Initial Break in for a 45 cal 1-30 GM barrel ?

[Edward]

I know how to start a new center fire barrel off ,but am wondering about break in on a new muzzle loader barrel as this is my 1st new barrel and want to do what it takes other than initial clean up like never seizing new mag spark and that little clean out plug on the side of the drum .Thanks /Ed

[Earlwb]

I never bothered breaking in a barrel. I just go out and start shooting it. Working around with the loads, bullets, patches, etc. to determine what works well and what doesn't work as good. Now with black powder guns you only get so many shots before you need to clean the bore, otherwise you can't get a bullet down to seat on top of the powder charge. You will know when the bullet gets hard to seat. Then that is the last shot before you clean the bore. With some guns you might get more shots off than others. Variables are the patch thickness and the the bullet diameter. I have been known to cheat a little and go with a smaller size bullet to get off a shot or two more though that may result in less accuracy.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Lots of guys swear by a product named, "Bore Butter" for breaking in and seasoning a new barrel. Some keep on using it as a patch lube.

[koger]

I have 10 GM barrels, I have shot them all from day one, none ever needed breaking in. I clean with a damp patch between shots, use only black powder, and have put thousands of shots downrange in local, state and national championship matches at the NMLRA. I clean with my own cleaning solution, dry good, and lube with Break Free CLP, leave a oil saturated patch in the muzzle. Never any after rust, a clean white patch comes out with light yellow oil on it. I have one barrel with over 8000 rounds, no wear. It has won gold an silver on a national level, as well as the KY Bluegrass Games, Gold twice!

[idahoron]

I have the same barrel, mine is stainless. I will second koger that my first ones I just shot,but. When I started to shoot paper patched bullets I changed up the routine. When I took the new barrel out I went to work on it with JB's bore paste. It is a polishing compound. I did probably 2 maybe 300 passes with the JB's on a patch. What I wanted to do was polish the barrel so I didn't have anything in the barrel that might cut the paper. BTW, if you shoot a paper patched RCBS 11mm rifle bullet in that barrel with an over powder wad and 80 grains of Pyrodex P, well you can thank me later. ;)

[bubba.50]

only thing I can add is about that so-called "clean-out screw". it's really just a by-product of manufacturing & serves no real purpose except to get stuck & boogered-up by people who have some obsessive need to even fool with them. smartest thing T/C ever did was when they quit puttin' that screw there & started doin' the machinin' from the other side of the breechplug & puttin' a blind bolt ground flush with the plug.

so, remove it & never-seize it if you must. then put it back in, forget it's there & never fool with it again.

[mooman76]

You can runs some JB bore paste down the barrel to break in faster or just shoot. It really depends on the barrel manufacturer and how well they finished the barrel on whether or not a break in is needed. Shoot and enjoy. That's what I usually do but I did buy a 36 that hadn't been used much that was a little cantankerous. It was literally destroying patches. The more I shot it, the better it got but I got some JB bore past and ran in up and down the barrel a few hundred times and it made a world of difference But I didn't feel I needed it for my others but then again most of them I bough used and they were already broke in.

[rfd]

proper after-shooting maintenance is all that's required. there are more processes and krap used for cleaning out the fouling and preserving than one can imagine, with most everyone having their personal idea what works and what doesn't. so here's my opinion on cleaning out bp fouling - use tepid tap water and a lotta elbow grease on the patched jag. when it's clean, dry patch the bore and then run an oily patch down and out. well done and the barrel will last as long as it was designed to last.

for a new custom built trad ml, with a custom barrel (getz, rice, rayl, sharon, gm, etc and many many more) there is no break-in required. your gun maker will have already properly lubed the breech and ignition access ports, will have test shot and cleaned/lubed it. now it's up to you to keep it up, make sure you do.

for an offshore commercial production ml with it's patent breech, best you can do is keep 'er cleaned and lubed. these are not the best of barrels, with not the best of workmanship, and the barrel may need some help with a good initial cleaning as most are left quite dirty after proofing. make SURE to run a .22 brush down into the patent flue to clean that as well - ain't gonna happen with a patched caliber jag. if cap lock, at least attempt to pull the boltster's clean (pressure) screw and clean it all out. also, there may be steel filings and/or burrs inside the bore and grooves (run down a reasonably tight dry patch and look for both filings and burr tears on the patch) that might need some help with 0000 steel wool "patches". with any investarms rifle, i pull the breech plug and anti-seize lube it, though most will find that a chore to do without proper tooling. other than investarms, almost all other offshore brands of trad ml's will not allow breech or bolster removal without damaging the barrel.

[SSGOldfart]

Trick is to start with a brand of lube you have used before and have confidence in,and stay with it.don't go mixing a lot of carp trying to find a better wheel,start on the low side as far as charges goes,that has always been my rule of thumb unless the barrel MFG says otherwise.
So are we going to see that barrel??:razz: