TargetTalk

I apologize if this topic has been discussed before - I could not find it here.

Can you share some advice for barrel break in on a 22LR match rifle?


Thanks

Barrel maker Gale McMillan said that barrel break-in was a gimmick on centerfire barrels. Of the many things he said in the article he said, my favorite was, in a nutshell, if your new barrel is that rough you need a different barrel-maker. I can’t imagine, given the nature of .22 LR ammo/projectiles, that you are going to change anything in the barrel with a shooting/cleaning break-in procedure.....unless it is boogering up the barrel and crown with the cleaning equipment. Just my two cents worth.

Just make sure all the oil/grease used for packing and transportation is removed, then shoot it. No"break in" needed. Just a lot easier to clean the oil/grease out before you shoot than after.

The usual procedure is to shoot one, clean. Shoot another, clean, etc. This allows the projectile to burnish the bore in some fashion, causing the burrs and machine marks to "lie down" in a manner that won't collect fouling. It seems to work nicely for me with brand-new centerfire barrels. I can't tell that it does much with 22LR.

YMMV, of course.

Mark

22 bullets are made of lead... a "soft" metal..
imo: clean the barrel, run 20 or so "foulers" thru it, run a couple of patches thru it, a few more foulers; have fun shooting.

Expecting steel to be buffed by copper or lead?

Your fingernail is harder than lead, lead oxide no harder, platinum is harder than copper - which is barely harder than gold and silver. Carbon softer than all of them.

There might be some odd compounds formed in powder fouling which are hard enough to touch steel.