As weekend chores were completed on Saturday and we had no real plans for Sunday,Mrs. Oilman and I decided to get up early and head to the range. Talk started Friday night of bringing every firearm in the Mad Oilman household and firing them all, but time constraints and practicality prevented this.
On this trip Mad Oilman had a mission. Having purchased a Bushmaster DCM AR15 5 weeks earlier, and not having shot it (I know, it's very painful to me) it was time to take the newest addition to the family to the range.
The reason for this delay was partially due to time constraints, but also by the nature of this particular firearm. As it is a match grade barrel, there is a specific procedure proscribed by the manufacturer to break it in. And this would take some time. Extended time at the range in the August heat is not really all that fun. But then a new rifle is.
Waking up early on Sunday as planned, I made breakfast and prepared everything to go to the range. On the road, we made it in no time as Sunday mornings tend to be quiet on the highways in Houston.
At the range, the fun begins. The break in procedure is very specific. No more than 20 rounds and then a thorough cleaning, decoppering and polishing of the bore. Repeat until a minimum 120 rounds have been fired.
Now this may seem a pain in the butt. But reading various forums this is nothing. Many suggest cleaning every round for the first ten, every two rounds for twenty, etc. There are so many formulas it's unbelievable (and bordering on superstitious in my opinion).
I split the middle and fired 10 rounds before cleaning. To start I used the Federal Sierra GameKing BTHP. A nice accurate round for initial break in. Now for cleaning. Following manufacturer's recommendations, I used Shooter's Choice to start and then Shooters Choice Copper Remover. This took some time. The brilliant blue streaks from the copper remover were something to see.
Next set of 10, same procedure. I'm getting better in the process of cleaning this gun. It's not taking as long. Surprisingly, the copper remover did not create the extreme blue streak from the first cleaning. More of a turquoise.
Premium rounds expended, now it's to the cheap stuff. Olympic NATO surplus 5.56 mm. 20 rounds this time. This is stout .223 ammo. And fairly dirty. But with my cleaning procedure down it was no big deal. Firing 20 rounds and cleaning the barrel to spotlessness was now down to around 30 minutes.
This process continued for three hours. 120 rounds fired, rifle cleaned and a hell of a lot of fun had (the firing part, not the cleaning part).
The interesting thing is that the break in procedure seems to work. The last cleaning was very easy, almost too easy. I used the copper scrubber twice to make sure I wasn't missing something. Patches came out clean.
So does barrel break in matter? Seems like it does. Especially from the cleaning side. Put a little effort in early, and you'll be rewarded with much less effort in the future. Of course this story is ongoing so Ill report on cleaning as the rounds accumulate.
