Barrel Break-in and Moly Lube

[bookworm]

Two questions:

1) I have a new rifle I'll be breaking in and plan to use the mfg recommended method of (shoot 1 round + clean) x 10 reps. Is that a reasonable method?

2) I got some advice from an old friend that I should coat the barrel with moly lube before the barrel break-in. He claims that it fills in imperfections and makes the barrel last longer. I hear a lot of people moving to moly coated bullets but I've not ever read that moly lube in the barrel has worthwhile benefits. Any experience with this technique or with moly lube in the bore in general?

Thanks.

 

[Jammer1]

Two questions:

1) I have a new rifle I'll be breaking in and plan to use the mfg recommended method of (shoot 1 round + clean) x 10 reps. Is that a reasonable method?

2) I got some advice from an old friend that I should coat the barrel with moly lube before the barrel break-in. He claims that it fills in imperfections and makes the barrel last longer. I hear a lot of people moving to moly coated bullets but I've not ever read that moly lube in the barrel has worthwhile benefits. Any experience with this technique or with moly lube in the bore in general?

Thanks.

Be careful with the break in thing. More barrels are ruinied by improper cleaning during "Break In" than anything else. Use a quality bore quide and let the barrel tell you how many rounds are needed. If it is a high quality hand lapped barrel, 3 or 4 rounds may be plenty.

You will find as many different opinions on moly bullets as there are shooters. From what I understsand, it is best to reserve the moly until your barrel has some rounds through it and definately not during break in.

 

[breadfan]

Not trying to jack this thread but I'm fairly new to this Long range thing, so what do you mean by "letting the barrel tell you what to do"? I hate to admit it but I've always been a hunter and never really broke one in properly. I have a Stevens .223 I've been working on and it's getting close to shooting time.

 

[Jammer1]

The amount of copper left behind in the barrel after each shot should drop off significantly at some point. With a quality lapped barrel, it usually isnt much. With a factory barrel, that may be many more or never. In my experience factory bores are usually better handled with Tubbs Final Finish lapping bullets, then the shoot, and clean routine.

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Barrel break in is IMHO a chevy vs Ford debate, I'm personally not sure either arguements are unbreakable, I can tell you that my experince tells me barrel break-in procedures as described about shoot one, clean one are unnecessary at very best... although it does hold some validity with factory barrels that don't sport the higher quality materials & finish + hand lapping. Factory barrels can have rougher surfaces that need to be smoothed out for best results, this situation IMHO is where the break-in procedures are best used.

Now take a high end hand lapped match bbl (Kreiger, Hart etc) These barrels IMHO from start to finish are held to exponentially higher standards than most if not all factory barrels. This tells my (narrow) mind that they aren't going to require anywhere near the work to reach their potential. As of now & a half dozen custom rifles, my experience & findings have told me just that, my factory barrels require a good bit more "break-in" than any of my high end barrels.

I've never used (& probably never will) the shoot one, clean one for x-amount of rounds method & none of my customs have failed to reach MY accuracy standards. I am by no way trying to demean that method, I'm sure there are many that have stories/experienced opposite mine, which I will alway appreciate hearing/reading. I'm just posting my findings, experiences & thoughts on the matter.

Good shooting gun)

 

[jake50]

I suggested to McMillain as i was told by another barrel maker 1 shot clean after every shot for ten shots and then 3x3shot groups clean after every group than 2 x 5shot groups clean after every group with my 30" barrel , this was there reply.

We believe that if you clean the barrel after the first 5 rounds and then after every 5-10 rounds for the first 50 you will be fine. These are benchrest quality match grade barrels but we do not believe in breaking in a barrel as you had been instructed.

Kelly D. McMillan

 

[J E Custom]

Two questions:

1) I have a new rifle I'll be breaking in and plan to use the mfg recommended method of (shoot 1 round + clean) x 10 reps. Is that a reasonable method?

2) I got some advice from an old friend that I should coat the barrel with Molly lube before the barrel break-in. He claims that it fills in imperfections and makes the barrel last longer. I hear a lot of people moving to Molly coated bullets but I've not ever read that Molly lube in the barrel has worthwhile benefits. Any experience with this technique or with Molly lube in the bore in general?

Thanks.

On question number 1= I very much believe in proper break in of "ANY" barrel If you want the best life and accuracy plus the benefit of a minimum fouling barrel. Most barrel makers recomend some
sort of break in to Improve the performance of there product and the shoot and clean is the most
widely used.

Number two= Do not use Molly in the barrel before break, in It will slow the process.

The only place that I would recomend using Molly in a barrel is a badly pitted one or just a
very rough factory barrel that fouls excessively.

Oddly enough it works well on Muzzle loaders preventing powder fouling and will increase
shot count without cleaning.

And it works well on shot guns to prevent the build up of plastic from the wads.

Molly bullets are a mixed bag IMO , They will increase velocity(Load data is different because of
lower pressure by less resistance ). Molly will also build up over time and will have to be
removed (Also not easy). Molly bullets are said to increase barrel life but I have not used enough
to see if this is true.

J E CUSTOM

 

[bookworm]

Good info - thanks guys.

So far I've put 6 rounds through, cleaning after each round. I'm going to take a good look at the barrel with a borescope to see what I'm dealing with at this piont and decide where to go next.

If things are pretty rough I might think about loading up some Tubb's Final Finish rounds and run some through the barrel. I've never used them for barrel break-in, but it seems that what they are made for is the same thing that I'm trying to accomplish by the break-in process.

I used them on a very rough factory Remington barrel and it did wonders.

 

[Edd]

I suggested to McMillain as i was told by another barrel maker 1 shot clean after every shot for ten shots and then 3x3shot groups clean after every group than 2 x 5shot groups clean after every group with my 30" barrel , this was there reply.

We believe that if you clean the barrel after the first 5 rounds and then after every 5-10 rounds for the first 50 you will be fine. These are benchrest quality match grade barrels but we do not believe in breaking in a barrel as you had been instructed.

Kelly D. McMillan

How to Break-in a Barrel