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i live in west NY and it's just about 38degrees out and still raining.

i don't mind so much in summer but this being a shakedown shoot i really want it to be as dry as possible.(and not catch cold in the process...)

i don't plan on changing anything on the rifle at all... i want it just like it would of been on the EasternFront sans crappy late war production 8^)

yeah let me know the your schedule for bore break in... last time i did it i'd shoot five/clean the bore. i'd do that three times, then the same procedure at ten shots then at twenty for 105 rounds but never used paste. i'll have to look at Wally's for it.

38F?! AG! NO kidding! I'd stay inside too if I had a choice!....especially with rain at that temp!

Sure... I'll find the break in procedure. I'm pretty sure it's actually in the Armalite manuals for our ARs. I'll do that in the next little while and post it back.

Okey dokey now. :-) First off...understand that there is a LOT of conjecture and debate about the subject of barrel break-in. Some say it isn't necessary, and some say it makes a BIG difference.

My opinion is probably a little different than most. I think it causes an improvement in accuracy, but one which is more cumulative, and not an end-all by itself. The reason I say this is because the first rifle I did this with was a Rem M-700 ADL. For years the gun was a 3" group shooter at 300 yards. I discovered how to adjust the weight, length, and overtravel of the trigger and adjusted it to something a little more conducive to a varmint rifle. I took almost ALL of the overtravel out, and set weight to "approx" 1.5lbs (a little light!), and reduced the disconnect distance to where the sear wouldn't drop from the bolt when the rifle was dropped vertically onto a carpeted floor from 24". Yeah, I know....not exactly "scientific". :-)

In 2002 or so I started hanging out with a bunch of 1000 yard shooters and they showed me some "tricks" for that particular rifle. I ground out the barrel beds in the stock , floated the barrel with a credit card shim under the receiver, and cut about five loops from the ejector plunger spring (to reduce tension on the casehead in the chamber). Also, at the same time I switched to a completely different reload using a 180gr BT bullet. I had been shooting a 165gr HBPT. Accuracy at 300 yards reduced to 2" at this point. Accuracy was also 2" @ 300 yds with the old reload as well.

Because the barrel had been copper fouled, I had to defoul it before using JB Bore Paste and doing the break-in procedure. THAT was a right PAIN in the neck! It took two weeks to get all the copper out of the bore! I "think" I used a copper remover by Hoppes.

Once that was done, I performed the break-in procedure and groups went down to about 3/8" @ 300 yds. Basically, you can put "holes in holes" with that rifle at 300 yards. I gave that rifle to my brother about two years ago when I bought that Mauser in the pic. But that Mauser will do the same group at 500 yards. :-) I've got a target around here somewhere of a 5 shot group @ 525 yds that you can cover with a dime. :-)

I broke in the barrel on the Mauser before ever shooting it at a distance though. Also, back around 2002 or so we bought a Rem M-700 chambered for the .243 Win. We did everything (float barrel, trigger job, cut down ejector springs) EXCEPT the barrel break-in and the rifle would shoot 1" groups at 300 yards (Speer 85gr HPBT). Then we did the break-in with JB one afternoon, and after that the rifle shot .38" five rd groups @ 300 yds. :-) I fired that same rifle back around 2003 and put five rounds on target at 1000 yards within a 16" circle. NOT competitive, but still pretty good shooting! In the end, I found out the spread was such because the seater on my seating die had "drifted". This was with a load shooting 6mm 90gr Berger VLDs (Moly coated).

Also...from what people tell me, this is apt to help a military grade rifle (such as yours!) more than a commercially manufactured rifle because the rifling in military grade rifles tends to be a little rougher.

So anyway....here's how it goes...

BREAK IN PROCEDURE: To properly break in the barrel, first fire 11 rounds, each round followed by a solvent (we LIKE Kroil Oil!) soaked brass bore brush passed from the breech to the muzzle 3 to 5 times.

Dry the bore with a clean patch. Clean the bore further with 20 strokes of a tight fitting patch bearing J-B bore cleaner or another high quality paste type cleaner. Failure to use J-B or another paste type cleaner can triple the break in period. We use a bronze bore brush and wrap a patch which has been impregnated with J-B. You have to just rub it in with your fingers. It WILL make a mess out of the brush and you'll have a hard time getting all the patch fibers out of it! It is easiest to perform this step from the muzzle, but a brass or plastic rod guide ought to be used to assure that the rod never touches the rifling at the muzzle so as not to damage the rifling at the crown.

*NOTE* - The definition of clean after firing (i.e. - from shots 12 to 30...) means to use JB Bore Paste, followed by Kroil Oil until the patch is clean, then run a dry patch down the bore and remove the excess Kroil.

From shots 12 to 30, clean after each 3 shots.

From shots 31 to 50, clean after each 5 shots.

From shots 51 to 100 clean thoroughly with a high quality bore cleaner every 10 shots.

The barrel should thereafter be cleaned every 20 rounds to maintain best accuracy.

I know it sounds like a pain to do this, and it does take an entire afternoon, but I only know what I've told you and it DOES seem to help. :-)