I've probably read about 100 threads about barrel break in and there is one thing that I have NEVER heard defined. That is what constitutes a barrel that is broken in. In this thread we have had posters share their methodology but no one ever says that if X happens then the barrel is officially broken in. Shoot one, clean, shoot another one, clean, shoot three, clean doesn't tell me chit about what's going on inside the barrel. I've broken in a bunch over the last 45 years and my definition is that when a barrel quits copper fouling heavily on every shot it is "broken in". My exposure is mostly with BR quality barrels from most of the top shops in barrel making and I've had barrels that broke in with one shot and never fouled much again and I seen some that continued to foul for nearly 100 shots. I gave up on the 100 shot wonder barrel and vowed to burn that SOB to the ground in a P-dog town. It broke in and stopped fouling some where north of 100 shots. I've had only one premium quality barrel that never broke in and continued to foul and never quit. It was a Hart that in my view was too smooth. Many other barrels broke in in a more typical 5 to 10 shots. If I apply my definition across the board I contend that the majority of factory barrels NEVER break in because they continue to foul their entire lives. It is therefore a total waste of time, effort and money to even attempt to break them in. Load em up and shoot em is about as good as it gets.
