Newby Post

[jpatane17]

Hi All,

I am new to the hunting sport and target and will shortly be picking up my first ever rifle. This being a Tikka Lite Stainless 243 with a Bushnell Elite 6500 2.5-16 x 50 Scope.

I have a couple questions for this forum of which I'm hoping to get some clarity on. What is the most simple break in process that I need to follow to get this ready for future range visits and hunting?

In particular what type of cleaning supply I need and recommended types that might make my entry into the sport as simple as possible. I recently found a compact kit online named "ITIS" which is compact and appears to be simple to use.

Any help you can provide would be great.

Thanks

JP

[Yelp]

Hey JP,

Nice package you've picked there. Can't go wrong with a Tikka, .243 is a solid calibre and the 6500 is a sharp scope

Most simple break in process, give it one really good clean to get all the factory grease out of the barrel that it's shipped with and start shooting

By compact kit I'm assuming you mean a break-down cleaning rod? My opinion, and I think most will back it up, is to avoid the break-down rods and get a solid one-piece rod. The break-down ones tend to kink and scraped around on your rifling which you don't want. Can't go wrong with a one-piece though.

[happyhunter]

Clean it, go shooting, and when you get home clean it again. Rifles sweat for a couple days after cleaning so before you go shooting it's a good idea to run a dry path or two through the bore before heading out. Don't over do the cleaning. Just do it after each days shoot.

A good solvent like Proshot IV will speed the process. Have fun with your new rifle

[Wm.Traynor]

You could enquire on benchrest.com about "running in" otherwise a plain factory barrel just needs its chamber and bore clean thoroughly before shooting. If you like it simple just go with what these blokes before me have said, especially the one piece rod.
If you want the boring details, pm me.

[<<Genesis93>>]

Hey JP,

Nice package you've picked there. Can't go wrong with a Tikka, .243 is a solid calibre and the 6500 is a sharp scope

Most simple break in process, give it one really good clean to get all the factory grease out of the barrel that it's shipped with and start shooting

By compact kit I'm assuming you mean a break-down cleaning rod? My opinion, and I think most will back it up, is to avoid the break-down rods and get a solid one-piece rod. The break-down ones tend to kink and scraped around on your rifling which you don't want. Can't go wrong with a one-piece though.

Best advice here!
Most important you either dont buy the screw together rods, or keep them for emergency/buckup/camping...but a one piece, plastic coated or fibre or otherwise not exposed steel, correct length for the rifle, too long will bow when you pushing a tight patch .

As far as break in..... blah blah, just shoot it but most important always shoot a bone dry/clean barrel and chamber.
Clean the grease out of the new barrel. then clean again and off you go!
Oil keeps the rust away, but remove the oil before firing!! Chamber walls must be dry as well, I use a patch wrapped mop...works for me .

[on_one_wheel]

Welcome to the forum.

I like the idea of running in a rifle. I'll definitely be doing it with my next one, just in case it actually has benefits. I figure what do I have to loose. .. time and cleaning consumables?

I'm yet to see any "proof" as such that it's a must.
Without any scientific evidence such as microscopic pictures of bores new, fired, run in ecc it's all likely to be purely opinion.

It may or may not help to prevent galling by removing any microscopic metal particles on the freshly cut metal surface that become loosened by the first few firings.

Personally I'd give it a extremely good clean untill tight patches come out perfectly clean.
Fire once , clean repeat 6x ( pulling figures out of my a$$ here )

Now I'm gonna go onto hiding for a day or two until people stop shooting me down for being a time waster

[sandgroperbill]

You can never get tired of this topic



I wouldn't worry about run in, but if it makes you feel more confident or secure, then go for it.

Google gale mcmillan run in. I found some of his posts quite interesting, and tend to agree with his thoughts on the subject, but each to his/her own.

Whatever the case, just make sure all the factory crud is gone, use a one piece rod, be gentle and respect your crown

[Norton]

+1 that sectional cleaning rods are s**t.

If you want something compact for the field get a bore snake instead but get a one piece rod for the proper cleaning.

Breaking in your rifle (or not) is a loaded topic, wildly varying opinions everywhere. I'm in the camp that says give it a bloody good clean out of the box and start shooting.

[Baldrick314]

Welcome to the forum. As said above you need a one piece rod.

As far as barrel break in, it's a real can of worms in the shooting community. I'm a fan of doing it and the method I follow is:
1. Clean factory grease and grime from the barrel and chamber.
2. Fire 1 round and then clean with copper solvent, patch out until clean. Repeat 5 times.
3. Fire 3 rounds and then clean with copper solvent, patch out until clean. Repeat 5 times.
4. Fire 5 rounds and then clean with copper solvent, patch out until clean. Repeat 5 times.

Now shoot as normal. There's conflicting evidence about the effectiveness of barrel break in but I think why not, it doesn't cost you much and you have everything to gain.

While we're talking of cleaning, get a bore guide for your rifle to protect the leade. Damage there will cost you accuracy.

When you are brushing out the bore go slow when the brush passes through the crown of the barrel and don't push the rod out any further than you absolutely have to. When you pull the brush back through go slow and feel it engage the crown instead of just reefing it back through. If you take these precautions you should do no damage to your rifle through cleaning.

[happyhunter]

I recently found a compact kit online named "ITIS" which is compact and appears to be simple to use.

I rekon you mean OTIS? They use the memory flex cleaning rod. Nothing wrong with those and they are a good field kit, like this..
http://www.otistec.com/pc_product_detai ... 4D3A6D5EAF

[Die Judicii]

Most of da blokes have covered the cleaning side of things so that just leaves me the simple job of saying,,,,,

[Gwion]

Two camps with barrel break in. One says it can increase accurate barrel life through reducing the rate of throat erosion while also decreasing the rate of copper fouling making the barrel easier to maintain. The other says at best it wastes time and ammo or at worst wastes accurate barrel life shooting and cleaning for no reason.

You decide for yourself after your own reading from various sources.

One thing both camps agree is don't let a new barrel get hot. Shoot slow and let it cool between strings/groups of shots. As fun as it seems, it's not a race to see who can go through ammo the quickest.

Welcome to the forum.

[Lorgar]

I'm in the clean and start shooting camp also.

The number of shots "required to properly break in a barrel" is anywhere from 30 - 600 depending on who you ask.

As it relates to my shooting... I go hunting a dozen times a year and do some target shooting now and then for fun, my go-to rifle is my stainless Tikka 7mm-08 which shot under 0.4 MOA straight out of the box (and still does hundreds of rounds later I might add).

Why would I EVER spend anywhere near $600 worth of ammo, days of my life, and life of my barrel putting 600 rounds through it to "break it in"

It won't noticeably improve accuracy. For arguments sake pretend it would, so what? It's more than accurate enough now so wouldn't actually be a gain of any sort.

Increases accurate barrel life? I'm not convinced but same as above, it would be no real gain to me.

Cleaning stainless is easy as anyway, no benefit there.

<insert more arguments here>, but end of the day it would be a complete waste of time and money for me as there is zero actual benefit.

Regardless of that, there are plenty of fanboys (not anyone here) who are adamant it must be done

Others can speak for themselves but IMO and observations what I've mentioned above is the case for the vast majority of shooters.

If the benefits were as black and white as some people argue it would be very easy for a gunsmith/range/brand to say "here are 3 rifles we ran in properly, here are 3 rifles we didn't, here are the results and you can see run-in rifles have benefited in X way(s)". If it were that easy plenty of people would have done it. I'm yet to see one such comparison.

You decide for yourself after your own reading from various sources.

At the end of the day it boils down to that I suppose. If you feel better about having put 30 rounds through it following some process then so be it.

[Gwion]

I'm more of a shoot 30-60 for break in, myself. Seeing this time is spent sighting in and developing loads (I don't use factory ammo), it's neither a waste of time or ammo to me; I get to know and tune the rifle and have peace of mind that I've looked after the throat and bore from day one.

[Lorgar]

If you're integrating the break-in with sighting in or developing loads that's fine, the value (or not) of breaking it in is moot as you're accomplishing something else first.

For the life of me though I will never understand the guys who just cycle rounds into the dirt for hours without even putting their eye to the scope for the sake of running a barrel in.

[aussie_redneck]

Just my 2 cents worth, i have never cleaned any of my guns before firing them probably just too excited after purchasing them but i can tell you that my xbolt 243 will lay 100gr core lokts at 100mts standing about 5mm apart (on a good day) then i take em home run my bore snake thru them with a bit of brunox on it check the bolts, Action etc lubricate as required and put em away i dont use patches or rods. Each to their own i suppose but i aint had any issues doing it this way.

[SendIt]

Cleaning a new rifle isn't so much about "cleaning" it, it's about removing the obstruction excess oil/grease creates that can bulge barrels.

How much, if any, there is to be removed will depend on the rifle. Some would have what amounts to a patch worth of oil on them, and, without walking to talk people out of doing it, you can/could get away without cleaning the rifle and it will shoot fine without any harm being done.

Others look like grease was put in with a spoon.

While I'd still suggest patching a new barrel dry, running your snake through will at least have picked up any larger deposits if there were any.