Barrel Break in Procedure for Your New Rifle

When you get a new rifle, what are some of the first things you do? Perhaps you take some time to clean it right out of the box, mount your preferred optic on top, or outfit it with some accessories. But what about going through a barrel break in procedure? It’s a step in setting up a new rifle that some hunters and shooters swear by, while others simply skip it and get to shooting. Let’s take some time to discuss breaking in your barrel; what it is, why it’s done, and the entire procedure from start to finish. 

What is “breaking in” your barrel?

When someone says they are “breaking in” their rifle’s barrel, what do they mean? The barrel break in procedure is when you shoot and clean your rifle multiple times to smooth out miniscule imperfections left from when the barrel was manufactured. Small pieces of copper jacket and fouling fill in these tiny imperfections to help smooth the barrel, which creates a smoother bore and better seal for the bullet as it travels down the barrel. Savage barrels are precision machined to tight tolerances and inspected by hand before leaving the factory to keep any imperfections to a minimum, but some microscopic imperfections may still be left over from the rifling process.

Learn more about how Savage barrels are manufactured. 

Going through a barrel break in can help reduce copper fouling from the projectiles you are shooting. As the minor manufacturing imperfections are filled in and smoothed from the firing and cleaning process, subsequent copper fouling will be reduced as there will be fewer places along the barrel for the fouling to build up. While breaking in your barrel is not a necessary step, some shooters and hunters will attest that it may help with improving the accuracy and life of your rifle’s barrel. 

Why would you break in your barrel?

The main benefit to breaking in your barrel is the potential to improve the accuracy and performance of your rifle. The process can also help improve your own accuracy and technique as a shooter! The barrel break in procedure serves as valuable trigger time with your new rifle. Focusing on the fundamentals of shooting as you go through the process will ultimately help you become a more accurate shooter.

Besides the potential to improve accuracy, why else would you follow the barrel break in procedure? One advantage to following the barrel break in procedure is the time spent to learn more about your rifle. As you are shooting and cleaning, you learn about how your new rifle handles and operates. The feel and weight of the trigger, the balance of the rifle, and how it shoots are all important factors that you learn more about throughout the process. You also familiarize yourself with the maintenance of your rifle, and how to properly clean and disassemble it.

Barrel break in procedure

Before breaking in your barrel, it is important to have your rifle properly sighted in. This will help ensure that as you are going through the barrel break in procedure you are also getting proper feedback on how your rifle, and you as a shooter, are performing. Check out this blog post to see how to properly sight in a rifle. 

There are a variety of different methods and opinions when it comes to breaking in a barrel. Different sources will outline different processes, but ultimately the goal of each of the different processes is to achieve the same end result. While there are many different barrel break in processes, this is the process that Precision Shooting Magazine recommends:

STEP 1 (repeated 10 times)

Fire one round

Push wet patches soaked with a powder solvent through the bore

Push a brush through the bore (5 times in each direction)

Push dry patches through the bore (2 times)

Push wet patches soaked with a copper solvent through the bore

Push a brush through the bore (5 times in each direction)

Push dry patches through the bore (2 times)

Push a patch with 2 drops of oil through the bore

STEP 2 (repeated 5 times) 

Fire a 3 shot group

Repeat the cleaning procedure from STEP 1 after each group

STEP 3 (repeat 5 times)

Fire a 5 shot group

Repeat the cleaning procedure from STEP 1

Precision Shooting Magazine also recommends the use of a patch with 2 drops of oil after the cleaning so that you are not shooting with a dry bore. It is also advisable to use a powder solvent and copper solvent from the same manufacturer to be sure they are chemically compatible. 

Should you always break in your barrel?

Is breaking in a barrel always necessary? Ultimately, that comes down to each individual shooter and what the planned use of a firearm is. For precision shooters looking to get the most performance possible out of their rifle, it may be worth going through the barrel break in procedure to get their rifle just a little more polished and refined for a potential advantage. It may also be valuable for new shooters or hunters who have purchased a rifle for the first time to go through the process and understand how their rifle operates, and how to maintain and clean it. For firearms such as handguns and shotguns, breaking in the barrel will likely not be needed, as these firearms are most often used in closer range situations where precision shooting may not be as vital. 

For the average hunter or shooter, it may not be as important to go through the barrel break in procedure with their rifle. If a rifle will only be used to take shorter range shots, such as a ranch or farm rifle, or a closer range hunting rifle, then it may not be as important to break in the barrel to squeeze out a little more potential accuracy. If the rifle is not used very often, then it may also not be as important to take the time to break in the barrel. Barrels that are also chrome-lined as a part of their manufacturing process will also not likely benefit from the barrel break in procedure, as the chrome finish that lines the barrel is already hardened and corrosion resistant. 

Conclusion

Whether you choose to follow the barrel break in procedure or not, more time on the range can never hurt! It’s never a bad idea when you purchase any new firearm to head out to the range to spend some time behind the firearm and getting to know how it shoots. Whether you follow the barrel break in procedure outlined in this article, follow a different barrel break in process, or just head out to the range to have some fun and shoot your new firearm, hitting the range to get some practice is the most important part!