seasoning a new barrel.

M

mr. nobody

Guest
when you put a new barrel on a rimfire match rifle what do you do to break it in? how many rounds do you put through it before it is broke in right?
 
That's a hard question. Depends on the barrel and who does the chambering job. Some barrels take more rounds to break it in, but then again tuning it takes some rounds too so it's hard to tell if it's just not in perfect tune yet or the barrel/chamber is not yet broken in.
I put a new one on a few weeks back, and after fiddling with the tuner for about ten minutes proceeded to shoot a 249-17X, 250-18-X, 250-16X, 250-15X, 249-21X, IR5050targets with it. That was outdoors at 50 yards with a little breeze and using several different lots of Eley match and Tenex ammo, and all the shooting wasn't done on the same day. Is it broken in? I have my doubts on it still being in tune, but it seems to shoot pretty well right from the start.
 
i have a shilens 4 groove ratchet barrel coming and i'm having a very good smith to do the work. i was told one time to buy 2 bricks of wolf me and let a few kids have a field day with it at first. i'm sure the guy was just pulling my leg. i was just wondering what most people do to season thier new barrels.
 
Just as Kent said it all depends on the barrel. When I purchased my Lilja barrel they told me no seasoning had to be done. So after installation I proceeded at the next ARA match to shoot record targets for me of 2200 and higher. Best thing you can do is as ask Shilen Barrels what they suggest for their barrels as they would know best.
 
Mr nobody
If your Shilen/4G is like mine it will take at least a couple of bricks, maybe more.
Fred K
 
As Kent sort of touched on the subject, it is my understanding that it really isn't the barrel itself that you are breaking in, It has to do with very slight burrs and things when the barrel was chambered. No matter how much touching up you try to do there is almost always something left in there at the transition between the chamber and the rifling. How much usually determines how many rounds to clean it up.

BC did a pretty good job of explaining that in one of his precision shooting articles.

Charlie
 
You're right Charlie, the "new"chamber is what you're breaking in on one of these custom barrels. In the past year, I've used most all the popular brands of barrels while tinkering and experimenting. All of the manufacturers we see on an equipment lists are turning out some very good barrels that are capable of incredible accuracy, if set up with the proper action, and bedded properly into a good stock. Tuning and ammo probably decides the winners and almost winners.
 
I agree with Charlie also. I bought a 40x with a stith stock and a Hart 3 groove barrel. I had about two cases of mix and match Eley ammo. I shot alot of this "scrap" ammo not only to break-in the barrel, but also to learn the gun. I hope that this makes sense.
 
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