Recently, I had my .280 Ackley rebarreled with a 26â stainless blank from Lilja. It was a great all-around rifle with the 24â Douglas barrel that it wore for 10+ years, but now I have a larger selection of big game rifles to choose from and I wanted something that filled a more specific niche. This rifle is to be used to send 140 gr. bullets as fast as I can push them while maintaining accuracy, for hunting deer in wide-open spaces. Essentially, Iâve always wondered what the rifle would do with a 26â barrel and it was time to find out. Practical? No. Itâs my money (no, I donât get free barrels).
The Background
The process of breaking-in a new barrel is designed to remove any burrs, imperfections, or other abnormalities caused by the chambering process. Premium barrels such as this Lilja are hand-lapped and inspected by the manufacturer so they are free from imperfections when they leave their shop. The problem is that your gunmaker is going to take a chambering reamer covered in lube and force it into that pristine barrel in the lathe. When steel is spinning, the reamer is cutting, and metal chips are flowing, things can get scratched or gouged. Breaking-in the barrel is designed to remove those imperfections via high velocity bullets. The bullet burnishes the hard edges as it impacts them, and constantly cleaning the bore means the bullet it hitting raw steel, not copper fouling
The Process
Every barrel maker has their own recommendation for break-in but theyâre all similar: the barrel is shot and then cleaned at various increasing intervals. This is my method:
âąÂ Clean the bore when it arrives, the rifle has likely been test-fired, so it has some fouling already. Always use a bore guide and a high-quality one-piece rod such as a coated Dewey. Youâll also need a good copper solvent (Lilja recommends Butchâs Bore Shine), a bronze or nylon brush (never steel) and a pile of patches.
âąÂ Fire one shot and follow the solventâs instructions until the barrel is totally free of copper, this will take forever and will likely cause you to use foul language (especially if your bronze brush falls into the sand and you have to revert to using only patchesâask me how I know).
You can literally see the copper fouling in this barrel.
âąÂ Fire another round and clean, repeat for 10-12 rounds.
This barrel is still showing indications of copper, better keep scrubbing.
âą Fire three rounds and clean, the barrel should be getting easier to clean.
âąÂ Repeat for 5 or so groups and then clean every 10 to 12 rounds until you get about 50 to 60 rounds.
Breaking-in a new barrel is a time-consuming process.
By now, the barrel should clean pretty easily and youâll have bunch of fired brass to handload with. I use mild loads (book minimums) for break-in for a variety of reasons: light recoil, less heat, and less barrel erosion. I also use whatever the cheapest jacketed bullets are that I have for that caliber, but I donât recommend monolithic bullets for break-in.
Is it worth it? Every premium barrel maker that I have ever purchased a barrel from (Kreiger, Lilja, etc.) has recommended breaking-in their barrels. That said, a few days after I finished this process, I ran into custom rifle builder Charlie Sisk at J. Guthrieâs memorial service. I asked him what he thought of the process and his reply was essentially that itâs a waste of time and ammo.
âI shoot a custom barrel until the fouling causes the accuracy to deteriorate and then I clean it," he said. "A properly-chambered barrel wonât have any problems and the barrel itself has already been lapped.â
Charlie builds some very accurate rifles and knows far more than I do on the subject so I wasnât about to argue with him. Candidly, itâs hard to prove an outcome in a quantifiable way without testing a whole pile of identical barrels. This isnât going to happen so I follow the instructions of the guys who have produced tens of thousands of barrels with their names stamped on them. For me, itâs worth it since it allows me to get to know the rifle, get the scope more-or-less zeroed, and produce a bunch of brass that I can neck-size. Besides, how often do you get a new custom barrel?
My Conclusion
As long as you do it correctly, it canât hurt and could give you an accuracy edge. You canât go wrong taking the advice of barrel makers and benchrest shooters. Then again, does it make any difference youâd notice on a big game rifle? I seriously doubt it. Itâs still a free country, you decide.
