New Rifle break in and cleaning procedure

[Adam Helmer]

scalerman,

There has been reams of "documentation" written on proper barrel break-in. Most of it is horse puckey, in my humble opinion. I would clean the bore of a new rifle to remove any factory preservative therein BEFORE shooting. I would not do the "Fire One Shot, Clean Bore and fire Round #2" regimen favored by many gun scribes.

Most of my sporting arms and all military arms on establishment have ALL been fired many times before they came into my possession. Thus, I cannot become anal about "Bore Break-in." Many of my arms are real "tack-drivers" and some have been long past their prime before I acquired them.

Back to your question: I would clean and dry the bore of a new arm, fire rounds slowly so as not to overheat the barrel and clean every 50 rounds or so. This is how I handled my several rebarreled rifles. Clean from the breech and wipe the rod often to remove residue. I do not use a bore guide because I keep the cleaning rod centered in the bore. I avoid stainless steel bore brushes, but find bronze bristle brushes are fine. I use nylon brushes when I water-clean bores after firing corrosive ammo in bolt guns. Hope this helps.

Adam