[Gojubrian]

The Kimber manual says the pistol has a break-in period of 400-500rds of .45acp full metal jackets.
At $35 per 100rds that's $175 plus range costs.

I was wondering, could you just load the magazine and rack the slide over and over then repeat til' you get the proper break-in period?

Maybe there is much more to it than this, but I thought the break-in period was to get the slide and frame fit properly fitted and worn to eachother?

[skullcrusher]

Where are you finding .45 ACP fmj for $35 per 100?

I believe barrel conditioning is part of 'break-in' but I may be wrong. I wanna know for sure as well.

[Gojubrian]

I happened upon them at wally world, bought them all up.

[Dillinger]

Goju, while your idea is inventive, it doesn't address the whole situation. Not only are you "breaking in" the action and making sure it will pull rounds out of a magazine and feed them correctly.

You are also adding some preliminary wear to the throat and to the lands and grooves of the barrel. During the manufacturing process on a production run gun, there can be microscopic burs and edges and divots on all surfaces, including a feed ramp.

Now personally, if this is a carry gun, you need to make sure it feeds and fires your self defense rounds. Feeding it all the range ammo, or ball ammo, in the world is not going to tell you a damn thing.

If you are not planning on carrying this for a self defense weapon, then you need to make sure it will feed the ammo you are going to shoot.

I have had three Kimbers. I still own (2) of them. I started carrying my Raptor II after one range session where I fired two boxes of my chosen self defense rounds with multiple magazines. The weapon put rounds in the black with zero failures of any function. I was that confident in the weapons' fit, function and performance.

I have never subscribed to this whole "Interwebz 1911 break in" period, but I look at a weapon in a much different light. If the damn thing doesn't feed, or can't hit the target, I am going to figure out why and MAKE it perform.

I have never had to do that with ANY 1911 I have ever purchased, and my current total is 7 from two manufacturers.

Your experience may vary, but I don't believe that you need to burn "X" amount of ammo through a weapon just to make the damn thing work right.

JD

[canebrake]

+1 JD

Brake-in is subjective and depends on what you intend to do with the gun.

I tend to look at most of my guns as PD tools and could care less how many rounds are sent down range.

I start shooting different defensive ammo to find which works best. Once I find the brand I start counting. I will not carry the 'tool' until I have 200 rounds fired with zero issues.

Is this expensive? Yes, but I deserve it!

[skullcrusher]

Originally Posted by canebrake

Is this expensive? Yes, but I deserve it!

And you are worth it. Do you use Pantene?

[Gojubrian]

J.D.,

That's very insightful, thanks!

[NGIB]

The only one I ever owned that really needed a break in was my Dan Wesson Pointman. It was just way to tight out of the box and needed about 500 rounds to wear in properly...

[spittinfire]

The only changes I saw in my Kimber as I shot it more were little things....slide release wasn't a stiff, mag springs loosened a little, things you would expect. The pistol was always accurate, always fired and was always a pleasure to shoot. My Kimber will eat HSTs as fast as I can pull the trigger.
Go shoot the thing and have fun!

[NGIB]

Originally Posted by spittinfire

Go shoot the thing and have fun!

Spitty nailed this one. Nothing wrong with questions but at some point just buy one and shoot the hell out of it...