I know the first thing that needs to be done is a thorough cleaning of the barrel and any other excessive oil or dirt. The question is after that how many shots to break in a new gun before testing for accuracy? Ive heard mention of breaking in the regulator and seasoning the barrel with the pellets I want to use but how do I know when its broken in and at it's peak? Ive seen chronograph charts of brand new guns that people review with regulators and there all over the place and if you find a chart of an older one it seems like it settled down quite a bit.
Breaking in new rifle.
- Thread starter Lee250
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I dont know what gun you have. Some companies put a little too much oil in the reg and others have stronger springs and what not. It really depends on the rifle and the reg and how it was put together. However. If i were you id put 2 tins through it and check it out.
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I'm currently breaking in my new TX200 HC in .22. The accuracy to begin with was terrible. That was to be expected. I started off shooting Crosman pellets that were lubed For no other reason than because that's what I had. After about 100 of those I switched to JSB Exacts. After about 250 of those the accuracy started to really come around. Now I'm able to hit an inch & 1/2 spinner at 55 yards even with the Crosmans almost every shot. I'm at least 500 rounds into the break-in. The last rifle I broke-in was also a TX200 Standard .177. It too took at least 500 rounds before it's accuracy was in every shot. SO for me that's my answer. I would watch the groups to see when they come around but count on lots of rounds to break it in. I must say changing up the ammo seemed to really help. The more verity the better maybe. Going from non lubed to lubed and back several times may have helped too but not sure on that one. Good Luck!
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I didnt receive the gun yet it should be in the mail tomorrow. I ended up ordering an ATI nova liberty. I figured it had to do with the regulator spring and other internals wearing in. Luckily we didnt order a scope yet so we can play with it wasting pellets with the iron sights it comes with until the scope gets here and it should be ready then. Thanks. 
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Lee, clean the snot out of barrel with a bronze brush before pulling patches. Whatever they use to coat their barrels to make the trip on the slow boat over here is nasty stuff to get out. Only took about 100 pellets to come around on mine. But the regs are creepy and take awhile to settle in.
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Ive heard about that stuff they put in the barrels. I plan to clean that good and I was even thinking of polishing it up a bit with some JB bore paste I have from my powder burners. I was going to take the barrel out and clean it real good to keep anything from falling down inside and drill out the transfer port on the barrel while in at it. After watching the videos from air velocity sport he said thats the bottleneck on these and that will pretty much give free velocity without using more air and changing shot count.
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I know nothing about that specific rifle, but I would suggest you do less at first, especially forego anything that will void a warranty. Sometimes that extra free velocity is exactly what you don't need! See what the chrono tells you. If it's in a sweet spot, why speed it up? Pull through a few patches with Ballistol or something similar, then take a look with a good light. If there is something left that needs more aggressive cleaning, it will show.
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I would, clean it good and then shoot pellets. Continue to clean often as the rifle breaks in. Be careful with brushes. I use a stiff nylon brush and do so very infrequently. Use whatever cleaner you like during break in but remember the barrel has to be re seasoned after using a solvent cleaner....usually 15 shots. You might hold off the bore paste and polishing for now. Shooting will do a lot of the polishing for you.
I have heard anywhere from 200-1000 shots for break in so I think a couple of tins would do it.
After break in, don't overlook trying different pellets. You will see the biggest accuracy differences with pellet brands than anything else. H&N and JSB are my two favorites. The H&N work great in my Diana model 52 springer and the JSB's are best in my PCP's.
Hope that helps
KP
I have heard anywhere from 200-1000 shots for break in so I think a couple of tins would do it.
After break in, don't overlook trying different pellets. You will see the biggest accuracy differences with pellet brands than anything else. H&N and JSB are my two favorites. The H&N work great in my Diana model 52 springer and the JSB's are best in my PCP's.
Hope that helps
KP
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