[Trajan82]

People talk a lot about a gun needing to be broken in. Most set the bar at around 500 rounds. I think this is probably an arbitrary number and that it depends more on the individual gun, but what do yall think? What is the approriate number of rounds before you consider a gun broken in, or do they even need to be broken in at all?

I have put 400 rounds through my PT1911 so far and have not had any problems, but it took about 300 rounds before my CZ-75 started to come into its own.

What about ammo for breaking in? When I start the process of "breaking in" I like to give the gun a variety of makers. The above mentioned 400 rounds have been a mix of WWB, Monarch, R-P, and Blazer. It has handled all pretty well.

 

[Bezoar]

Well then theres a good chance of the gun being broken in i guess. But i thought breaking in meant that it fed various ammos well, and that the parts that come off barrel and slide assembly and retaining pins go in and out without need of a hammer or mallet.

 

[Cimarron]

Some guns arrive "rough" from manufacture... a couple of hundred rounds kind of smooths the edges and makes the gun run better. Some like the Kel-Tel will tell you to put a couple of hundred rounds through the gun before you send it in for complaints and repair. Actually most guns will run better, trigger smoother after shooting.

However, if you don't have problems out of the box, then know that your gun was designed and manufacturered well. Every gun should function like that, but the idea of "breaking in" a gun is an acknowledgement to some of them aren't!

I haven't heard of any of the PT1911's having to be broken in... they shoot right out of the box with everything you stuff into them.

 

[Steelheart]

I give mine the traditional 200rd test. But I realize that its more me being comfortable with trusting the gun than it needing the initial run.

Steelheart

 

[Mack1911]

I have over 3000 rounds through mine and it just keeps getting better.
Have used as many kinds of ammo that I can find with no problem.
It was still tight after about 500 rounds but more accurate now, or maybe
I'm just getting better. I had to get used to the Heinie sights, but really
like them now.

 

[Pierce]

300 to 500 rounds is the general rule of thumb, from what I understand. It is during that time you are going to uncover a large problem with the gun, if there is one. Also, I noticed on my PT1911 that the trigger seemed to get lighter pull... that could be just that I was getting used to it, too. Which raises another point... the shooter gets "broken into" a new pistol the first few hundred rounds just as much as the gun gets "broken in".