Seasoning the barrel

[Greg D]

What do I need to do to season a barrel in a new gun? I am assuming this is similiar to seasoning a cast iron fry pan.

 

[Rebel]

You don't. Just clean it good to get the factory grease out, lube it and shoot it and clean it again. No barrel seasoning, it is an old wives tale from way back with they had barrels made of different materials and Old wives. :grin:

 

[Slamfire]

If y'all got an old porous barrel you kin season it, but with modern steels it don't work. :v

 

[cowpoke1955]

Barrel seasoning was done back when the barrels were made of iron. It is not required with barrels made of modern steel. Just keep them clean and oiled.

 

[bwhoffman]

what the others have stated holds true.
being a new gun, it will probly take a 100 to 150 shots to "break in"the barrel. by that I mean smooth out the sharp edges and any micro tooling marks and such. keep it clean and oiled after cleaning and break that smokepole in!

 

[Greg D]

Thanks to all! The gun is a modern one, and the book that came with it said it needed up to 200 rounds through it to settle. I thought this might have been the same as seasoning.

 

Yep, the colsest thing to seasoning a barrel really only applies thes days to metalic high power shooters and the process of "fire-lapping" a bore. I have done it on varmit rifles and to tell you the truth (I would not tell you otherwise) I have no clue as if it makes any differeence - but it is a fun sort of exercise. I am digressing into a diferent shooting discipline and will shut up right now. :winking:

 

[Slake]

make sure it's clean and then go load and shoot it many times, pay attention to where your balls are hitting the target and make the necessary corrctions to your sights...clean it....then go load it up and shoot it some more..clean it..shoot it...clean it shoot it....thus tis seasoned

 

[mbw907]

I pack my new barrels full of bacon, and then bake them in the oven at 375 until they are ready to eat. No. wait a minute, that was a recipe for something else. Anyhow, enjoy your rifle and take good care of it and it will be just fine. :thumbsup:

 

[Dave K]

You may want to try some of the special seasoning spices. I am sorry, I couldn't help it.

 

[Blizzard of '93]

If you wish to 'lap' the barrel get a 3M ultrafine hand pad and cut a small peice that will fit on your cleaning jag and do the in-out on the bore until you get thirsty. then clean and dry well and use your choice of lube/oil to preserve.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I agree with rebel: You don't season a steel anything.

Seasoning is something done with iron impliments, such as cast iron frying pans. You burn oil or grease into the surface to fill the pores.

Before the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century gave us reliable steels, all barrels were made of one form of iron or another. As a kid, I was shown a iron barrel squirrel rifle that was so soft, you could literally mark the barrel with your fingernail. The barrel on that rifle was about 3 inches cross, 3 feet, long, with a bore of about .32 caliber. I wish I had that gun today, so It could be restored. It would be a kick to shoot it. It weighed more than 30 lbs!

Since the American Civil War, barrels have been pretty well made of steels, and not iron. People will read an old history of colonial times, where they talk about seasoning a barrel, and all of a sudden, they have " discovered " an old " secret " for making a gun shoot better. It just won't happen in a steel barrel.

I once talked Homer Dangler into having one of his barrels Chrome plated, to see if it would improve accuracy, or cleaning, or anything. He reported that there was no measureable improvement in accuracy, but the gun was sure easy to clean! Nothing seemed to " stick " to the inside of that barrel. ( Chrome plating fills the pores of the steel with Chromium, and trace alloys, preventing powder residue from sticking to the barrel. You still get crud, but a slightly dampened patch( with spit in good weather, alcohol in below freezing conditions) is all that's need to clean out the barrel. A chrome barrel may be one where all you need will be a good lubed patch around the next bore to keep the gun " one shot dirty ", in most weather conditions.

 

[Dickert54cal]

Dont have time to read all post so pardon me if I repeat---Your gun barrel is made of steel most likely...not cast iron, am I right---I fell for that ol tale as well---two different metals. :hatsoff:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

That seasoning method came about due to ads for some sort of patch/slug lube. I tryed it myself when I used animal fat for patch lube and never could tell that anything like that occured. I use Go-Jo white hand cleaner now. It's the best I've found after using maybe 8-10 different types of lube.

 

[paulvallandigham]

If the source of this old myth is from some advertisement, it just shows you the depth of depravity that advertisers will sink to in order to sell their snake oil. DON'T GET YOUR INFORMATION ON ML GUNS FROM SALESMEN. You should not need a guide dog to realize that sales people have a vested interest in telling you anything that will get you to buy their product. This applies to written ads, and to the clerks in gun stores, particularly to those pimply- faced kids that work in Discount stores. They are lucky enough of they can find a key to open the gun case to sell you a gun! Why would you listen to anything they tell you about a gun of any kind? Now, if you know that the man behind the counter is an experienced shooter, because he shoots at your club, then listen to what he has to say. We have a small gunstore left here in the county that is owned and operated by a man who is an excellent shotgun shooter. He knows some about rifles, and much less about handguns. He knows almost nothing about ML guns. And he doesn't care to learn. His plate is full. But, he is fairly honest about his limitations, and he has friends he can call to get answers for customers, if they really want an answer.

 

[Tumblernotch]

And even if one is shooting an old rifle with an iron barrel he doesn't need to "season" it. There is a world of difference between a wrought iron barrel and a cast iron skillet. And I sure hope nobody's out there shooting a rifle with a cast iron barrel!

You may need to remove burrs from a newly cut barrel, whether steel or iron and that's about it. Some goomer wanting to sell their "snake oil" to inexperienced shooters has really got a good scam going.