Hello everyone! I just picked up my AR-10 a week ago and I can't wait to sight it in. I've heard talk about breaking the barrel in, but it was about chrome lined barrels. I have a 20" stainless steel barrel and would like to know if there are any special instructions for breaking it in. Thanks!
Page 19 and 20 of the Armalite owners manual detail the break in of the barrels. Page 19 states chrome lined barrels require no break in period. So you can shoot away and have fun at the get go. Stainless barrels they manufacture are Match barrels and require a thorough break in period. Details on page 20. I am getting ready to break in my new AR10T barrel.
Thank you for your reply! I bought it from a guy walking through a local gun show and he didn't have the owner's manual. I will print it out from Armalite and follow the instructions. He said he never fired it, I wouldn't have believed it if I had not seen it myself. Thanks again!
I think if you go to Armalite and go to the Library you will find the owner manual download there. Break in periods are never fun but it will set you up down the road to maximize the accuracy out of the barrel. Good luck.
Clean barrel after every shot for the first 20, then for the next 20 clean after every 5, next 20 every 10 shots, next 40 every 20 shots, after 100 rounds have been shot you are good to go. This is how I break in a barrel.
If you contact ArmaLite...they will send you out one...it would be worth it...
Congrats on the buy...and yes..there is a BIG difference in the Break in...
The SS barrel is harder so it takes abit more...but as others have said...
FOLLOW THE MANUAL...and if you want the best results...USE TOP GRADE AMMO...
No CHEAP SH@T :pinch: ....My preference is Hornady...BTHP, A-max or TAP...168gr..
but that's me...
Anyway...use the Best for What You Paid for...at least for the First 500 rounds...then like a Cast Iron Skillet...IT WILL BE SEASONED...and give you
it's utmost....
Keep us up to date... :whistle:
BMS
I personally don't do barrel break in anymore. In my experience, the break in process seems to have benefited others more, for me it just does not make a difference MOST of the time. A barrel that is bad to foul quickly will benefit from lapping more than shoot,clean,shoot,clean.
what I do now, instead of starting with a break in ritual, is just shoot as I normally would. on a new barrel, I'll do the usual group and zero with known good ammo. IF it groups poorly, switch ammo. I'll run a box or two of everything to find the factory load a particular barrel likes, and use the best factory load as my starting point for working up a handload. however, if after going through different loads and I see the barrel is fouling too quickly or I see my best group is too large for my liking, then I will go through a "break in" process and see if that helps. If it is bad enough I'll try hand lapping with JB bore paste (or other abrasive) before hand and use it during the break in.
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