Barrel Break In
Some say it is necessary and like breaking in an Engine. Others will tell you it is not needed.
This is the majoriy view that I have found:
1) Breaking in a chrome lined barrel is not really necessary, but it can't hurt it.
2) Stainless Steel barrels need to be properly broken in. It has to properly cleaned and go through a certain amount of heat cycles for optimization. By taking the time to clean your barrel, you are also allowing it time to properly cool down.
Armalites and Knesek Arms Break-in-procedure (110 rounds):
1) Clean barrel every round for the first 10 rounds
2) For the next 20 rounds clean barrel every 2 rounds.
3) For the next 30 rounds clean barrel every 3 rounds.
4) For the next 50 rounds clean barrel every 5 rounds.
When they say "clean", I assumed they probably meant "clean", so each cleaning I used 1 wet patch and 3-4 dry patches to follow... If you add it up that's 200 patches before it was all said and done!
As you can see the Knesek Arms break in method is really intense and time consuming. It took me 3 hours, but also the guy next to me did not help either, he was not shooting and was there for half of the time and talked my ear off (This is guy C below)... but it was cool, while I was breaking in we would share reload data and talk about guns in general

so he helped passed time quickly.
My new AR-10 SASS barrel is stainless steel so I figured I might as well play it safe. Also since this is a SASS weapon and probably will be shot from a prone bipod supported position most of the time, so I figured I might as well do the Knesek break in method to guarantee one shot kills

But this method was very painful! Only time will tell if this method really helped and if the time, patches, and hoppes #9 spent was worth it. We will see.
Copper bore brushes:
I come from the school of no copper brushes. I don't see the point of jamming copper bristles to clean. Yeah I know they are soft and will bend but if you were to use these same brushes on a hard metal surface, you will actually some slight wear marks on the surface. You have to figure it is doing the same to your barrel.
I heard from a lot of match shooters to stay away from copper brushes for Stainless barrels as these barrels don't like them. Chrome lined barrels are another story though, and most likely they will not be an issue. But for me I rarely use copper brushes, even if the barrel is chome lined... probaby every 1000 rounds or so. In between those 1000 I feel that Hoppes' #9 and a lot of patches are enough. I also might use bore foam every once in while if I feel Hoppes is not getting the job done.
I prefer a solid one peice cleaning rod. I stay away from the multi piece rods as I have this phobia that the jagged edges of the joints might some how gouge the barrel... so I use the one piece rod more for my own peice of mind. When I don't bring along a rod, I carry a bore snake as they are very convenient and easy to carry and work great for quick cleaning.
Run it wet:
I always run my guns wet, but for the first 300 rounds or so, I run them extra wet. I take out the BCG and put 4 drops of lube in every hole, libereally coat the top and bottom of the Charging handle, and liberally coat the entire outer surface of the BCG. Synthetic Motor Oil is my favorite lube because it is available everywhere, it is cheap, and it does not dry up easily. Even during break in, my guns run flawless when they are wet.
These are the break in methods I have heard, none are official in any way or form but they all seem to work:
Method from guy A (the one I follow because I am lazy): Clean barrel every 5 rounds for the first 20 rounds, and thats it. My chrome line Noveske was broken in this way and gets sub-moa when I use FGMM ammo. I follow the school of "no break in necessary for chrome lined barrels" because 1) it is a combat weapon that will be shot off hand most of the time anyway and 2) chrome lining is very hard and I can't see how it would be deformed by not cleaning the gunk from the barrel during break in.
Method from guy B: My Stainless Steel M1A was bought used from a guy who claimed to have broken it in this way: clean the barrel after every round for the first 3 rounds, then every 5 rounds for the next 15 rounds. That was it... and I can't really dispute this as my M1A is sub a MOA gun.
Method from guy C: This is for a Stainless Steel barrel bolt gun: After every round for the first 5 rounds, then every 5 rounds for the next 25 rounds. This guy is match shooter and pretty good so I can't dispute this method either.
Bottom line:
Is break in really necessary? Who knows but one thing I do know is this is the last time I am going to do the 110 round break in method. Gonna go back to my old way
