Ruger RSI barrel break in

[Bill from NJ]

Ruger No.1 International with a Mannlicher stock.

AKA, Ruger RSI with a short 20" barrel.

My question:

Do the new Ruger barrels really need breaking in?

You know, the old school, shoot 1 round and then clean times 10.

Then Shoot 5 rounds and clean, times 5, etc.....

Or, can you just start shooting?

Whats your take on this?

[Geezer in NH]

I never bought into Barrel break in.

[Bill from NJ]

I never bought into Barrel break in.

Thanks for the opinion.

I guess I just read too much hoo-haa.

[RedJackson]

Bedding problems leading to string are the RSIs biggest problem. Ruger bbls all shoot well enough for hunting use.

[pietro]

.

Welcome to the board, Bill !

FWIW, I've owned/shot/hunted over a dozen different Ruger #1 & #3 rifles over the past 45 years, with four being #1-RSI's.

Every one of them have been accurate, right out of the box; and all I ever had to do to them was to zero each rifle before I practiced a bit with each one - then took them hunting, w/o any issues.

The only #1 rifles I have no experience with are the newer production stainless-steel/laminated-stock models.


.

[Bill from NJ]

Thanks Gentlemen form your expertise and knowledge.

[EDG]

You can't make one rule fit all barrels. It depends on the quality of the surface finish of the individual barrel. A barrel that metal fouls may need some break in.
I have a 40X BR Remington. The bore is much smoother than any other factory barrel that I have used and it never needed much cleaning when new.
I have had other factory barrels in which the accuracy slowly until they had fired as many as 200 rounds. Some of these barrels had fouling after the first few shots.
As long as they fouled with a few shots they got cleaned. It is easy to spot the fouling. Wipe the bore with a patch moist with solvent. Then wipe with a dry patch. Metal fouling with appear as dull streaks in the bore. Old school, new school any school - just do what works.
Sure you can just shoot but it only takes a minute to check for metal fouling. Does it do any harm to look? No and it does not cost any money either.
If you don't want to bother that is ok too. But it is a cheap education to look.



Ruger No.1 International with a Mannlicher stock.

AKA, Ruger RSI with a short 20" barrel.

My question:

Do the new Ruger barrels really need breaking in?

You know, the old school, shoot 1 round and then clean times 10.

Then Shoot 5 rounds and clean, times 5, etc.....

Or, can you just start shooting?

Whats your take on this?

[Bill from NJ]

You can't make one rule fit all barrels. It depends on the quality of the surface finish of the individual barrel. A barrel that metal fouls may need some break in.
I have a 40X BR Remington. The bore is much smoother than any other factory barrel that I have used and it never needed much cleaning when new.
I have had other factory barrels in which the accuracy slowly until they had fired as many as 200 rounds. Some of these barrels had fouling after the first few shots.
As long as they fouled with a few shots they got cleaned. It is easy to spot the fouling. Wipe the bore with a patch moist with solvent. Then wipe with a dry patch. Metal fouling with appear as dull streaks in the bore. Old school, new school any school - just do what works.
Sure you can just shoot but it only takes a minute to check for metal fouling. Does it do any harm to look? No and it does not cost any money either.
If you don't want to bother that is ok too. But it is a cheap education to look.

Good advice, Thanks.

[Texas by God]

IMO I feel break in on non benchrest barrels is a waste of time. Just shoot it a lot and clean it if you feel like it. My 8 yr old 25-06 has 500 rounds through it and I haven't cleaned it yet. And it will put 3 Hunting reloads into 1/2". "It's seasoned!"
Best, Thomas.

[izzyjoe]

I'd say!

[nagantguy]

Welcome to the board Marine, now get out you clp and bore punch and give that ruger a inspection clean!
With all the rifles I've owned over the years only two of the worst sewer pipe bored nagants got special bore treatment, mainly firing some of Tubbs fire lapping bullets to kind of even thing out,seems to have worked well enough one of them is my go to accuracy test rifle. But I do not subscribe to rifle barrel breaking period , get it shoot it find something it likes tweek it a bit clean as needed have fun

[Tom W.]

Both of my #1's shot very well. I replaced the trigger on one of them and it shot soooooo much better after that. The other I had rechambered and a trigger job done on it. Can't complain about either one.