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Old wife's tale or truth?

Do new rifles need running in or maybe the better description
would be does the barrel need running in?

No scientific proof but people in my club have different opinions
of how to use a new riffle for the first few rounds.

So question is, does a new barrel need to be cleaned after the
first one, first five, first ten or whatever number of rounds
fired through it?

What are your thoughts?

ozone

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It's an old wife's tale.

A High Master, Distinguished Rifle Shot and multiple winner of the President's Hundred (and internationally renowned gunsmith) once told me to run in a new barrel;
Step 1, go shoot the burrs off or until your finger bleeds;
Step 2, shoot a few more;
Step 3, put it away.
That was one of the most accurate barrels I've had on one of my rifles.
I'm not saying this is the best or only way, and I guess one way is as good as another. If you ask enough people you'll eventually find two that agree on a system.

Does it make the barrel last a bit longer? No empirical way to tell.
Does it make it shoot better? No way to tell.
Will it clean easier? Maybe, maybe not.
Does it matter, then? Only if it does to you.

I have read two memorable extremes, Border always advocated shoot one, foam it for 24 hours, wipe out and repeat. Schultz and Larsen said shoot it. Both were/are cut rifle manufacturers however S&L are predominantly hunting rifles whereas border did a good percentage of target barrels.

I always clean the barrel, shoot three normally to confirm zero and then shoot it fairly carefully for a while so no rapid string shooting. Most barrels are treated as normal by the time they have had 25-30 rounds through them and during this period I will clean them a couple of times however is not much more than a lightly oiled patch and dry. I have found the occasional barrel that does not truly settle down until it has closer to 100 rounds through it.

As an aside I was rash enough to discuss cleaning S&L barrels with the company owner, my thorough cleaning and copper stripping regime horrified him and he told me I was under no circumstances to treat his barrels in such a manner. Apparently they should be copper stripped at 1500-2000 rounds and a light wipe through with a good a good oil to remove excess carbon and protect was all that was needed. The S&L 6,5-284 is shot to 1200 yards so it is not only a stalking rifle and I have used it in Open Class comps in the past.

There are lot's of old women around. I would not mind so much if one of them could give a logical explanation as to how and why the techniques work.

This break in thing reminds me of the magical grease the Swiss use to clean their rifles. That is total BS as well.

Explosive wrote:There are lot's of old women around.

Consequence of an ageing population no doubt.

Apparently they should be copper stripped at 1500-2000 rounds

A good friend of mine is a gunsmith and he reckoned it depended on the make of the barrel. He recommended removing copper after 500 rounds for the average factory barrel. Personally I have never broken a barrel in and I follow the copper stripping regime my mate suggested. To be really honest I have never noticed any drop off in accuracy in any of my rifles.

Do new rifles (barrel) need running in? No.

Will a new rifle (barrel) benefit from careful running in? Probably.

Does a new 'match' barrel need running in? Definitely!

Explanation - due to the less than perfect internal finish of the new barrel, it will tend to pick up copper from the bullet jacket. Copper begets copper. If you don't get rid of this copper then you'll never get the best that your rifle is capable of.

Are you bothered by that? No? Then don't bother running it in.

I'm a firm believer that every new barrel needs "shooting in". Preferably as often as possible.

The Gun Pimp wrote:Do new rifles (barrel) need running in? No.

Will a new rifle (barrel) benefit from careful running in? Probably.

Does a new 'match' barrel need running in? Definitely!

Explanation - due to the less than perfect internal finish of the new barrel, it will tend to pick up copper from the bullet jacket. Copper begets copper. If you don't get rid of this copper then you'll never get the best that your rifle is capable of.

Are you bothered by that? No? Then don't bother running it in.

You don't explain how to "running in" works. I would really like to know as I don't have a clue :)

ETA, Yes I know fouling needs cleaning out.