bigfellascott wrote:bigrich wrote:Diamond Jim wrote:It depends who you ask. Some will say "just go and shoot it" others have a specific run-in procedure. I'd look at high end barrel manufacturers for guidance but, for what it is worth, I've followed a run-in routine with all my new rifles.
Shoot, clean after each round for 5 rounds.
Shoot 5 rounds, clean for a total of 25 rounds.
After that, clean after every outing whether you shoot 1 or lots more.
That's just me as guided by what others suggest. I have no evidence it does anything to make a barrel better but I have no evidence it hurts either. Many say it is no use at all and some say it is harmful to a barrel.
If you research this topic it has been covered many times. You just need to pick a side and go with it. I don't think there is any right or wrong. I just err on the side of caution.
JIm
I’ve had new barrels fitted by Allan swan and from memory this was the run in procedure he advised. Rifles are manufactured metal products. A car is more complicated, but would you get a new car, cane the crap out of it, overheating bearings and seals, and still expect it to last a long time ? I’d rather take the time to run in a rifle I’ve paid good money for to make sure I get a lot of good accurate use. Cheers
I don’t reckon they baby drag car engines much
when they build a drag engine in street based cars, they at least run the cam in for 20 minutes on the dyno with assembly lube all over the cam and lifters, then the oil is dumped. moly piston rings are run in by this , old style cast rings take a couple of thousand kays to bed to the cylinder walls. standard "street" performance engines run about 3 thou in the bottom end bearings for a long engine life. track only motors run about 5 thou clearance in the bottom end so they have oil clearance and don't need to be run in except for the cam and they spin faster. metal expands as it heats up, a rifle barrel is no different.combined with fouling, a bore expanding with heat may also compress the bore.old millitary barrels are stepped and have very deep rifling to combat this. that's my theory anyway. you can shoot a old swede mauser until ya cant see through the scope for the heat mirage. but point of impact doesn't move much. when i first got my 6.5x55 with madco barrel, i shot a 10 shot group , not fast, but not slow either. the first couple of shots were under a inch , then the group started to open up , getting larger, but doing a reverse spiral in point of impact. never forgot that