how many shots ...new gun..

[jaybull]

I was told to shoot my new 30.06 once then clean and repeat about 10 times then clean every 2 shoots ten more times. Does this sound about right or is there other ways. Just would like to hear how others " brake in there new gun". Thanks jay

[jules]

just shoot it , get to know it , clean when done

[2430M]

Here is another thread with some ideas Jaybull

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=19196&highlight=breaking

[Wrongside]

just shoot it , get to know it , clean when done

I agree, although I would add, give it a VERY thorough cleaning right out of the box before you shoot it for the first time.

[jules]

I agree, although I would add, give it a VERY thorough cleaning right out of the box before you shoot it for the first time.

good point wrongside ,been so long since i had a new one:D

[John Spartan]

I just clean new guns once and proceed to sight them in. Why wear the barrel out with over zealous cleaning? Gale McMillan, a noted US gunsmith, noted there was no need to do this.

[bobinthesky]

Barrel breakin in procedures are a highly controversial subject. Some claim that a new barrel has a rough surface that needs to be shined up by bullets while you clean copper out of the microscopic ridges and valleys after every shot. After a certain amount of shooting, the roughness is smoothed over and no longer collects copper. Some break in procedures are quite simple and others are pretty labour intensive. DPMS recomends that you clean after every round for the first 25 rounds, then after each ten for the next 200 rounds, thats a lot of cleaning! I've tried cleaning after every shot and not cleaning untill I was done for the day and havn't noticed any difference either way.
Basically, it appears that barrel break in procedures have been invented because the shooting public demanded them from manufacturers. Shilen, a major barrel manufacturer readily admits this.

[BigBlack]

I was told to shoot my new 30.06 once then clean and repeat about 10 times then clean every 2 shoots ten more times. Does this sound about right or is there other ways. Just would like to hear how others " brake in there new gun". Thanks jay

2 NIB remington 700 same caliber purchased seperatly. The first one I got and just started shooting it cleaning it every now and again. A year or so later a friend got a new one just like mine and by that time was convienced I had ruined mine so I set out and used the rigerours breakin procedure on my friends. Now by the time both guns had about 100 rounds through them they shot on average the same groups. Almost identical with one never claiming the edge over the other.