How to run in a new rifle

I hear people talking about ‘running in’ a new rifle’s barrel. What does it entail and is it necessary?

Most people can’t wait to get their rifle out of the box, screw on a new scope and mounts, and probably sound moderator, and then start zeroing in. Please don’t. It is highly beneficial to take the time to ‘run in’ a new barrel.

By this I mean condition it by shooting and then cleaning the barrel in a set procedure that has the potential to smooth out any machining marks, thus starting your rifle off on the right foot. It’s rather like in the old days when you ran a new car engine for 500 miles and then changed the oil as it cleaned out the system.

The process is fairly simple. First, shoot a single bullet through the barrel, then wet the bore with two patches soaked with copper solvent and allow the bore to soak to remove any loose material. Next, wet a nylon calibrespecific bore brush and push through the bore at least 10 times. Now clean the cleaning rod with a cloth to remove grime from the shaft and run another wet patch through the bore.

Repeat the process with a nylon brush soaked in copper solvent and patch out with dry patches until squeaky clean. Shoot another two shots and then repeat the process (so shooting a total of four shots).

Then wet a patch with strong KG12 and leave it to sit for 15 minutes in the bore, then dry. Now shoot three shots and clean as before. Repeat this five times (so a total of 15 shots), or until patches show little bluish tinge indicating copper fouling.

After this, the barrel should be nearly run in. Depending on how dirty the patches are, you can repeat the process until you are happy. BP

Running in the barrel of a new rifle is the recommended way of smoothing out any machining marks