Congratulations! You’ve made an excellent decision.
You’ve purchased your very own high precision firearm from The Rifle Specialist, Inc., manufactured right here in the USA!
Before you take your new rifle to the range, we’d like to share some guidance on the best way to care for your newest prized possession.
First, we ask that you carefully unpack and review your weapon for shipping damage. If anything is wrong, please email or call us immediately and we’ll take care of it. All rifles are shipped insured.
Next, although your weapon was fired at the factory, and tested for accuracy, the barrel, bolt carrier group, and trigger haven’t been broken in yet. Below is our recommended break-in procedure for all of our match rifles. If you’ve purchased a tactical, short-barreled, or select-fire model, we’ve got another document for you, just let us know you’ve received the wrong one and we’ll get it right out to you. Please read this entire document before you begin.
PRS-15/PRS-16 Match Rifle & Barrel Break-in Process and continued maintenance guide:
1. Please field strip your rifle. If you’re not familiar with the procedure, we recommend the illustrated documents found at AR-15.com and the great videos posted by enthusiasts on YouTube. In the future we plan to have them available for you on our website.
- Check to make sure your weapon is empty.SERIOUSLY! Make sure there is no ammunition in the chamber and no magazine in the rifle and it’s recommended to have no ammunition on the table at all for SAFETY.
- Separate the upper & lower at the pins. Some of our match rifles are built so snug that you may need to use a punch to pop them out the first few times. (Use plastic punches or cover metal ones with tape to protect your finish)
- Remove the charging handle & bolt carrier group from the upper
- Remove the pin, cam, firing pin & bolt from the bolt carrier
2. Give a liberal oiling to the parts of the Bolt Carrier Group (BCG) and charging handle, then reassemble the upper. Don’t overdo it with the oil; it shouldn’t be dripping off, just shiny. We recommend the use of a quality CLP oil for both lubrication and cleaning of most parts of the rifle. You should always clean your BCG after a day of shooting to maintain accuracy.
3. Trigger group
a. If your model includes a standard mil-spec single or two-stage trigger group, run a little CLP oil over the basic parts of the trigger group inside the fire control pocket of the lower receiver. It’s not necessary, nor advisable to remove the trigger unless it becomes quite filthy, as repeated removal can wear the pin holes and loosen things up.
b. If your model includes an enhanced trigger group from Geissele, your trigger was greased at the sear points both before and after testing at the factory and needs nothing further at this time. Take note of the included tiny tube of Geissele provided grease for later.
4. Buffer & Buffer Spring – We’ve lubricated your spring & buffer at the factory with Teflon grease. Although it’s good to take them out and wipe them down from time to time, it is not necessary to regrease them after every shoot, around 500 rounds.
5. Now let’s put the rifle back together and head to the firing range.
ALWAYS treat your rifle as loaded. NEVER point your weapon at anything you don’t want to KILL.
6. The following is a guide to “break-in” based on our experience. This is not a hard and fast rule, only a guide. Some barrel, chamber, bullet, primer, powder, pressure, velocity etc. combinations may require more cycles some less. It’s a good idea to just observe what the barrel is telling you with its fouling pattern. But once it is broken in, there is no need to continue breaking it in. So, let’s load a magazine with some quality, factory loaded ammunition and pop it in to your rifle:
a. For your first 50 rounds, after every 5 rounds, remove the magazine, clear the chamber, pop open the rear receiver pin, run a cleaning rod with a CLP oiled cloth through the barrel twice (from breach to crown), then reassemble, reload, and fire again. If you have a Geissele trigger installed, also lightly grease the sear points after the first 50 rounds.
b. For your second 50 rounds, we recommend the same procedure every 10 rounds. If you have a Geissele trigger installed, also lightly grease the sear points once again after the second 50 rounds.
You can also use this time to sight in your scope, holographic, or iron sights. Take your time, this is also an opportunity to become comfortable shooting your new weapon and get used to the feel and recoil. Yes, it’s tedious, but you’re insuring the rifling of your barrel will break-in smoothly and retain its accuracy for years to come. You’ve purchased quality, it’s worth the effort. Protect your investment.
7. Now you’ve put 100 rounds through your rifle. Remove your magazine, clear your weapon, and make sure you’re safe. It’s time to apply a little oil & cleaning to your mil-spec trigger or for your Geissele enhanced trigger, a little wipe down with a rag and greasing of the sear points. Let’s also give a proper cleaning to the whole gun. Always brush the barrel from the chamber end to the muzzle end, not reverse. You must always protect the barrel crown or you’ll be certain to lose accuracy.
8. A clean rifle is an accurate rifle. Clean your rifle regularly.A match rifle should be cleaned more often than a tactical weapon. It’s not just supposed to work, it’s supposed to be precise. By no means is this a complete care guide, nor the only way to care for your weapon. Many experienced AR shooters have found their own tried & true methods. This document is merely meant to be a starting point.
If this is your first TRS product, we welcome you to our family of Precision Rifle Owners,
Proud customers of The Rifle Specialist, Inc. and thank you for your support.
Have a question? Need support? We’re here to help!
Email us anytime: support@riflespecialist.com
We do our best to respond within 2 business days.