New AR and break in?

[Stringbender]

Ok first off I did try search but wanted more opinions. I have just bought a new el-cheapo DPMS AR and I have a question. I keep seeing bits here and there saying break in the barrell, clean after every so many shots, blah, blah,blah. My question is, how did YOU treat your new AR (expensive or cheap). I am in inclined to just shoot it and not worry since a lot of people say you couldn't tell the difference and I am not after match accuracy after all. If you don't mind give me your routine for breaking in your AR and the reasoning behind it. I thank you in advance. There's always option B and just leave it unfired (I know there's a thread about unfired value) and stuck back in the safe.........nope, got to fire this)


Jim

 

[timbgtm]

I follow NWS on this.Bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,bang,and on all my AR's from Daniel Defense,stag,Colt,Bushmaster,Dpms,Sota arms.W/O any issues.

 

[maxpaynya]

^x2. With current metallurgy and tooling practices, choot it.

- - - Updated - - -

^x2. With current metallurgy and tooling practices, choot it.

 

[jcountry]

"Unfired" is a myth. There is really no accurate way of telling whether most guns were only test fired at the factory, and never fired by their current owner, or had a couple hundred rounds through them. (Al modern guns I know of are at least test-fired.) Clean one up real good, and it will look unfired.

I think many people tend to forget that they are selling USED guns. I really don't care whether something has been fired very little or "unfired" as folks like to say. It is a used item, and should be worth less.

The only time "unfired" would ever seem to matter would be with a gun with serious high-end collector value. If you are going to spend 25K on an "unfired" Luger, I would bet some expert could actually verify that. (Of course, that kind of authetication ain't free.) For your average $600 used Glock, I doubt "unfired" would add any value. I know it doesn't in my book.

I think it would be much less shady to use the term "like new" rather than "unfired." We all know that isn't technically accurate.

-People tend to confuse gun collecting with coin collecting. With the exception of extremely rare stuff like that Luger, they are not at all similar. I doubt any modern guns are made in small enough numbers to ever be truly collectible. (now-if the "assault weapons" ban comes back, the value will jump up, but that has very little to do with collector's value.)

(I know a guy who has saved his pre-ban Colt Ar from 1994, and has never fired it, thinking it will be worth a fortune one day. Not likely. Especially with something like an AR. That thing has collected dust for nearly 20 years, and I doubt it is now worth 70% of what he paid.....) Guns are made for shootin'! IMHO.

 

[jcountry]

But, to answer your question....

From DPMS:

9. What is your break in process?
We recommend cleaning the bore after every round for the frist 25 rounds, and then clean bore after ten rounds for the next 100 rounds. We recommended using a plastic or delrin style cleaning rod, or a cable cleaning system, but not a bore snake for break in of the barrel, use either CLP or a solvent.

-I doubt it matters, though. Not anything critical for an AR, like it could be for a bench rifle or some such. I would just shoot and enjoy!

 

[Chuckdog]

If it's chrome lined, I don't worry about a break-in procedure. Chrome lining is just that, a hard chrome applied to the barrel after it's rifled. It is what it is.

If you think about, a chromed line barrel is marketed for a long durable service life under the harshest conditions. You don't find any true match rifles that are made over sized then lined to get as close as possible to obtain good accuracy from the caliber of choice.

Chrome Moly and most stainless barrels are also very hard today, but not like a lined one. I always thoroughly clean any new firearm before firing. Most of the time with an AR I shoot 3 rounds slow fire. Clean with an Otis pull through, and repeat. I do this for about the first 25 to 30 rounds. That's it.

More barrel/accuracy degradation is done by improper cleaning and super heating than anything else I know of now.

 

[brittthomas]

Go out and shoot it. Clean it when you get done.

Don't worry about cleaning after every x amount of shots, that's a waste of time. You need to be wasting ammo.

 

[Hayata]

Clean it, lube it, and shoot it. From the research I've done best I could tell is that it's unnecessary. I could not find any data to support either side.

But if you want warm fuzzy feelings, follow a regiment. Can't hurt.

 

[mtdawg169]

For an AR, especially a DPMS, no break in is necessary. Clean it, apply lubrication and shoot it. The only exception would be for a stainless barreled rifle geared towards precision shooting.

 

[Stringbender]

Thanks for all of your input guys, its been a long time since I had a rifle so I need to upgrade my cleaning supplies. I think that I shall "waste" several hundred rounds this weekend and I will report back on how she did. I am not all about accuracy, since this is just a toy and I am not going to hunt with it.I just didn't want to believe I was going to have to clean this after every shot for the first 25 like the manual said,lol. Thanks again!