Shoot 1. Clean. Shoot 1. Clean. For 5 rounds? Clean with what? Brush? Patch? Dry? Wet? Opinions please, and thank you.

There are just as many opinions on this as there are on Ford, Chevy, and Dodge, Rem., Savage, Win. etc. Most rifle barrel makers offer their version of "break-in" procedure on their web sites.

What kind of barrel are you talking about breaking in?
Lots of custom barrels don't need any breaking in.
Don

shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, take a break, have a beer, kill that chipmonk that's been pestering you ...use your service revolver, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, shoot 1, reflect on the fun at the range, go home, clean the barrel if you feel like it.

vapodog: No beer at the range! Besides, beer will rust your pipes!(and make all your babies be born neked!
Why does beer go thru you so fast? Because it doesn't have to stop to change color!

We're talking Shelen custom barrel here.(.221 Fireball short throat) If I was going to clean between shots,(not JD Black lable) what should I use? Brush? Wet or dry patch? What would you do?
This thing has never had a round fired. Chambered a few last night to make sure all my reloads would fit.(good to go )Only got about 300 rounds ready . Should be a fun shooter!

I use this method:

Shoot once, clean once for the first 3-5 shots. You'll notice a progressive reduction in cleaning effort. The first shot will be the worst.

I then shoot 3 three shot groups and clean in between.

I the shoot 3 five shot groups and clean in between.

I then shoot 3 nine shot groups (or 3 shot groups in load development), cleaning in between.

After all this work, you'll notice that the barrel does not foul at all. I now clean after 20-30 rounds and it only takes 10-15 minutes to have a perfect bore.

BTW,

I use Sweets and patches. I sometimes use the bronze brush, if the bore is rough and there is alot of copper in there.

I run a wet patch once. Then another wet patch back and forth 10 times, then a dry patch.

On my latest rifle, a Savage 22-250, the first shot took 25 cycles to remove all the copper. Now, after break in, it takes five cycles to remove 20+ shots. So, break-in does help.

If you don't break in, like I did with my remington, then each cleaning session will be a complete B****!

Ladies and Gentlemen ----- All barrels need breaking-in, cheap, custom, expensive. The Krieger barrel company method is described on another post on this forum. Take a look at "barrel break-in" and you will read there how to do it properly. Good shooting.

Nor Cal Mikie,
Your Shilen barrel should be good to go. Just make sure you clean it good after 15 to 20 shots.
Break in not required.
Don

Its a feel thing for me. First do a full clean before you start and start out clean. Shoot 1 and a full clean. You might feel a rough spot or two so use your JB. Shoot 2 more and clean it up again. Keep going until you have "convinced yourself" that the barrel is broke in and ready to shoot. Some are easy and some are harder more troublesome to break in. It's not going to matter anyway--you are shooting one of my favorite rounds with the Fireball and they all seem to shoot wonderful.