OK, maybe a couple of silly ideas, but what do you all think...?

(This method would mostly apply to a double action/single action pistol like a Sig or 3rd generation Smith or Beretta)

Rather than shoot up a couple hundred dollars worth of ammo just to "break in" a pistol, why not...

1: rack the slide about 500 or 1000 times (or until your arms fall off). This would have the effect of an extended shooting session at the range. It would flex the springs and take off any burrs, etc.

...or if you are really lazy....

2: lock the slide back and keep it there for a few days. This will compress the recoil spring and the hammer spring, making them less stiff. Benefits would be an easier trigger pull in double action and the pistol would be more reliable with lighter weight and lower charge ammo.

Working the slide and dry firing is fine, but neither equals cleaning and going to the range to shoot it. I don't think much of "gimmicky" ways of "breaking in" guns and motor vehicles.

The most recent new gun I "broke in" (M&P 9 Pro) got the usual treatment of disassembly, cleaning and appropriate lube--including cleaning all the mags--and apparently "broke in" in very quickly.
Slick, smooth, and 100% reliable from the first shot. The only change I noted was the slide catch got smoother and easier after a couple hundred rounds.

I have always considered the "Break-in" as a time to let me know this gun will function with this ammo and see about stovepipes, ftf, and accuracy issues. Racking the slide might remove burrs on the slide but that's only part of the equation. A snap cap might help the trigger if you shot it 500 times also but IMO it's no substitute for live fire.

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Front sight and squeeze

Breaking in a gun without taking it out and shooting it is like having.......nevermind. Shooting it while breaking it in is fun! And educational. The racking the slide idea is great for loosening it up, but would you want to trust your life on a new gun that you've only racked and dry fired?

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Misty

Good one!

There is no substitute for the real thing That is actual firing of the gun. Racking the slide many times will no doubt help lossen it up a bit as would locking the slide back.

I think one thing, as told to me by a gun maker and Master Smith, is that if a gun does not function correctly, repeated attempt to fire the weapon is not going to "fix" it. A gun should work correctly right out of the box. Some Manufacturers "Break in" instructions are ridiculous. Yes, the trigger may go a little better but jamming, stovepipes etc are not just going away.

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Still Running Against the Wind

Why did you get it if not to "shoot up" a bunch of ammo? Your logic escapes me.

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Georgia On My Mind

For added realism, don't forget to yell POW! each time you dry fire it.

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Thirty characters. Exactly...

MGO- I understand that you didn't mean not firing the pistol ever. Shoot a 100 through it then try your methods and see if it helps.I have worked actions,dry fired etc, along with live fire and have had no problems.Sometimes time and expense get in the way of shooting as much as we like.

I had to opportunity to "break in" a M&P9 while I was on a cross-country trip. I picked up the gun just before I left and while riding (not driving) disassembled, cleaned,and reassembled the gun. Then I repeatedly racked the slide and dry fired, with a snap cap, all the way to and from my mother's house. I couldn't shoot until I got home; by that time, my wife was ready to shoot me, but subjectively, I think the gun was smoother than when I started. I didn't have any problems with live fire, and I haven't had the opportunity to do it with another gun, nor will my wife probably let me. BTW, it's 700 miles one way to my mother's house, so there was plenty of slide-racking and dry-firing.

Per the maker, any of those brands mentioned, and particularly a Sig, ought be ready to go out of the box - after a good cleaning of course. Recoil springs are at the weight that they ought be. You don't want less just to make the slide easier to pull back. Not unless you're going to use weaker ammunition.

Field strip the gun, clean the crud out, and if you are worried, cycle a magazine of snap caps/dummy rounds by hand.

the forces are a bit different between racking the slide and firing. your hands cant match the speed nor exactly duplicate the line of force upon the action.
I am sure that fiddling with it in such ways may assist the lapping process ... at the cost of greatly elevated chances for an ND.

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it just needs more voltage

Why have sex when you can just do it yourself?

And you can still yell 'Pow!' each time.

Or you can sit in your vehicle in the driveway, turn the wheel back and forth and go 'Vroom! Vroom!'.

Seriously and with respect, just go and shoot the gun!

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Stu