Barrel break in period...

[lead-1]

I am going to deal on a new .44 mag revolver and was wondering if I should clean it, slug it then break it in with cast or break it in with jacketed. I am really wanting this single action for cast boolit shooting and am curious to breaking it in as my previous guns were used with jacketed only. Is this a process like in rifles where you shoot so many, then clean and then repeat the process so many times.

[rob45]

1. Clean the revolver.

2. Slug each chamber in the cylinder; record measurements, especially noting the smallest chamber.

3. Slug the barrel; be sure to pay attention to how it "feels" as the slug is being pushed through. A "dragging feel" indicates rough spots and constrictions; this is very common where the barrel attaches to the frame. Record measurement and compare to smallest chamber. Hopefully your smallest chamber is larger than your bore. If your bore is larger than ANY of the chambers, consider having the chambers reamed.


The concept of "breaking in" a barrel has always made for lively discussion. I use the fire-lapping process for nearly anything I get, and that is the break-in period for me.

Using jacketed instead of cast will usually result in quicker break-in.

For a more in-depth discussion that offers other opinions, here is a thread that might be of interest:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=66959

Others will post; good luck.

[shooting on a shoestring]

Break-in, thats an act of faith. Believing in the un-seen, and un-proven.

Hows that for provoking a thread?

First my question is what does one hope to accomplish with quickly wearing a bore of a revolver? Maybe, in a bench rested rifle looking at the last nth of precision, maybe some extra wear (some call it polishing) can get a smidgeon more performance. But in a revolver barrel?

My method of operation on any new revolvers that come my way (3 in the last 4 years), is to shoot them, clean them, store them till I can shoot them again. Its proven effective. They work every time. The boolits come out the front really fast and go where they are pointed.

That's my experience. Does anyone have any stories where an un-broken in revolver didn't shoot?

[44man]

I am going to deal on a new .44 mag revolver and was wondering if I should clean it, slug it then break it in with cast or break it in with jacketed. I am really wanting this single action for cast boolit shooting and am curious to breaking it in as my previous guns were used with jacketed only. Is this a process like in rifles where you shoot so many, then clean and then repeat the process so many times.
What make revolver?
Every one of mine shot cast right out of the box.
Knowing dimensions does give you needed info but unless you have a tight spot or under size throats, nothing needs to be done.

[HeavyMetal]

Never believed in breaking in a barrel.

A barrel will shoot, or not, depending on the load it likes. If tight spots or other problems exist these should be called to the attention of the manufacturer as soon as detected.

If purchased used you gets what you gets and deal with it accordingly.

It's a rare day that any of my pistols see copper alloy. So my suggestion is check the throats and bore then size accordingly and go shooting!

[ole 5 hole group]

I break in all my rifle barrels - the process is done mainly to facilitate cleaning the bore, as a properly broke in barrel fowls far less, and I mean a whole lot less, than a barrel not broken in. As to improving accuracy - proper break in might, but that would be a bonus and not expected by most - I fire form during the break-in period and never noticed an accuracy improvement after the break-in period. Breaking in a revolver barrel is for the same reason, but not nearly as necessary, if at all necessary IMHO. The process for a revolver barrel can be shooting 200 or so rounds of jacketed bullets prior to shooting any cast bullets. Clean after every shooting session or 50 rounds, whichever comes first. I've never had a bad fowling revolver barrel whether it was "broken-in" or not but I can't see any harm in doing so, and if it gives you peace of mind, do it.

[technetium-99m]

I've never broken in a barrel and I have some rifles that produce excellent groups downrange.

I also believe that more damage has been done to barrels by cleaning than shooting.

I guess you can say I call the break in process load development.

[69daytona]

I have never broke in a pistol or revolver barrel and my Dan Wesson 44mag will still hold a 4 inch group at 200 yards with my favorite jacketed load, cast opens up to 10 plus but havent really worked on it that much.
I do take my time and break in my rifle barrles but just getting into shooting cast out of some of them.

[lead-1]

I don't remember doing anything special with my Dan Wesson and it shoots fine, it is the only revolver that I bought brand new and I just cleaned it good every 3-4 cylinders.
I got a good deal on a Virginian Dragoon with a 7" barrel and it being new and also myself being new to cast boolits, I didn't know if it would be more prone to leading right off the bat or if I should shoot jacketed first to smooth out the barrel's machine work.

[Ed K]

There cannot exist a fixed barrel break in procedure/requirement as due to the vast number of variables. This is apart from the typical measuring, slugging in an effort to achieve proper fit.

The answer ranges from none required for a properly fitted, hand-lapped custom barrel blank to lots of time/effort for a barrel blank with a rough bore installed by a gorilla.

[Shiloh]

Got into a discussion with a guy a few years back on a different board.
With a quality modern barrel, what is it that happens on the hundredth shot that doesn't happen on the first?? Especially with all that cleaning in between??

With a larger caliber rifles using jacketed bullets, you might get 1200-1300 rounds before accuracy really starts falling off. Are you going to use up almost 10% of the barrel breaking it in?? What happens to accuracy on the 100th shot that doesn't happen on the first???

As previously stated, cleaning rods improperly used, cause years of wear.

SHiloh

[Bass Ackward]

So where does barrel break in actually occur?

Brand new S&W 627. Shooting jacketed and cast interchanged but cleaned well between the alternations. No attempt to work up loads.

Control load is 358156 with 6 grains of Unique for comparison to tell me when the gun is broken in. All groups at 25 yards.

1. First group was 5 3/16", coated w / LLA: 4.25"

2. 500 rounds: 4 .25", coated w / LLA: 3.5"

3. 1000 rds: 2.87", coated w / LLA: 2.5

4. 2500 rds: 2 1/16th, coated w / LLA: 2"

5. (today) 2750 rds: 2 1/4", coated w/ LLA: 2 3/8ths


If you notice, when the barrel and gun begin to break in, there is less difference between uncoated and LLA covered bullets. And no improvement in group size is seen.

The improvement or wear or break in has pretty much stopped, so that tells me that the gun is stabilizing. I can now work up loads without wasting my time or components or having my loads change all the time as everything shifts.

My question is that if you don't use a control load and keep records, how do you know what you (the gun) need or what to recommend to others for break in since every gun is different?

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Old time bullseye shooters would shoot about 1,000 cast before useing a pistole at a shoot.
IN RIFLES IFIRC it has been established that group size will shrink after/during the 1st 100 jacked rounds.
this was w/ normal factory barrels not custom barrels/lapped barrels.
So one would expect to do at least that much shooting in a revolver w/ the less heat. I have only been able to afford 1 new revolver in my life, but as i love to shoot 1,000 cast in the 1st summer was no problem. a couple 100 jacked ought to do it.

[dsmjon]

My 2 cents is the same when people discuss the proper break-in of a newly installed clutch, especially when talking in terms of a performance upgrade. Of which my procedure is to drive from the house to the highway (1/2 mile, 20-30mph). Pull out on the highway, and beat the hell out of it. Jackrabbit starts, run it up to the rev limiter, and keep the pedal down while powershifting it. Break it in like you intend to drive it (that's the way I used to drive). This was in a ~600hp turbo 4cyl AWD Talon. NEVER had a clutch related problem.

Of course, a clutch is a far cry from a pistol. But I say break it in like you intend to use it. For my intended 'tack drivers', I shoot a round and let it cool. Shoot a round and let it cool, etc etc. Clean in b/w shots as needed.

For my AK, and pistols, I load up as many mags as I've got. Head to the range, and open it up. Drop the mags and get back to it as soon as I can.

Now, call me anything, 'cept late for supper! :)

[gon2shoot]

I break in a bbl with cast, my SBH 44 was bought in 73, and I been breaking it in with cast ever since.

Must be wearing it out though, cause I'm not getting the 1/2" minus groups that I did 36 years ago when it was new. :groner:

[Bucks Owin]

If you intend on shooting cast boolits only, I wouldn't shoot jacketed. Save yourself getting the copper fouling out of the bore! Some think a lot of leading "problems" stem from copper fouling first.....JMO, Dennis (BTW DSMJON, the best thing to do for a high performance clutch is to not get a greasy fingerprint on the flywheel, PP or disc! Not "beat & heat"....Dennis. Former "Pro Trophy" class bracket racer, NHRA Div 7) :-o

[Bass Ackward]

There is only one problem to using strictly cast for break in. If you have a tight spot between rifling or a constriction or high spot, anything that momentarily slows the forward acceleration of the slug, then you begin to raise pressure.

Just like a piece of sand paper cuts harder if you push on it, the base will open the bore at that point in front of the constriction if it takes longer than necessary to remove the tightness creating a low spot or bulge that will forever be there. This is why PB cuts a longer forcing cone than a GC unless you use way harder bullets than the pressure you are using. OR why performance improves when the rifling get worn down or cut out in that area.

So if you have no impediments to forward motion, then by all means use cast only. But how do you know?

Think of jacketed as a .... sanding block.

[Ekalb2000]

This just backs my way of just shooting it. It has worked for me for the last 30 years.

http://www.6mmbr.com/GailMcMbreakin.html

Barrel break in is a scam. As P.T. Barnum once said.....

[ole 5 hole group]

This just backs my way of just shooting it. It has worked for me for the last 30 years.

http://www.6mmbr.com/GailMcMbreakin.html

Barrel break in is a scam. As P.T. Barnum once said.....

I usually don't make comments on articles by individuals who can no longer speak for themselves, so I won’t, but that article was written to sell barrels, his barrels. I seriously doubt you've ever shot benchrest - or know why Gail did or said what he did. I've seen that article used by dozens of individuals claiming that barrel break-in is a farce. If you don't believe in something, whether you're right or wrong, you'll be able to find something on the internet to back up your belief. If you go to 4 or 5 major barrel makers and ask them, you may get a very different opinion. If you talk to ole time benchrest shooters you might - ahhh - you won't, so I'm just wasting my time typing this. For those that don't want to spend more time than necessary cleaning copper from their barrels they will break them in - for those that don't see the need to clean all the copper out after each range session won't and for those that have never heard about barrel break-in - they will continue shooting to the best of their ability and won't give a didilly about our discussions here. As for the original posters question concerning his 44 Magnum barrel - I've never had a revolver barrel that took more than 10 minutes to clean all the copper out whether broke-in or not. As to improving the barrel if it has tight spots - I've never done it for that purpose, so I can't comment - probably shouldn't have commented in the first place.

[ghh3rd]

I break in a bbl with cast, my SBH 44 was bought in 73, and I been breaking it in with cast ever since.
I bought a Ruger Super Single Six .22 revolver in 74, shot it lots and loved it, still have it, but wish I hadn't waited until now to buy it's big brother, the SBH .44.

Sorry, I didn't mention breaking in the bbl, did I?

Randy

[Bucks Owin]

I've seen many "clean" shiney looking barrels that would turn a patch as green as moss with copper after sitting overnight with a wet patchfull of Hoppes #9 in it. That ain't clean! Try it yerself...FWIW, Dennis

[sleeper1428]

FYI -

Here's what Bushmaster has to say about 'breaking in' one of their chrome lined barrels. This was copied from their FAQ.

---------------------

Question / Issue

What is the proper "break-in" procedure for a chrome lined AR barrel?

Answer / Solution

After firing a couple hundred rounds, the chrome lining will "polish out" from its light, flat gray, factory-new look to a brightly reflective, polished appearance. During this break-in period, excessive cleaning with solvent or brush should be avoided as that will only prolong the time (and number of rounds) it takes to achieve the final "bullet polishing" of the barrel.

---------------------

I realize this isn't related to cast boolits but I know that I was surprised when I read this, considering that it was posted on a company website. What was interesting was that when I read this I'd already spent half a day 'breaking in' the barrel on my new Stag AR-15, shooting three rounds, cleaning, shooting another three rounds, cleaning, etc, etc. until I'd put about 30 rounds through the barrel. I'd done it that way for my Howa 22-250 many years ago and that rifle has always been extremely accurate so I just figured I ought to do the same thing with the AR-15. Guess that everyone has their own opinion on this matter.

sleeper1428

[ole 5 hole group]

http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/Break_In__Cleaning-c1246-wp2558.htm