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Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
Rifles, Bullets, Barrels & Ballistics
Copper Removal Technique: Break-in vs Complete Removal
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<blockquote data-quote="azsugarbear" data-source="post: 839131" data-attributes="member: 4809"><p>To my mind, there is only one "break in" period - and that is when the barrel is brand new. Custom barrels that come lapped from the manufacturer generally require less "break in" than production rifle barrels. </p><p></p><p>There are also several schools of thought on how you break in a barrel and how often you should clean it thereafter. Additionally, when discussing the process of cleaning and break in, we need to be specific as to what is being removed: the copper, the carbon fouling - or both.</p><p></p><p>Most custom barrel manufacturers seem to advocate a break in process that seems to be favored by the benchrest crowd. Shoot one, then remove both carbon and copper. Repeat 2-3 more times. Then shoot 3 bullets and then remove both carbon and copper. Repeat 2-3 more times. And finally, shoot 5 bullets and clean both carbon and copper. Once you see that very little copper is being removed by your cleaning - your barrel is broken in. Thereafter, clean out both carbon and copper after every 50 to 100 rounds. There's lots of room for variations in what is described above.</p><p></p><p>Another school of thought is to leave the copper in the new barrel, as it helps protect it from future erosion. This break in process is similar to that above, except you only clean out the carbon fouling after each round, letting the copper build up. Then you shoot your 3 bullet series, but only clean out the carbon. Then just shoot without cleaning until your barrel builds up enough carbon that it hits "equilibrium" (when velocity seems climb and then finally plateau). You then shoot hundreds of rounds without cleaning again until velocity begins to spike. Then you only clean out all the carbon (leaving the original copper) and once again start building up that initial carbon base until your barrel gets back to equilibrium. See the Sniper 101 series on youtube.com for a clearer picture of this method).</p><p></p><p>There are a few other cleaning regimens I know of, but the two described above seem to best illustrate the extreme positions that shooters can have on the topic of barrel break in and cleaning.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="azsugarbear, post: 839131, member: 4809"] To my mind, there is only one "break in" period - and that is when the barrel is brand new. Custom barrels that come lapped from the manufacturer generally require less "break in" than production rifle barrels. There are also several schools of thought on how you break in a barrel and how often you should clean it thereafter. Additionally, when discussing the process of cleaning and break in, we need to be specific as to what is being removed: the copper, the carbon fouling - or both. Most custom barrel manufacturers seem to advocate a break in process that seems to be favored by the benchrest crowd. Shoot one, then remove both carbon and copper. Repeat 2-3 more times. Then shoot 3 bullets and then remove both carbon and copper. Repeat 2-3 more times. And finally, shoot 5 bullets and clean both carbon and copper. Once you see that very little copper is being removed by your cleaning - your barrel is broken in. Thereafter, clean out both carbon and copper after every 50 to 100 rounds. There's lots of room for variations in what is described above. Another school of thought is to leave the copper in the new barrel, as it helps protect it from future erosion. This break in process is similar to that above, except you only clean out the carbon fouling after each round, letting the copper build up. Then you shoot your 3 bullet series, but only clean out the carbon. Then just shoot without cleaning until your barrel builds up enough carbon that it hits "equilibrium" (when velocity seems climb and then finally plateau). You then shoot hundreds of rounds without cleaning again until velocity begins to spike. Then you only clean out all the carbon (leaving the original copper) and once again start building up that initial carbon base until your barrel gets back to equilibrium. See the Sniper 101 series on youtube.com for a clearer picture of this method). There are a few other cleaning regimens I know of, but the two described above seem to best illustrate the extreme positions that shooters can have on the topic of barrel break in and cleaning. [/QUOTE]
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Copper Removal Technique: Break-in vs Complete Removal
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