BPCR Rifle break in

[dakota]

My Creedmore finally arrived.
The break in procedure according to Badger is:
BREAK-IN PROCEDURE FOR BARRELS-Jacked bullets

For the first ten shots we recommend, if possible, using jacketed bullets with a nitro powder load. Clean the oil out of the barrel before each shot using something as simple as Windex which will soak the oil out of the pores. After firing each bullet use a good copper cleaner (one with ammonia) to remove the copper fouling from the barrel. We do not recommend anything with an abrasive in it since you are trying to seal the barrel, not keep it agitated.

After cleaning with bore cleaner, clean with Windex after each shot. Use Windex because many bore cleaner use a petroleum base which you want to remove before firing the next shot. This will keep the carbon from building up in the barrel (oil left in the pores, when burned, turns to carbon).

To keep the temperature cool in the barrel, wait at least 5 minutes between break-in shots. The barrel must remain cool during the break-in procedure. If the barrel is allowed to heat up during the break-in, it will destroy the steel's ability to develop a home registration point, or memory. It will have a tendency to make the barrel "walk" when it heats up in the future. I am sure we all have seen barrels that, as they heat up, start to shoot high and then "walk" to the right. This was caused by improperly breaking in the barrel (generally by sitting at a bench rest and shooting 20 rounds in 5 minutes or so). Then, for the rest of the guns life the man complains that barrel is no good. If you take a little time in the beginning and do it right, you will be much more pleased with the barrel in the future.

If you look into the end of the barrel after firing a shot, you will see a light copper-colored wash in the barrel. Remove this before firing the next shot. Somewhere in the procedure, around shot 6 or 7, it will be obvious that the copper color is no longer appearing in the barrel. Continue applications through shot 10.

If you have any ammunitions left, you then may shoot 2 rounds and clean it for the next 10 shots. this is simply insuring that the burnishing process has been completed.

IN theory you are closing the pores of the barrel metal which have been opened and exposed through the cutting and hand lapping procedures.

BREAK-IN PROCEDURE FOR BARRELS-Lead bullets

The same shooting-cleaning process may be used when firing lead bullets and black powder with this exception: shoot 2 bullets, then clean for the first 30 rounds. Naturally, you will use a cleaner appropriate for black powder. You can also use harder lead if available to accelerate the break in. This will accomplish the same as the jacketed bullets.

It may take 80 to 100 rounds to break in with lead. That is why we recommend using jacketed bullets when possible. After this procedure, your barrel's interior surface will be sealed and should shoot cleaner and develop less fouling for the rest of its shooting life.

[Bill]

I sure wish I had found one of those rifles before I bought my Pedersolie Sharps Match rifle Dakota. A buddie of mine has one and that sucker can SHOOT. So can the owner but man that rifle shoots nice. Congrats you got a winner there.

[dakota]

Hey, got to thinking. My Rockchucker is probably too short and I have not bought a bench mounted press in a long time. What is the best press for those long cases?

[Bill]

Thats also the reason I looked at the Forester co-ax press Dakota. ;D

[dakota]

interesting link

www.trackofthewolf.com/(S(t0sx4o45spmnch45xtsq2x55))/index.aspx

[Jack]

There is now a new model of the Rockchucker that is made for longer cases. I think it's the Super Rockchucker.

[dakota]

Thanks I looked at Midways' after your response.
RCBS AmmoMaster 2 Single Stage Press (good for 6 3/4 at $217)
and
RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Press (good for 4" at $108)

I believe the 45-90 is 2.4 inch and I plan on loading a long heavy cast bullet but probably not 1.6"

Thanks for getting me in the right direction.

[dakota]

Pedersoli barrel break-in recommendations


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With muzzle loading rifles shooting patched round balls, some shooters like to remove the sharp edges on land tops because these tend to cut tight fitting patches.

ML grooves are usually cut much deeper than on ctg rifles so making land tops a bit less sharp cornered works OK since the patch material goes pretty deep into those grooves anyhow.

But... with breech loaded ctg. rifles we use only .004" groove depth and want the obturated lead bullet to be as near perfect a fit as possible so prevent gas pressure leaking around the moving rotating bullet.

As such a BPCR barrel wears (from cleaning patches, dirty rods, wrong type of rod material, bullet wear and flame erosion) the barrel loses some of the accuracy it had when those lands had brand new sharp corners.

In the old days, a new barrel with sharp land edges was said to have "Gilt Edge" accuracy. The term came from the paper stock and bond certificates issued by the very strongest companies which had gold leaf (looking) edging called Gilt Edge. If you bought stock in a gilt edge company you were buying the best stock (or so they wanted you to believe.)

Anyhow, when a once accurate barrel lost some accuracy it was commonly sent back to the maker to have it "refreshed", which meant that it was re-rifled a few thousandths larger and the sharp land edges were restored. A new, larger mould was sometimes provided by the barrel maker when this refreshing was done. Now the owner would say his "Gilt Edge was restored.

Today, we make replica BPCR with barrels having much tougher steel which could be said to have virtually zero wear...when used with BP and lead bullets. Many shooters using BP and lead can report over 10,000 rounds fired and the barrel retains original accuracy. One of my own Pedersoli Sharps in 45-70 has a bit over 10K shots through it and another has over 5K shots, with both having original accuracy today.

Smokeless powder loads and copper jacketed bullets do wear barrels in the throat and leade regions to an extent NOT seen when BP and lead bullets are used.

Depending upon the method of rifling used by some barrel makers, there could be some land tops having sharp thin fuzz or whiskers of steel still attached to the corners of the land tops. These are somewhat irregular and if profuse, have a poor affect on that barrel's accuracy until they are worn off or removed in some manner. If they are removed by the normal shooting of lead bullets and the action of cleaning patches, the lands are left with clean sharp edges and accuracy is at it's Gilt Edge best.

In the case of Pedersoli barrels...we finish all BPCR barrels with a process that imparts the tiny taper to the rifling (from breech to muzzle) and at the same time, removes the little wire fuzz or whisker from each land top.

As a result, we do not require ANY sort of special time taking and expensive "break-in" shooting with jacketed bullets. With a new Pedersoli rifle, just clean the barrel well to removed shipping grease and then commence shooting in a normal manner.

The use of abrasive pastes or lapping mixtures that cut steel should be avoided. The firing of grit coated bullets is also never to be done as it quickly ruins the original sharp edges on the lands. This process has helped certain rusted or damaged barrels to shoot better but is dangerous and harmful with a nice new barrel or a used one that is in good condition.

If a barrel has become badly leaded...fix the cause of that problem so it will not happen again.

The optimum method to remove copper or lead from any barrel is by "unplating" the metal by use of the Outers Foul-Out unplating device which will not attack or harm barrel steel and only acts on the offending fouling metal. The other methods is to use are suitable solvents on tight patches, worked over several days carefully and alternated with a "bronze brush" to help loosen the fouling metal.

It is also OK to use JB Bore Cleaning Compound, which quickly scrubs out stubborn lead or copper while not removing precious steel edges. This JB product is used by most bench rest shooters to get all the copper out and it works the same way on lead. I hope these comments prove of use to you.

For Davide Pedersoli & Co.
Dick Trenk