What's the proper way to break in a brand new pistol?

[Oklahomie]

Shoot the pants off of it, then shoot the socks off.

 

[Cold Dead Hands]

By clean we mean stick it in the dishwasher.

Kidding! That's only for Glocks!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus that ate your iPhone.

A frickin packin comedian! Lol!

 

[deadeye]

First get a second job so you can afford to take it out and shoot it.
Second shoot it.
Third clean it and put it away.
fourth wait for pay day so you can afford some more ammo.
fifth leave it where it is until you can find ammo.

REPEAT.

 

[Cold Dead Hands]

First get a second job so you can afford to take it out and shoot it.
Second shoot it.
Third clean it and put it away.
fourth wait for pay day so you can afford some more ammo.
fifth leave it where it is until you can find ammo.

REPEAT.

Finding ammo... Exactly!

 

[CLT65]

I think the break in thing is not really necessary too. I think the idea is to shoot a bunch to make sure it was made right and has no defects or burrs that cause problems. A quality gun shouldn't need broken in, in my opinion.

Kahr says 200 rds with no failure.

This is funny, because a friend bought a new Kahr a few years ago for his wife. He was really busy so he asked if I would go to the range with her and teach her how to shoot it. He bought a couple hundred rounds to "break it in" as per the instructions.

The darn thing jammed. It jammed for her a lot. It jammed when I shot it. I knew something must be wrong, but he called the gun shop and they said "No, that's normal. Just shoot more ammo to break it in and that will stop". BS. I think they wasted a hundred bucks worth of ammo when they had me take another look at it. The extractor had way too much tension, causing the jams. I called Kahr, told them the problem. They told me to send it in and they would fix it. I told the Kahr rep that I was pretty sure I could fix it easily myself (avoiding the expense, hassle, and delay of returning it), but didn't want to effect the warranty. No problem, he said. If my fix didn't work they could send me a new extractor, or send it in then. I fixed it and it worked perfectly.

That's why I think break in periods are mostly a joke. About all they're good for is finding manufacturing defects. But that's just my humble opinion.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Yep, treat it like you're dating, once or twice a week spend allot of money on food & drink (ammo & cleaning supplies) an show it a really good time by doing it allot!!!

 

[jimwest]

FYI, few people know this but your accuracy is affected every time you pose with it in front of a mirror

 

[civilian75]

On centerfire handguns, and unless otherwise indicated by manufacturer, you can also help break in the trigger by dry firing it. I've done extensive dry firing on all my new and even the used Sigs. It helped a lot.

 

[Rotty]

On centerfire handguns, and unless otherwise indicated by manufacturer, you can also help break in the trigger by dry firing it. I've done extensive dry firing on all my new and even the used Sigs. It helped a lot.

Hopefully you're using Snap Caps (dummy rounds) to prevent any damage to handgun.

 

[Misterbill]

Break-in is needed on lots of pistols in my experience, some more than others. 2-300 rounds down range has a way of wearing off small imperfections in the mate of slide to frame and other moving parts that can cause a jam or FTE.

I've had a couple of guns that were great shooters that were finicky for the first 200 rounds or so. My XD .40 was one of them. Not a single jam or FTE in thousands upon thousands of rounds, but it gave me quite a few in the first 200 rounds or so.

 

[Cold Dead Hands]

So, to sum this up: date it, love it, shoot it, clean it. Thanks, fellas.

 

[Bob D]

The whole "break-in" concept of shoot X number of rounds, clean, shoot X number of rounds, clean...etc is bogus. Just lubricate and shot. I use high temp lithium bearing grease over oil ($5 at Wal-Mart); grease stays put while oil runs away. I do not clean every time I shoot it is not necessary but then I don't own safe queens.

I clean my firearms more often than I shoot them.

 

[Kid@Heart]

It is funny in a way. Pistols seem to like being used.

If you shoot your new pistol a lot, it will get more and more accurate.

Okay, might not be the gun that gets better...

 

[deen_ad]

On centerfire handguns, and unless otherwise indicated by manufacturer, you can also help break in the trigger by dry firing it. I've done extensive dry firing on all my new and even the used Sigs. It helped a lot.

The last Kimber I bought was the counter one, it's really smooth too. Never worried about it being dry fired probably dozens, (maybe hundreds) of times before I got it.

 

[Natty Bumpo]

You should definitely field strip and clean prior to shooting.

Then you shoot it as if "someone else were buying your ammunition". Another image to remember might be "shoot it like you would if you stole it".

After a few hundred rounds, another stripping and cleaning is probably in order. After that, its really up to you as to how often you wish to clean.