave it a thought. Had several new guns over the years, never really did a barrel break in.
Just shot them. Can’t say I ever had one I wasn’t happy with.

Owners manuals never had anything on barrel break in.

You tube videos seem to be pro and con.

What say you. Break in or not?

[Hilltop123]

 

[Jonathan_S]

My barrels seem to speed up after ~100 rounds. I only do a "break in" process if copper fouling is bad and the break in process does help that IME.

That's totally anecdotal but there ya go

[grundy53]

I've never broke one in. Just shot them.

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[Jonathan_S]

I've never broke one in. Just shot them.

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That's how you break them in 😂

[actionshooter]

If 20 people respond, your going to get 20 different expert opinions...  I do it on the "expensive" rifles, cause it can't hurt... for the most part I don't bother

[Magnum_Willys]

The theory is that the first few shots are on a rough barrel that pulls a lot of copper off the bullets so clean it after 1st, 4th, 7th and 20th shot or therabouts and it should be smooth enough by then to clean whenever.   No reason not to on a long range rifle.  On a hunting rifle u mite never clean it and still kill stuff.

[BULLBLASTER]

Ill usually clean a new barrel after the first couple range sessions. Sometimes its 10 rounds sometimes more. My last new barrel i sent 60+ through before it was cleaned.

[Duckslayer89]

After a ton of research with the custom rifle I ordered I basically heard the same thing. Custom barrels are hand lapped and all the imperfections taken out of them and smoothed out so they don’t build up copper and fouling like a factory barrel would. So decide what you want to do from there. I don’t clean my barrel

[hogslayer]

I have tried it both ways.  Like has been said.  You don’t want copper to build up on copper because it will cause accuracy issues and he hard to remove.  Both work.  Just need to get the copper out.  I went and fired 20 rounds on a new barrel this weekend.  Cleaned it down to bare steal. Then went back and shot 15 more.  Copper came out easy and I’ll continue on.  I have found that cleaning every 20 rounds helps the barrel speed up.  Some are done around 50-75 rounds.   Some take 100, some
Don’t ever speed up.  I believe it has to do with lapping finish. I’ll be doing the same thing on a new 300 Rum next weekend.  It’s important you take velocity measurements in the beginning so you know when it speeds up.  Otherwise you will be circling back around once it does. 

[dreadi]

I just follow the Manufacturer’s recommendations and move on with my life.

[b23]

It's not really the barrel per say that needs any kind of "break in" but rather the throat.  There can be a certain amount of roughness left in the throat area that'll smooth out over the course of a few shots.  Generally, it's more prevalent in factory chambered barrels than it is in custom barrels chambered by good gunsmiths.

[jasnt]

Never done a break in.  Though I have shot a hundred rounds of cheaper bullets before starting load work just because I was fire forming brass and getting that speed to even out in the process.  Imo not needed. If it makes you more confident then do it

[Karl Blanchard]

I think the only impoetant thing is to strip that initial copper out of there. How you go about it is far less important. I've done it every way imaginable and never noted a single difference in the end result.

[Stein]

I do it because I find the process an enjoyable way to spend the day at the range and I've never heard anyone say it could do harm.  It may help, maybe not, I'm not smart enough to know.  I do know that with my rifle, I did the most involved process I found, stripping copper after every shot to 5 shots, then every 3, then every 5 and now the factory rifle has shot sub 1/2" when I have a good day and only takes 3 patches to clean it once a year.