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Barrel Break-In i.e. Cooper
elkcrazyfred
Member Posts: 181 ✭✭
How necessary is it to use Cooper's shoot one and clean method of barrel break-in on any rifle barrel? And what about using moly coated ammo during this time?
Comments
This is controversial, with some claiming barrel break-in being absolutely necessary for maximum accuracy, and others (including world-class barrel maker Gale McMillan) saying its worse than a complete waste of time as it just adds unnecessary wear.
Stay away from Moly coated anything. Use the baked/dryed on bullet coatings such as Combined technologies Ballistic Silver Tips or the Barnes XLC blue coated bullets. Moly is hard to get out of a barrel once it is contaminated.
I hope this helps.
Best
EDIT 1
elkcrazyfred,
quote:Question: What "coatings" are OK to use in new barrels?
The two I stated in my previous post...only the one from Winchester/Combined Technologies, and the other from Barnes...which it is my understanding that Barnes no longer uses it on their X Bullets.
What about Lubalox from Winchester?
Lubealox is Winchesters coating, that when applied to Nosler bullets, is called Combined Technoligy
How necessary is it to use Cooper's shoot one and clean method of barrel break-in on any rifle barrel? And what about using moly coated ammo during this time?
Just wondering why you would spend a couple thousand dollars on a high end gun then question their suggest break in?
If you are willing to spend the money on the gun what is the problem with how they suggest breaking it in. Do you think they are just making it up?
I know I had a custom barrel made for one of my guns by a very high end maker. You can be 100% sure I followed their break in. Not worth risking that out lay of money.
This is usually a very polarized topic.
Let's make this simple:
Breaking in a barrel utilizes the heat and friction from firing a bullet down the barrel in order to smooth out the slight imperfections in the surface areas from machining the barrel in the first place. The use of a friction reducing coating on bullets defeats the purpose doing a 'barrel break in". So in answer to your question, there is no friction reducing coating that will be useful in this process. There are those bullet kits supplied with lapping compound applied at the factory made for breaking in barrels. Be very aware that you can easily damage a great barrel by using one of the so-called 'fire lapping' kits.
I'm going to group these two questions together since the answer is applicable to both:
"How necessary is it to use Cooper's shoot one and clean method of barrel break-in on any rifle barrel?"
"Just wondering why you would spend a couple thousand dollars on a high end gun then question their suggest break in?"
It may not be proper to answer a question with a question but it can be helpful on occasions. Let's turn the question around just a bit.
Why would you pay a couple of thousand dollars for a 'custom' rifle only to be expected to perform a process on it that is necessary for assured accuracy and warranty? Shouldn't we as customers who are paying for a supposed top-of-the-line rifle NOT have to perform this type of work? Shouldn't a 'custom' rifle come to us ready to shoot accurately with accurate loads?
The reason I ask these questions is two-fold:
1) No warranty, expressed or implied, should be made based on the customer having to perform a potentially harmful process on the product.
2) There is more damage done to firearm barrels from improper cleaning than from firing. Ask any gunsmith who has taken the time to look at things such as this.
I believe that a quality custom rifle should be barreled with the same pride and attention to quality that the rest of rifle is supposedly held to. The best barrel makers lap their barrels before shipping to a second line supplier such as gunsmiths and rifle makers. This eliminates the need for 'breaking in' a custom barrel. If a rifle maker or gunsmith buys second tier barrels (or third tier) from a factory that doesn't lap their barrels then they are doing themselves and you the customer a disservice by putting the onus on us to do the work they should have done in the first place.
There is much broader coverage of this question and related questions if you use the search button found on each page of the forums in the upper right corner of the page. Select 'All Forums' in order to get the most threads.
Best.
I would agree with the above that it is probably prudent to follow their guidelines for break-in procedures.
As was pointed out above, I have been somewhat suspect of break-in procedures that might be classified as "tedious". This implies to me, as Nononsense pointed out above, that the barrel may not have been lapped properly to begin with.