Do any of you varmint shooters go to the trouble of going through the barrel break in procedure? (Clean after each shot for 10 rounds, then after every 5 shots, etc.) Looking for pros and cons. jb

I'll do a similiar thin on factory tubes but on high dollar custom (hand lapped) barrels I'll just clean really well then shoot three shot groups and clean after each group for the first ten or so.

I know several gunsmiths who indicate lapping a bore and taking the time to break in a barrel in counter productive....

A well known local gunsmith was telling me that he was talking to the president of PacNor Barrels.... and Chris was telling him that the barrels that are handlapped will actually not last as long and are usually not as accurate fresh out of the box....

The lapping smoothes the bore but loosen the tolerances level....

Why the gunsmith asked him why does Pac Nor offer then, and why do they offer the "more expensive" Super Match barrels... the response was " because that is what the shooting public wants, so we offer it!" For his own rifles... a regular match grade barrel is just fine....

What does that tell ya?

cheers
seafire

The lapping smoothes the bore but loosen the tolerances level....

Then why not under bore the barrel a few thousandths, and then lap the excess off? Would that be the best of both worlds?

barrel break in = overrated waste of time and materials and serves no real purpose.

I gotta agree with skb2706 I always found if a barrel was worth a sh__ it would shoot well and if not, most anything I did was a lost cause. I had a friend that shot for the US palma team for years. Rudy kept a case of barrels under his bed, and if the barrel wouldn't shoot with his load he'd just toss it and screw on another one. I used to pick up the ones he'd throw, but I don't think I ever got one of them to shoot either. I know lots of guys do lots of load work, lapping work etc., but I sort of came around to Rudy's logical and switch the barrel or get rid of the gun and find another.

I agree more with Kreiger web site as to cleaning the first 5 rd or so due to the chambering.

I tend to agree that the run in is a bit of a waste, and follow a partial procedure while sighting in and testing loads but usually only on varmint rifles.

Thanks for the input guys, I pretty much agree. I have never used the pain-staking method of barrel breakin. All of my rifle shoot under an 1" at a 100 and the ones that didn't are gone. I do clean my rifles everytime I shoot and let them soak. I have a new VSSF and started the barrel break-in but at round five decided it was way to much trouble. Thanks Jim

quote:

Originally posted by seafire/B17G:
A well known local gunsmith was telling me that he was talking to the president of PacNor Barrels.... and Chris was telling him that the barrels that are handlapped will actually not last as long and are usually not as accurate fresh out of the box....

The lapping smoothes the bore but loosen the tolerances level....

Hey Seafire,

Unless they are not lapping evenly, this makes absolutely no sense. Pac-Nor barrel are OK for varmint rifles, but I've never seen them win a benchrest match. Go to the Lilja Barrels web site (http://www.riflebarrels.com) and see how they lap their barrels. You'll notice that their technique does not mess with the tolerences as they compensate for it before and during lapping.

Regards,
Kory

Y'all show me a hammer forged barrel(all the biggies, Remington, Winchester, Browning, Ruger) that can even come close to the tolerances on a match grade barrel(Kreiger, Lilga, Shilen, Douglas) and I'll show you a FLUKE!!! GHD