Peoples opinions/advice on breaking in a .223

Snakezilla

Just wondering what people do to break in a new gun (.223) I have read a lot online and theres everything from "no such thing as breaking it in, just zero and have at it" to " patches, solvent , lube , brush" after every shot for the first 50 rounds.
Also , what ammo are you using? Is there any ammo to be avoided when breaking in?

Cass

There are loads of different trains of thought on this. Some say not needed, and others say it is. Then the other camp says whether it is or not do it anyway.

I've done both with rifles over the years. I've broken some in, and other i've not bothered with. On the higher end rifles and ones with custom barrels it makes no difference from what i've been able to record. On other brands it's almost required.

For example i had a CZ 527 Kevlar a couple of years ago. I had 100 rounds or so through it and i could see grouping improving with the same ammo. I spoke to other lads with the same rifle and they told me their rifle did not come into it's own until after 150+ rounds. On the custom barrel for my FTR rifle breaking in was not a necessity and the rifle shot perfectly whether i done it or not.

If i were to break a barrel in i have two methods depending on the rifle, barrel, ammo cost, and what i feel like doing. They are identical with the only difference being the amount of rounds fired.

1. I usually start with 1 shot and clean. Repeat for 10 rounds.
2. 2 shots and clean for 10 (5x2)
3. 3 shots and clean for 15 (5x3)
4. Lastly 5 shots and clean for 15 (3x5).

45 - 50 rounds total. OR:

1. 1 shot. Bolt out and clean. Repeat this for 10 - 15 rounds.
2. 3 shots. Bolt out and clean. Repeat this for another 25 - 30 or so rounds.
3. 5 shots. Bolt out and clean. Repeat this for 25 - 35 rounds.
4. 10 shots. Bolt out and clean. Repeat this for 30- 40 rounds.

As for ammo. Most anything will do. It;s not the cleaning that breaks it in, but the bullet going through the bore/barrel .You are simply cleaning out the fouling of each shot/group of shots. The barrel/bore metal is much stronger than the bullet so it's a case of "wearing" any spurs down.

However i would avoid the really/really cheap stuff. Ya know the bags of ammo .not a good quality bullet/round. American eagle is good enough, and cheap enough to allow you to break it in without costing an arm and leg.

Snakezilla

Thanks for that Cass !

yubabill1

Broke in my T3 223 with 50 rds Remy UMC 55gr as per Cass #1.

Sweet.

FISMA

Snakezilla wrote: »

Just wondering what people do to break in a new gun (.223) I have read a lot online and theres everything from "no such thing as breaking it in, just zero and have at it" to " patches, solvent , lube , brush" after every shot for the first 50 rounds.
Also , what ammo are you using? Is there any ammo to be avoided when breaking in?

Snakezilla,

Is it a new firearm? If so, what does the owner's manual say?

What are you looking to do with the 223? Lamping?

If so, shoot away and don't get too crazy with it.

Maybe if you had a new FTR match rifle or some crazy long distance precision rifle, I might consider otherwise. However, for the average shooter, I doubt it matters.

If your conscience or religion tells you that you have to do something, run a bronze brush and then a dry swab after every round for a box and avoid rapid fire/ overheating the barrel, which would be my biggest concern.

meathstevie

With FISMA on this one, most mid market sporting rifles ( CZ's, Remington's, Tikka etc etc ) these days are of very decent quality and don't need much black magic to work fine out of the box. Good mounts, decent scope and a steady hand zeroing will do fine combined with a good clean after use. Heat would be your big enemy so don't fire it in the same manner as a Lee Enfield or a Kar 98 was designed for.

Snakezilla

Its my brothers new rifle lads, a Remington 700. It have a very short and heavy barrel. Itll be mainly used for lamping Id say and a bit of plinking

Double Barrel

"The break in fad was started by a fellow I helped get started in the barrel business . He started putting a set of break in instructions in ever barrel he shipped. One came into the shop to be installed and I read it and the next time I saw him I asked him What was with this break in crap?. His answer was Mac, My share of the market is about 700 barrels a year. I cater to the target crowd and they shoot a barrel about 3000 rounds before they change it. If each one uses up 100 rounds of each barrel breaking it in you can figure out how many more barrels I will get to make each year. If you will stop and think that the barrel doesn't know whether you are cleaning it every shot or every 5 shots and if you are removing all foreign material that has been deposited in it since the last time you cleaned it what more can you do? When I ship a barrel I send a recommendation with it that you clean it ever chance you get with a brass brush pushed through it at least 12 times with a good solvent and followed by two and only 2 soft patches. This means if you are a bench rest shooter you clean ever 7 or 8 rounds . If you are a high power shooter you clean it when you come off the line after 20 rounds. If you follow the fad of cleaning every shot for X amount and every 2 shots for X amount and so on the only thing you are accomplishing is shortening the life of the barrel by the amount of rounds you shot during this process. I always say Monkey see Monkey do, now I will wait on the flames but before you write them, Please include what you think is happening inside your barrel during break in that is worth the expense and time you are spending during break in."
Gale McMillan

http://www.6mmbr.com/gailmcmbreakin.html

yubabill1

Maybe the electrolytic interactions between copper and steel were inducing stress on free electrons in the barrel's metal crystal lattices?

Hence the need for solvent - mop up those pesky free electrons.

Ha, ha - me and a few others I know fell for your ruse, then.

Snakezilla

Double Barrel wrote: »

"The break in fad was started by a fellow I helped get started in the barrel business . He started putting a set of break in instructions in ever barrel he shipped. One came into the shop to be installed and I read it and the next time I saw him I asked him What was with this break in crap?. His answer was Mac, My share of the market is about 700 barrels a year. I cater to the target crowd and they shoot a barrel about 3000 rounds before they change it. If each one uses up 100 rounds of each barrel breaking it in you can figure out how many more barrels I will get to make each year. If you will stop and think that the barrel doesn't know whether you are cleaning it every shot or every 5 shots and if you are removing all foreign material that has been deposited in it since the last time you cleaned it what more can you do? When I ship a barrel I send a recommendation with it that you clean it ever chance you get with a brass brush pushed through it at least 12 times with a good solvent and followed by two and only 2 soft patches. This means if you are a bench rest shooter you clean ever 7 or 8 rounds . If you are a high power shooter you clean it when you come off the line after 20 rounds. If you follow the fad of cleaning every shot for X amount and every 2 shots for X amount and so on the only thing you are accomplishing is shortening the life of the barrel by the amount of rounds you shot during this process. I always say Monkey see Monkey do, now I will wait on the flames but before you write them, Please include what you think is happening inside your barrel during break in that is worth the expense and time you are spending during break in."
Gale McMillan

http://www.6mmbr.com/gailmcmbreakin.html

Wow... I never thought of it like that

Cass

Read that years ago. It;s on McMillan's website, 6mmbr, etc.

Yet there are other manufacturers that suggest a breaking in process. Then more again that say it's only a ruse to help sell more barrels. Think of it like this. If you use 50 -100 rounds breaking in a 6.5x284. That is 10% of the barrel's effective target life gone. So now you need to change barrel quicker as you've lost 10%.

As i said above i've done the breaking in thing, and on other barrels/rifles have not bothered. I've found no marked difference in performance from either regardless of whether i broke it in or not. However i will say this (as above again). My CZ527 in .223 got tighter groups, with the same ammo the more i shot it. That is not opinion, preference, etc. It's fact.

So if breaking in is not needed AT ALL, then why did the rifle perform better. Considering it was all done from a bench, in the same conditions. IOW no significant external influences that could cause better grouping through environmental factors?

yubabill1

Cass wrote: »

Read that years ago. It;s on McMillan's website, 6mmbr, etc.



QUOTE]

Now that you mention it, so did I.

My memory is crap. Nothing new there.