What’s your take on breaking in the barrel? I’ve never done it before but going to shoot a new gun tomorrow and wondering how necessary it is. Also if you have a break in method you prefer please share.

Make sure the barrel is good and clean before starting. Then go shoot it, no break in needed

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I had never even heard of barrel "break in" until the age of online shooting forums and I have been shooting for over 50 years. There are those that are very meticulous about it, some manufacturers insist on it. I have never done a special break in on a rifle barrel, or a pistol either for that matter. When I shoot a new barrel, I clean and lightly oil it and just shoot it. I don't let the barrel get real hot. I will open the action after a few rds and let it cool down some. I think if you believe it will make the barrel more accurate, by all means do it. Me, never did and my rifles are plenty accurate. To each his own.

I'm in the camp of clean it and shoot it. No special break in. I sometimes wonder if these "break in" procedures are built in excuses for custom rifle makers.

I do what the barrel maker suggests. Who would know the barrel better?

I was told the barrel break in was a scam to cause barrels to shoot out faster. Prob never know the difference from us average shooters. I was told it started with benchrest rifles and they re-barrel if groups open up 1/16th. This break in period would cause them to do so faster meaning more barrels sold.

Below is the process recommended from Bartlein. LINK

Break in and Cleaning
The age old question, “Breaking in the New Barrel”. Opinions very a lot here, and this is a very subjective topic. For the most part, the only thing you are breaking in, is the throat area of the barrel. The nicer the finish that the Finish Reamer or Throating Reamer leaves, the faster the throat will break in.

Shoot one round and clean for the first two rounds individually. Look to see what the barrel is telling you. If I’m getting little to no copper out of it, I sit down and shoot the gun. Say 4 – 5 round groups and then clean. If the barrel cleans easily and shoots well, we consider it done.

If the barrel shows some copper or is taking a little longer to clean after the first two, shoot a group of 3 rounds and clean. Then a group of 5 and clean.

After you shoot the 3rd group and 5th group, watch how long it takes to clean. Also notice your group sizes. If the group sizes are good and the cleaning is getting easier or is staying the same, then shoot 4 – 5 round groups.

If fouling appears to be heavy and taking a while to clean, notice your group sizes. If group sizes are good and not going sour, you don’t have a fouling problem. Some barrels will clean easier than others. Some barrels may take a little longer to break in. Remember the throat. Fouling can start all the way from here. We have noticed sometimes that even up to approximately 100 rounds, a barrel can show signs of a lot of copper, but it still shoots really well and then for no apparent reason, you will notice little to no copper and it will clean really easy.

This is meant as guide lines only. There is no hard and fast rule for breaking in a barrel.

I agree with what Judd stated. My Howa 1500 came with instructions stating what their "break in" process was. Pretty straightforward and completed in 1 box of ammo. If not a scam to cause barrels to go bad faster, at least a scam to sell an extra box of ammo to everybody!😉

Clean barrel when new, shoot until accuracy falls off or excessive weather exposure, clean, repeat. I've never bought into barrel break-in on hand lapped barrels. I do think allot of barrels settle down after shooting a bit. Maybe it makes a difference but I've never had problems not following the procedure

They're also in the business of selling barrels.

Any new barrel, clean it with solvent, followed by dry patches. Put 20 foulers down it, then go about load development, or call it good on factory ammo.

I've never broke in a barrel with cleaning. Not saying it's right or wrong but I clean a new barrel and never touch it again unless accuracy issues pop up.

I believe if you look at the Shilen site they came up with a break in process just because customers whated one not that they even needed one .

Step 1. Clean barrel
Step 2. Shoot it.

All the "break in" procedures out there are bogus.

do whatever makes you feel good

I tend to believe it’s crap. Think about it- nothing you put in the barrel- copper, lead, bronze or brass bristles- are harder than the steel of the barrel itself. It’s not like you’re “buffing it out”- with the exception of using lapping compound.
Clean, shoot it, clean when needed. Other than that, you’re just consuming accessories.

I want to spend time shooting not cleaning, quick clean of a new barrel then go to work.

I was really hoping this is what the responses would be like, those methods seem to be a pain.

Frank, owner of Sniper's Hide.com got two identical rifles, only serial numbers different. One got a break-in, one got cleaned first then shot. Through thousands and thousands of rounds of .308 the rifles always shot equally well.

Break-in is nonsense. Clean it, foul it, shoot it, clean again when it starts shooting poorly, repeat.

My personnel view is I care about making sure the rifle is perfectly clean before I fire it. I have found shavings and such in rifles and I care more about that then a perfect break in procedure.

If it a good procedure makes you feel better great. But to date I haven’t seen any empirical data to show breaks in effects anything

If you believe a perfect barrel can be created by imperfect factory tools and processes, no break in is necessary. While break in recommendations vary, the end goal is the same, to create a barrel that has seen most of imperfections worn away so that bullets pass through the barrel in a more consistent manner. A barrel that has seen break in steps will be far less likely to produce cold, clean bore flyers because the rifling has reached a more perfect state.

It's much the same as breaking in a new engine where rod bearings are allowed to wear to a more perfect match to their mating services on the crankshaft. This is why many old engine buffs still recommend running conventional oil for the first 500 of so miles in a new engine. Synthetic oil doesn't allow proper "bedding" of road bearings and the crankshaft. So then, when you break in a barrel, you're allowing each small group of bullets to wear away factory imperfections before cleaning the barrel and repeating the process several times until the barrel is closer to perfect.

Now having noted these points, two other views come to mind. First, just like those who say factory processes are now so good that breaking in a new engine is no longer necessary, there are those who claim gunmakers are now producing near perfect barrels that don't require break in steps as well. The other view is that if you just always shoot a dirty barrel, the fouling will aid in reducing the impact of those factory imperfections. There is likely some truth in both of these views.

All of my rifles have seen a break in process. They are always taken to the deer woods with clean bores, and they never produce a clean, cold bore flyer. In other words, a "fouling shot" to dirty the barrel is never required.

A total waste of time.

Keep in mind too that debating the need to break in a new barrel is akin to debating the need for shooting practice. You will find those who will stand firmly in their belief that such additional effort produces little if any additional value.

Just fouling does the same thing.

Have you ever noticed any difference in rifles that haven't been cleaned in a awhile (but were shooting good), and those you clean periodically before fouling again?

I have a couple rifles that haven't been cleaned in a year or two, that shot perfect last time I took them out.