Saturday Movies: Barrel Break-In Procedures That Work

Photo courtesy Sierra Bullets.

The question of barrel break-in is controversial. Some folks advocate an elaborate, lengthy cycle of shooting and brushing, repeated many times — one shot and clean, two shots and clean and so on. This, it is argued, helps barrels foul less and shoot more accurately. Others say minimal break-in, with patching and brushing after 10-15 rounds, is all you need. Still others contend that break-in procedures are a total waste of time and ammo — you should just load and shoot, and clean as you would normally.

We doubt if there will ever be real agreement among shooters concerning barrel break-in procedures. And one must remember that the appropriate break-in procedure might be quite different for a factory barrel vs. a custom hand-lapped barrel. This Editor has found that his very best custom barrels shot great right from the start, with no special break-in, other than wet patches at 5, 10, and 15 rounds. That said, I’ve seen some factory barrels that seemed to benefit from more elaborate break-in rituals.

What’s the best barrel break-in procedure? Eric Mayer of Varminter.com decided to ask the experts. Eric interviewed representatives of three leading barrel manufacturers: Krieger, Lothar-Walther, and Shilen. He recorded their responses on this video. In order of appearance, the three experts are:

Wade Hull, Shilen Barrels | Mike Hinrichs, Krieger Barrels | Woody Woodall, Lothar Walther

Shilen, Krieger, and Walther Experts Talk about Barrel Break-in

Do I Need to Break-In a New Rifle Barrel?
Eric Mayer of Varminter.com says: “That is a simple question, [but it] does not necessarily have a simple answer. Instead of me repeating my own beliefs, and practices, on breaking-in a new rifle barrel, I decided to answer this one a bit differently. While we were at the 2016 SHOT Show, we tracked down three of the biggest, and most popular, custom barrel makers in the world, and asked them what they recommend to anyone buying their barrels, and why they recommend those procedures. We asked the question, and let the camera run!” Launch the video above to hear the answers — some of which may surprise you.

Barrel Break-in — Initial Inspection and Cleaning

This video explains that you should always inspect and clean the bore of your barrel before sending rounds through it. There may be remnants of the production process, such as lapping residues, that you’ll want to get out of the bore. We’ve even seen a few tiny metal pieces in some factory barrels. And it’s always wise to borescope a new barrel to see if there are visible defects in the rifling such as lands that have flawed edges — we’ve seen that on some cheaper barrels.

Barrel Break-In — Ian Klemm’s Surprising Observations

Here’s a 10-minute Vortex Nation interview with Ian Klemm. Ian, a 4-Time F-TR National Champion is one of America’s best long-range shooters. In this video, Ian explains his approach to barrel break-in, which may surprise you. Does barrel break-in even matter? Conventional wisdom says “Yes” and perhaps there’s some truth to that, but Ian argues that break-in is NOT nearly as important as the internet wants you to believe. Ian believes that you don’t need to waste a ton of time/ammo to get your barrel ready to shoot extremely accurately. This may be particularly true with premium hand-lapped custom barrels.

Barrel Break-In Procedures with Keith Glasscock

Keith Glasscock is also one of America’s greatest F-Class shooters who has finished second at the Nationals multiple times. Keith is also a highly-respected wind coach who has a popular YouTube video channel, Winning in the Wind. In this video, Keith explains his procedure for breaking-in his match barrels. He starts by bore-scoping the barrel and cleaning it. If he finds some burrs he may use some JB Bore Paste, a patch, and a worn brush and “give that throat a little scrub” (See 1:30 time-mark). He used different stroke lengths to avoid putting a “step” in the throat. When he’s satisfied he goes to the range. He fires the first five rounds, then cleans. He then fires quite a few rounds before cleaning the barrel again and beginning load development (See 8:25 time-mark).

General Barrel Break-in Procedures Recommended by Brownells

Brownells Gun Techs Steve Ostrem and Caleb Savant tackle a thorny topic: breaking in a new barrel. What IS breaking-in a barrel? And WHY do it? The rifling of a freshly machined barrel has microscopic burrs and sharp edges. “Breaking-in” is the process of putting bullets down the bore to smooth out those rough spots. The goal is to round down the sharp edges so they’re not stripping copper off a bullet as it travels the bore, which leads to fouling that leads to reduced accuracy and inconsistent groups. In a very minor way, you’re actually lapping the barrel. The breaking-in process works best on cut-rifled and button-rifled barrels. Cold hammer-forged, chrome-lined, or nitrided barrels — such as commonly found on AR-15s — may not benefit much from the process. Pistol barrels really don’t need to be broken in because larger-diameter bullets are not so much affected by tiny variations in the bore. Likewise, break-in is more helpful for a .17, .20, or .22 caliber rifle than a .45 caliber rifle.

George Gardner of G.A. Precision Talks About Barrel Break-In

G.A. Precision’s George Gardner is a leading figure in the PRS/NRL world. In this video, George makes the valid point that not all barrels require the same amount of break-in. George says some barrels require very little break-in, while others benefit from a more elaborate break-in process that helps reduce future copper and powder fouling. He calls this “seasoning” the barrel so it fouls less. For a typical barrel, George’s recommended process (4:25 time-mark) starts with one shot, then clean for three one-round cycles. This is followed by three shots then clean, with repeat 3-shot cycles if need. For cleaning George prefers nylon brushes (5:50 time-mark). NOTE: George also makes a very important point — you MUST swab the chamber and get it dry between cleaning cycles (5:30 time-mark).