new xl7 barrel break in

[fishboy]

i have a new xl7 7mm-08.do i need to put several rounds thru it to break in the barrel or is if good straight out of the box,i am a new shooter and am learning as i go along.

[muss1980]

Tighten your action screws and shoot it I do break in barrels. Maybe I have been lucky but I do own a few guns. This one can go either way depending on who you talk to

[h2opumper]

Give it a quick swab before shooting just to get factory remnants out.

[Gordy]

I always clean after every shot for the 1st 10 shots then im good to go. Got this from a barrel maker. All you are trying to do is wear down any tool marks that may be present in order to make the barrel not take on too much copper. This helps reduce that. It may or may not work, but that is usually what I do with a new barrel.

[fishboy]

thank you all very much.i took it to the range this arvo and put a box of highland 140gr thru it.it didnt seam to group very well.my friend had a box of privi and it grouped at an inch so im alot happier now,time to try it out on deer.

[Darkker]

As you can see there is as many opinions on this subject as there are people.
There are only 2 ways of knowing if you have a rough bore, 1)Bore Scope. 2) A LOT of copper fouling when shooting.

IF, you think you have a rough bore, and need to "break it in" to smooth things out. You can follow the the theory of 1 shot, clean, repeat. OR, you can just shoot it.
Personally I don't think that scrubbing will do as much as a bullet, in terms of "ironing" the bore smooth. I also don't think that the tool marks can grab jacket material, but then hold it and never let go, OR smooth out unless cleaned; Just shoot.

At the end of the day what lets you sleep at night? Neither method will harm the gun in anyway, so spend your day cleaning or shooting. But enjoy it, which ever method you chose.

[john13]

I always clean after every shot for the 1st 10 shots then im good to go. Got this from a barrel maker. All you are trying to do is wear down any tool marks that may be present in order to make the barrel not take on too much copper.

[white fox]

Run a rod through it then have some fun.

[dachshund]

See the thread titled "Proper new barrel break-in method" started 4/12/12...

[bdmccall]

I have done it all different ways, clean, shoot, clean, shoot again, etc. etc. etc. What I've kind of settled on for a brand new barrel is, I'll shoot 3-5 shots (a group), then clean it good, oil the bore, run a dry patch behind it, then do it again, and again, until I've shot about 30 rounds through it. After that, you'll just kind of learn what your barrel likes. I had an older Tikka in 7-08 that would shoot 1 1/2" 5 shot groups for the 1st 3 groups. Then magically it would tighten up to about 3/4" until it got about 50-60 rounds down it, then would start to open up again. It just had a happy spot of fouling that it seemed to shoot the best.

I've used this break in procedure on dozens of rifles, mostly factory tubes, one Hart barrel, and latest a Criterion barrel, both of these being hand lapped custom barrels. Seems to work okay for me, I just don't like spending all my time at the range cleaning guns. I had a remington 700 boone and crockett rifle in 270 WSM that shot really well, but copper fouled worse than any gun I ever had. I was skeptical about the Tubbs final finish bullets, but I took a chance and loaded them up and went through the paces with them. I must say that the bore cleaned up rather nicely, it didn't make it group any better (always grouped under 1" @ 100) but it sure made cleaning a breeze.

Just my two cents, good luck and enjoy, that's a great caliber, I always had my best luck with the 140 grainers