Barrel Break in Queston

[JohnMOhio]

I know this has been discussed here before regarding break in procedures. I read them and since I had never purchased a New Rifle, they always had been used, therefore I never had the opportunity to do a break in procedure. Until now.

I like a good boy, read my instruction manual since this is the first AR 15 I have owned. Never shot one either. Manufacturer is Rock River. A National Match A4. The instructions listed a break in is not needed since the barrel has been lapped. Since I am new to this, did any of you Rock River owners do a beak in anyways or skip it?

Owners of other AR 15's, did your instruction manual suggest a barrel break in procedure?

Thanks in advance to all that reply.
John

[PhillipM]

Compass Lake has this procedure:

NEW BARREL BREAK-IN PROCEDURES



Your new barrel will shoot best if careful attention is given to a proper break-in. Differing opinions exist; however, we recommend that no more than 20 rounds are fired at the time before cleaning the barrel for the first 60 rounds. Your barrel must be thoroughly cleaned each time for the first 120 rounds.

Procedure for thorough cleaning: in all cases, it is vital that cleaning tools (brushes, patches, etc.) be pushed from the breech to the muzzle and then removed from the end of the rod at the muzzle end. DO NOT drag anything back through the muzzle.



Clean the bore with JB Bore Cleaner after 100 rounds as follows:

1. Work the JB into the patch.

2. Wrap the patch around a worn bronze bore brush (not nylon).

3. Using a bore guide, stroke back and forth for 5 strokes in the first half of the barrel. (Breech Half) Push patch through the muzzle and unscrew brush from rod and carefully remove rod from barrel.

4. Remove old patch from brush.

5. Repeat steps 1 - 5 for 5 complete cycles.

Note: A neglected barrel may require this to be repeated for many more cycles until it is smooth.

Note: The patch will never come out clean as JB is a slightly abrasive compound and is working to polish your throat and bore.



CLEANING AND LUBRICATION

After the barrel is broken in, clean the bore immediately each time after the rifle is fired. De-copper the bore and use JB bore cleaner every 200-300 rounds. Field strip and clean the bolt carrier assembly. Use a patch soaked with bore cleaner to clean the bolt carrier bore and the bolt face and stem. Dry all parts and lubricate bolt locking lugs, gas rings, and bolt stem with CLP and reassemble the bolt carrier, while lubricating the cam pin and firing pin with CLP during the process. Clean out the inside of the upper receiver with a paper towel or patch; lubricate the charging handle, support rails of the bolt carrier, and the inside of the bolt carrier key. Reassemble.



Note: The entire cleaning process is much easier by bringing a rod, patches, and bore cleaner to the range with you. As soon as you are finished firing the rifle, break the rifle open, remove the bolt carrier assembly, run a little bore cleaner into the two gas vent holes in the dish on the right side of the bolt carrier. Pump the bolt back and forth a few times to distribute the bore cleaner. This will soften the carbon in the bolt carrier and make it very easy to clean once you get home. I also suggest that you run two patches soaked with bore cleaner through the barrel and allow it to soak until you get home and then do a thorough cleaning job.

http://www.compasslake.com/Instructions.htm

[Jim in Salt Lake]

I have a Rock River A2 NM. I don't break in barrels other than shooting them until they settle down. My last barrel, a Wilson, shot consistently from the first round. I keep a log book of # rounds fired and have replaced barrels after 3-3.5k rounds. To me, it's all about how the throat erodes so I don't rapid fire mag dumps in that rifle. I have another AR we built at a gun show for that. I spent $75 on its barrel so it has the tactical tin can plinking duty. The good barrel rifle is for across the course competition. I also don't clean the heck out of the barrel. I always clean the bolt and upper after every match but may run just a patch or two down the barrel, if at all. I remember back in the 90's how everyone cleaned and scrubbed their barrels to get every last trace of copper out, I don't think that's necessary and haven't noticed a difference personally. We don't shoot over the winter, so I'll clean the bore pretty thoroughly at the end of the season. Protect your muzzle, +1 on not pulling patches and brushes back through.

[da gimp]

Visit Kreiger's web site & read what they suggest is the proper method for breaking in their barrels...... We had White Oak Precision (the number #1 ranked AR match rifle builder in the country) build our youngest daughter's service rifle.... all Rock River (upper, lower, 1/4 click rear pinned sight, internals) with a 1"-7" Kreiger stainless barrel. John sent us the instructions from Kreiger & they differ markedly from what Phil received from Compass Lake.... John has a web site where the instructions were listed.............. As a note his prices for one of his best quality match rifles are very dern competitive with better quality production line produced rifles from Les Baer, Colt, Stag, Rock River, Armalite.

[raymeketa]

A contrary opinion on some of the procedures :

Pulling a brush or patch back through the barrel does no harm. Go to a Benchrest match and watch shooters clean their barrels every 10 to 20 shots. Pumping back and forth for 10 or 15 strokes is SOP. If it did anything to damage those precision Benchrest barrels, they would not do it.

If a barrel is going to foul, it will probably do so regardless of any break-in steps taken. This has been proven time and again by actual experience. And, fouling does not necessarily mean an inaccurate barrel. Some will shoot OK for hundreds of rounds, while others may have to be cleaned at short intervals. Listen to your barrel. It will tell you what it likes and doesn't like.

JMHO

Ray

[Maury Krupp]

What do you hope to accomplish by "breaking in" this barrel?

There was a time when inexpensive mass produced rifles (think Montgomery Ward catalog rifles) had barrels that weren't always fully polished from the factory. Those barrels very often benefited from the polishing effect of a shoot-clean-shoot-clean cycle.

The exact cycle was more personal preference and voodoo than anything else. Given the vagaries of barrel manufacturing (quality of that batch of steel, condition of the tooling used, etc) I doubt any one cycle could be proven to work better than another on any given barrel.

Over the years the concept of barrel break-in has taken on a life of its own. Much like cleaning for three days after firing held over from the days of corrosive ammo, barrel break-in has become something people think they must do. Some barrel makers have a break-in procedure; some don't. Some that do only do it because they get customers who insist on one and they want to keep those customers happy.

In this case the manufacturer told you the barrel has already been lapped. It's as smooth and polished as it needs to be to shoot well and foul minimally. Go shoot it.

If the topic was new M1 or M14 barrel then something similar to a break-in may be (MAY BE) of use. These barrels require finish reaming to set the headspace. Depending on the condition of the reamer and the person using it there may be (MAY BE) minor roughness or tool marks to be polished out. I used to do a shoot-clean cycle with my new M1 barrels but quit when I didn't do it one time and didn't see any difference in accuracy, barrel life, level of fouling, or ease of cleaning. Now I target the front sight (around 5-10 rounds) then scrub with JBs and call it good.

AR barrels don't need finish reaming. All the High Masters I know just screw on new barrels then go shoot High Master scores.

Maury

[JohnMOhio]

Thank you all for you responses. They are all much appreciated for the logic of your opinions based on your collective experiences over the years.

Many thanks!

John

[wolley]

Maury is spot on.
Take it to the range, shoot it, have fun!
Clean it when you get home.
Barrel break in voodoo is exactly that.

[Don in SC]

The "break in" is to remove imperfections left over from machining the barrel. If your RR has been hand lapped then there is nothing to break in. You could more harm than good. Shoot the rifle as normal and clean as normal. Work on your hand loads for accuracy.

[Allen Humphrey]

I didn't break in my RRA NM barrel. Maybe that's why I haven't made HM yet

Seriously, I didn't see any change in fouling on my rifle between the first rounds and what it looks like now at 2000 rounds. This is my first and only AR15 and as such I didn't have any pet loads. The first 200 shots were dedicated to working up a load that I liked. Generally this meant 10 or 15 rounds per session. I did clean between sessions so perhaps that was "breaking in". Now days I clean the bolt and chamber every time I shoot, but I only clean the barrel about every 200 rds and that is only 1 wet patch and 3 dry.

[JohnMOhio]

Thanks Allen for you comments about your experience.

[broom jockey]

Or John, you can do like John Wayne did in his movie 'Green Beret', break it in against a tree. 8-/

[Former Cav]

I've done the break in on about 3 rifles I own. The rest of them I just SHOT EM. Their is no perceivable difference between my "service rifle ar 15 DPMS brand with wilson barrel" vs my "rock river arms target ar 15 w/ krieger barrel". I have a 3rd upper that has an unknown barrel on it that is 1/7 twist and it shoots 1 MOA also.
I've had numerous "praire dog" rifles (bolt action remington 700's and savage brand) and their is NO DIFFERNCE.
Clean it sparingly, NEVER use a stainless steel bore brush on it, and NEVER let an AMMONIA based solvent sit in the barrel for more then 3 minutes and you will be A-OK.
Follow Maury and Don above.
More barrels are damaged by cleaning then anything else. Always protect the CROWN of the barrel also.

[JohnMOhio]

Broom Jockey, I don't consider that a break in, more like a broken. Besides, I personally have never found a bad rifle. I seem to classify them as accurate, very accurate and extremely accurate. Based on that, all rifles are good, just some are better than others. One fellow says that bullet only goes where the rifle is pointed so I guess you have to know how to point that rifle in the right direction all or most of the time to get it to perform.

Lets face it, if for example you do all your hunting with 100 yards, and all that rifle will do is hold a 6 inch group, it will still put meat on the table. That could be called accurate. However it would never be considered accurate for a guy shooting target at that same distance.

The reason I originally asked the question about barrel break in is ( as stated) that I have never purchased a new rifle before and was surprised that Rock River said break in was not required. Having heard so many different methods for barrel break in I though I would ask my fellow posters here on Culver for their opinions.

Thank again to all who took time to contribute their methods and opinions.

John