breaking-in new Anschutz barrel

[Albert B]

2 Days ago a shooting friend of mine aquired a second-hand Anschutz 2013 (wooden stock). It was originally fitted with a short barrel and bloop tube, but my friend had the barrel replaced by a brand new (standard length) long barrel. The arms dealer fitted the new barrel and fired one or two shots to test the system.
When my friend arrived at the shooting range we cleaned the barrel thoroughly with wet, dry patches and copper brush.
Then we started the break-in procedure used for centerfire rifles:
1) 10 shots, cleaning after every shot with wet and dry patches.
2) 4x 5 shot strings, cleaning after every 5 shots with wet and dry patches.
3) 2x 10 shot strings, cleaning after every 10 shots.
The very first shot produced a lot of very black and gritty fouling that was full of tiny lead particles. After aprox. 8 shots the lead particles disappeared and the dirt became much less, being replaced by a grey-ish fouling from the burned powder. After aprox. 25 shots fowling became much less, the sound of the shots became more consistent and traces of brown-ish grease from the production process of the barrel started to appear on the patches, disappearing again after aprox. 10 shots.
After 50 shots the fowling of 10 shots was much less then the fouling of the first and second shot and the patches slid through the barrel easily.
I was astonished to find that even a brand new Anschutz barrel needs a breaking-in procedure and that the inside of the barrel produced a lot of lead particles – much more than I had expected.
Our next step is to check accuracy and find a good torque setting.

Has anyone had the same experience? Any comments on our actions greatly appreciated.

Albert
(The Netherlands)

[James Hurr]

Very interesting. I'm not an expert but:

Bear in mind the procedure for breaking in a centrefire rifle with high velocity jacketed ammunition and that for low velocity lubricated lead bullets is completely different.

Remember also its very easy to wear out a .22 barrel by cleaning, esp with dry patches which are quite abrasive.

Your process may have helped to polish the bore a bit, but really I think a .22 barrel should not require this if made properly.

[Steve Swartz]

Agree wholeheartedly with James.

Assuming that you are accurately assessing and reporting what you saw, quality at Anschutz has slipped tremendously.

You are saying that the replacement barrel was an Anschutz barrel, right?

Steve Swartz

[Albert B]

Yes, as far as we know the barrel came straight from the Anschutz factory and was fitted to the rifle by the arms dealer. The inside of the barrel looked just as shiny blued as the outside. After some shots the surface of the bore become dull.
Reading several reports by US barrel makers like Lilja, break-in procedure should not be neccesary, but then lead shavings may not occur. We experienced a lot of lead particles during the first shots. (ammo was Eley pistol match).
My main concern is: did we ruin the bore or not?

Albert

[Albert B]

I contacted Dan Lilja by email and just now received the following answer:
"
Hi Albert,

I'm sure you haven't done any harm to the barrel.
"

I Guess I did ok.

Albert

[JONNO]

Out of curiosity, how much does a replacement Anschütz barrel cost?

jonno

[Albert B]

I have no idea. The 2013 is 8 years old and my friend bought it for aprox. 800 euro's having the barrel replaced included in the price. It is a left-handed model. They sell very poorly especially with the original short barrel with bloop tube.

Albert
(The Netherlands)

[Albert B]

Yesterday we tuned the rifle, determining the correct torque for the 4 bolts connecting action to the shaft. We used Lapua Super Club and a selfmade frontrest, shooting prone with the normal sights at 50m. We varried the torque between 4.5 and 5.25Nm in steps of 0.125Nm. Best results were at 5Nm (factory settings and recommended by Anschutz) and after that all 5-shot groups hit inside the 10-ring.

Albert
(The Netherlands)