breaking in a new barrel

Butch,
Yeah ,I'm with you,but I think that those tooling marks cause the copper fouling in most new barrels. and need to be smoothed out. I have never had a barrel that was "Nationals or Super Shoot ready" inside of the first 100 rounds,( of course, I'm only working on the 12th barrel of my not so illustrious career)but has anyone out there 'cept for TB and Kroop spotted a hummer in the first 40 rounds ? Let's quit proliferating hogwash and intimidating new shooters that may very well have a perfectly competitive barrel that may not " come to life" before they have a couple of hundred rounds on them,almost all of my barrels have "lit up" some where after 200 rds !And a careful break in certainly did not hurt them.
Joel
 
Joel,
What makes a barrel wait several rounds before starting to shoot? I'm sure not a great shooter, but mine seem to shoot or not right from the git go.
Butch
 
Butch,
I'll never be a great shooter either.That takes much dedication,a substantial and never ending investment in equipment and components and a "stomp your buddies into the mud" type personality.I just want to have fun shooting, and I'm always trying to get the most out of my meager equipment.
I'm not shure why my barrels( Kriegers) seem to behave better after a couple hundred rounds, might be as simple as an undiscovered or unproven fine tune,or it could be some smoothing or burnishing effect from the passage of that many bullets ?
Joel
 
Butch and Joel, since you guys seem to run from practice, the barrel must do that for you. It entices you to shoot by it getting better each time you take it to the range.

Me? My barrels hate for me to take them to the range. Why? They think it is so embarrassing to just be seen with me in public.
 
Jerry, this is starting to sound like the firearms that you hear about talking it over about robbing banks and sticking up gas stations. I for one refuse to buy any more firearms that have this lawless element about them.

From now on any conversation I here from them, I'm starting to look them over, real close.:cool:
 
Well...Looks like to me....

This is another argument no one is going to win. Sorta like rifle cleaning methods, what's the best scope, what's the best action, what's the best custom barrel. Once we get the NORMAL fundamental first class benchrest shooting equipment, we might as well have the argument who does the best "paint job"?

Everyone on this forum who actually shoots benchrest competition has the right fundamental equipment, the right cleaning method for them, and the best barrel break-in procedure (if they believe in it) already.

Now comes what is THE most important items:

1. Tell me how to read those damn flags.
2. Show me a better gun handling method.
3. Show me what's involved in correctly tuning my rifle.

Number two above has become more important to one of our best shooters after seeing what method was winning at the Nationals. The method he observed has changed his whole outlook on how he will compete in the future. What this tells me...is that attending and competing in matches and learning to observe what is going on will lead one to improvement and maybe future improved results.

Spending thousands of dollars on what others tell you is the absolute best equipment, will not put you in the top twenty if you don't master items 1thru 3.

And that's the way it is....virg;)
 
1. Tell me how to read those damn flags.
2. Show me a better gun handling method.
3. Show me what's involved in correctly tuning my rifle.

Virg.
#1--The bullets impact will interpret what the flags are telling you
#2--Get on and behind the rifle and forget about free recoil,it takes too long to break a shot.
#3--The target( group) will show you. If your gun is not stickin 'em in good conditions someone else's gun will be and you're gonna lose.Change something,go with your gut.If conditions are horrible you better have a good snortin' tune goin into a match like that,leave the tune alone until conditions are steady enough to tell you somethin',concentrate on shot timeing and trends in the changing conditions.
That's how I deal with items 1-3,I'm shure others will have different opinions.
Joel
 
Thanks Joel...

My post was tongue in cheek. I've been competing in Benchrest for years...but I wanted to emphasize the importance of the handling and loading fundamentals over trying to acquire the latest and very best (opinion plays a big role here) equipment.

By-the-way...free recoil is the only method that works for me...and a lot of others.

But...thanks for the input...virg
 
Barrel break-in

I'm of the minimum work school of thought. Since the concern seems to be reamer marks in the throat, with a hand lapped barrel, that is the area I carefully inspect when taking delivery on a new barrel/chamber. Just had a Hart .224 1-9 chambered & fitted to a Sako L-46, and the first thing I did was look for reamer marks w/ my Hawkeye borescope. There are none, not even a trace. A new Pacific reamer (mine) was used with a floating pilot, so break-in, on this one will be minimal. Other barrels have had reamer marking so the JB bore paste was used, again only the minimum amount. Works for me.
 
Broughton Break in procedures..

About a year ago Tim North sent out to his customers a suggested break in procedure. I am sure he has copies available for those who request them.

I thoroghly clean the barrels full lenght then inspect them with a bore scope with a 1x and then 25X lens. Before I set up any barrel in the lathe. I clean the first and last 3 inches of every new barrel to make sure there is no lapping compound or lead left in the barrel. After chambering and glass beading I thorought clean every barrel with hot soapy water then a nylon brush and a regular cleaning. I fire and clean the barrel for the first 5 rounds then clean after every 20 rounds unless shhoting in a match. With most Broughton barrels I see a slight increase in velocity after about 100-200 rounds. The barrels also clean up faster after the first 100 rounds.

Nat Lambeth
 
Barrel break-in, part 2

Working with the above mentioned 223 1-9 barrel, over the last few days. Gunsmith fired one shot for the test firing, and I cleaned before firing #2. What I saw after taking out the powder fouling w/ Butch's was extreme copper in the center 8" of this 24" barrel. First 8" no copper, and the final section to the muzzle had streaking on the lands. 20 push strokes w/ JB on tight bronze brush, wash out w/ Hoppes, dry & borescope. No copper or any reamer marks anywhere. I fired #2, cleaned as above & again, extreme copper buildup in the center 8" section only. Cleaned out, as above. About this time I'm ready to make a phone call, remove the barrel & send it back. Fired #3, all same results again. Cleaned. Fired 10 w/o cleaning today, Butch's to remove powder fouling, 'scoped it and the entire bore is copper & carbon free, and I spent the minimum time with only a "normal", no JB, cleaning. Cannot explain it, never had this experience with a cut or button rifled barrel before, and I've bought 20 replacement barrels since 1992, all by 3 of the top makers. Guess I'll have to write it off with the theory that they are all different, so what applies to one, may not work for the next. Without the Hawkeye borescope I would have had no idea what was going on inside the barrel. Again, one of the most valuable tools I have.
 
I found today

a partly used container of Rem Clean. I was about to clean the two rifles I shot all day Sunday so thought I might try it after patching with GM Top. I did the Top for two patches then stroked a brush through it for 10 passes. Patched that out and could still feel some resistance to a patch. I decieded to use a brush I have wrapped soem 4 ott steel wool into. In addition to that, I decided to apply a generous amount of Rem Clean on the wolly brush.

After a dozen strokes with that combination, things got WAAAAAAY smoother in a rush. After patching the barrel out then, the entire thing is clean. Jig time to clean a rifle that had been shot all day Saturday without cleaning. My bore scope found it absolutely spotless. Will try the other rifle next using the Ram Clean right up front.
 
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