How to break in a new gun?

For a custom made match rifle, break in is very important. It's not as critical to a typical hunting rifle, but I would recommend thorough cleaning after every round for the first 5 to 10 rounds and after every 5 rounds for the first hundred rounds. The barrel rifling will still be rough when it's brand new, and you don't want copper building up in the imperfections left from the manufacturing process. It does take a little while to smooth out those imperfection.

Here is what Savage recommends: http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/proceduresbarre...

imo its not critical .. cleaning it very well before first use is always a good idea. I think the bottom line is some barrel makes are better than others period .. on a high-end gun i wouldnt do anything to it but shoot it and clean it carefully .. on a cheap gun what i personally do is lap the barrel a few strokes with a brush and happich semichrome polish and that tends to smooth it up, prevents fouling so easy, and improves accuracy usually .. as far as the rest of the action, i'll moly anything that looks like its prone to gall ..

You do not have to break in your barrel.

1. Clean the gun.

2. Go shoot.

3. Repeat No. 1 & 2.

That's all. Excessive cleaning can be as hard on the bore as shooting it. When in doubt, call the manufacturer and ask them.

The only thing you need to do too a new gun is make sure all grease is cleaned and you have the right ammo. The more you shoot a gun the more the barrel is worn and the worse it shoot. A cleanbarrell out of the box will shoot best. That is why people that shoot a lot will changebarrelss about every 1000 rounds.

Clean and lubricate it before going to range.

Continue to apply oil when you first take it to the range, as you use it..

Other than that, it's like breaking in a freshly rebuilt 1971 Yamaha 2 stroke motorcycle. Put 2 people on it and take it down the freeway at 80 mph. How machines are broken in is how they want to live. Train them right by stressing them.