Should my custom rifle maker do one shot one clean on new barrel test?

I'm going to miss the Cactus this year:( but I think I'll get to Raton. Should be fun filling up the tank in Trinidad on the way in July! Probably be up to a Lincoln per gallon by then...............:mad:
 
Yeah, who knows where it's going. :confused: Guess we will just have to start sharing rides everywhere we go. I'm riding out to Phoenix with a friend. That cuts the fuel cost in half. Sorry you can't make the Cactus this year. See you in Raton.

Gene
 
Guys,

If you feel safe doing it, try this. If you have two new barrels done back to back with the same gunsmith and reamer, do this.

On the first barrel, load the new brass with about 18 grns of bullseye, put a little cream of wheat on top of that and top that off with some wax, toilet paper or model clay (least recommended). Remember "NO BULLETS", wet the bore, fire your 20 or 25 fireform loads, clean the barrel. Then fire one normal round and clean, do this again. Remember your patches.

Then on the second barrel, do the one shot and clean method.

Report back...bet I can answer what you will see. Also, check with the borescope if you wish.

Hovis
 
Here is what you'll see (rule of thumb).

I started initial fireforming many years ago with bullseye. I had several discussions with some top notch gunsmiths on whether or not this would hurt a barrel, a couple had been doing this for close to 30 years and were an absolute no, it won't due any harm but there are good side effects of this. Of course I ask what that was. The answer was barrel break-in. 95% or more of barrel break in is removing the burrs and slight reamer marks at the throat created during chambering. Both stated from experience that fireforming with pistol powder and no bullet will create enough pressure that it will remove the burrs and help smooth the lead while not creating enough heat to cause barrel wear.

With this new found knowledge, I took four new barrels I had and decided to fireform cases in two of the barrels (25 each) and then shoot the one shot and clean. Then on the other two barrels, I would just do the one shot clean. All these barrels were chambered one after another with the same reamer.

The first two barrels barely coppered after the first shot and were what I would call perfect from then on so there was no need for one shot and clean.

The other two barrels took 7 shots to mimick what I had seen from the other barrells after the first shot. It still took 3-4 more shots to get them to settle as well as the second shot did in the first two.

I just did this test again with a couple of barrel last spring and it came out the same.

What I do now is use a fireforming barrel to fire the brass the first time (pistol powder method), then I fire 25 cases in the match barrel with the pistol powder method before I ever put a bullet down the bore. This ensures the cases are straight. The nice thing about using the pistol powder method to break in a barrel is that there is no cleaning between shots, just oil the bore good at first and fire away, just make sure the barrel don't get hot but I fired 100 cases in a half an hour the other day and the barrel never got warm. It was 55 degrees outside.

I agree that barrels need broken in.....I just believe there is more than one way to skin that cat.

Now, If I need brass and don't have a new barrel, I'll use the fireform barrel and then fire the cases a second time with a bullet during the a match as fouler or warm up rounds, just to save time.

Hovis
 
Very interesting Kevin. Thanks. Certainly something to think about. One thing about benchrest, there's always more than one way to skin that darn cat!
 
Are you certain that he didn't even clean the barrel before shooting it? Are you sure that he didn't clean it during and after the shooting session? The whole scenario just sounds a little bass ackwards to me.
I do question how a gunsmith can offer a 1/2 minute group at 100 yds. without having shot the rifle more than a proofing shot, but I guess some out there could do that.
I would ask him again about the test group and sighting in session, then ask about cleaning during that time, get the straight answer to those questions then ask about the validity of the one shot and clean breakin procedure that you said that he requires and let us know the answers that you got.

smellinsweets said:
Having a custom rifle made and the gun is guaranteed .5 moa with factory match ammo. The maker stresses the 1 shot 1 clean rule of barrel break in, but shoots the guaranteed accuracy group without cleaning between shots. Does this make sense in terms of breaking in a new barrel? Will it affect the future accuracy of my barrel if he shoots a 5 shot group without a pre-clean and 1 shot 1 clean before the gun ever gets to me?

Thank you for your thoughts.
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