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Should you clean a gun before the first time firing or in other words "break in" a new gun? When my Dad and I unpackage a new gun we don't do any of this, just make sure it's sighted in and ready to go. In fact, my father has never even heard of this practice. Is it reccommended?
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Most guns nowadays, if new in the box, are coated with an anti-corrosive material. It should be removed before shooting. Use plain gun oil and patches/rags. Excessive material around the firing pin can prevent the gun from firing in cold weather. Excess material in the chamber can cause other problems. So, yes, clean it before shooting.
Break-in is completely different. Some people believe in going through a shoot and clean routine every shot, 5, shots, etc. Some people don't believe in it and just shoot away. -
Mike has covered the subject. Yes, clean carefully before shooting, and every few shots for the first box or two. Bench rest shooters have fanatical barrel break in procedures, almost to the phase of the moon and incense burning. For hunting barrels I feel common sense will work unless you are willing too spend the extra time.Comment
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I guess I'll just clean the gun once I get it to remove all the anti-corrosive material but once that's done I guess I'll just shoot a way. That was very helpful, thank you!Comment
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I am using some Barnes bullets in a 7 X 57 Mauser and found the Barnes Loading Manual had a very thorough explanation about breaking in a new gun. They were pretty adamant about the procedure. Of course they are trying to minimize the copper build up in the rifling as there soft bullets are inclined to do when the barrel is new. I believe they claim the barrel needs to lose the sharper edges of the rifling with its first break in rounds. Then barrel needs to be cleaned until no green shows on your cleaning patches that are saturated in one of those bore cleaning solvents. They suggest this procedure is a wise course of action regardless of the bullets to be used. Give it a read for all the details.Comment
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