New barrels- How to break-in and things to do (or not) to make'em last

ivanthehunter · 22-01-2009 08:53PM #1

I have just ordered a new barrel for a my little 22lr, i have given the old one some abuse so far but its still quite good.

i don't want to give this one so much abuse as i want the accuracy at its theoretical max.

What should i do to break in a barrel, i know its only a little 22 but i want to take care of it and develop the correct mind set in preparation for the time i own a deer caliber.

Also what type of action must be taken to keep this little barrel in tip top condition. and what ammo types are best i.ei copper coated or lead and should you mix it up...
Thanks lads..

clivej · 22-01-2009 08:56PM

First take out the crud put in the bore at the factory with Hoppes #9 and a bronze brush. Then patch clean with Hoppes #9.

IRLConor · 22-01-2009 09:23PM

Most of the .22s in DURC date from between the late 1960s to the 1980s and I'm pretty sure they're all on their original barrels. Cleaning has been erratic (to put it kindly) and they've all had tens of thousands of rounds through them (in some cases, probably hundreds of thousands of rounds). After all that, they still can all outshoot most of the people in the club. Their biggest threat is rust TBH, we've had trouble with a few of them.

For a .22lr I wouldn't worry too much about damaging the barrel unless you really over- or under-clean it. Just make sure the metal parts are clean, free of water and lightly oiled when you're not going to use it for a while.

In terms of cleaning, I swear by the vfg products. The blue paste gets debris out that you'd never believe was in there. Make sure you have plenty of time though, it can take forever if the barrel hasn't been cleaned in a while. The first time I cleaned the DURC Walther KK200 it took 2 3-hour sessions to get the patches to come out clean.

Umiq88 · 23-01-2009 01:32PM

.22 requires no break in and in alot of peoples opinion no cleaning.

As said clean out the factory gunk and put 500 rounds in it and it should settle and shoot consistantly after that.

If it starts losing accuracy clean it but only every 1000 rounds or so.

It wasn't me! · 23-01-2009 03:35PM

psittacosis wrote: »

.22 requires no break in and in alot of peoples opinion no cleaning.

As said clean out the factory gunk and put 500 rounds in it and it should settle and shoot consistantly after that.

If it starts losing accuracy clean it but only every 1000 rounds or so.

Personally I wouldn't advocate so little cleaning, and I'd personally run in a barrel as carefully as possible myself, whatever the calibre.

I used to clean after every session, now I clean every couple of hundred rounds, unless I change ammo types, in which case I clean it then as well. Every so often I give it a really good clean with the VFG stuff (Conor's dead right, for smallbore it's the best I've seen, and makes a really nice job of metal parts of the gun as well, receiver, barrel and bolt, if there's any dulling or pitting). I certainly wouldn't leave 1000 rounds between cleanings though, not if it were my gun.

Vegeta · 23-01-2009 04:41PM

It wasn't me! wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't advocate so little cleaning, and I'd personally run in a barrel as carefully as possible myself, whatever the calibre.

I used to clean after every session, now I clean every couple of hundred rounds, unless I change ammo types, in which case I clean it then as well. Every so often I give it a really good clean with the VFG stuff (Conor's dead right, for smallbore it's the best I've seen, and makes a really nice job of metal parts of the gun as well, receiver, barrel and bolt, if there's any dulling or pitting). I certainly wouldn't leave 1000 rounds between cleanings though, not if it were my gun.

What kind of accuracy deterioration are you seeing after a couple hundred rounds?

It wasn't me! · 23-01-2009 04:53PM

Not much, if any, but since it's a competitive sport, a millimetre smaller group could mean a dozen points in a match to me, so I try and keep things as accurate as possible. I've heard of people saying it takes a hundred rounds for the barrel to start shooting at its prime, but personally, I find after half a dozen sighting shots, it'll go through the same hole time and again if I do my part. I don't really wait for accuracy to degrade, I preempt it.

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New barrels- How to break-in and things to do (or not) to make'em last

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