Should be interesting, opinions?
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Depends on the gun. My bro in law has a Les Baer 1911 that he hates, we’re on opposite coasts, but sounds like it needs some lapping, maybe running a stone on the slide. Otoh, my Springfield RO, mid level 1911, ran 100 percent from the first round . I’ve built 5 P80’s, and all required a bit, 2 are still happier with NATO ammo and +p hollow points, and the ceracoted .45 was just freaking brutal to get to work…but more like grinding, stoning, sandpaper and scotch Brite than just breaking in. Runs great now. My factory Glocks, Ruger and m&p…nah, load it, shoot it.
Aftermarket barrels sometimes need some attention, but again, not really break in, but a little lapping or stoning to free things up, hopefully just the right amount.
Get the feeling I took this in a direction most weren’t expecting. 
Looking forward to others experiences. Just had a rough “chat” with family…social distancing just got a lot easier 
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As @mattm posted - depends on the gun.
My philosophy is that every firearm needs “break-in” period… this period is as long as user finds out how to efficiently use it and accurately shoot it.
I never handled any handgun that shot perfectly in my hands right out of the box.
A few I shot, really needed break-in (400 - 500 rounds) because they were extremely stiff and hard to operate easily (CZs, M&P9, RIA 1911) but all new handguns, those from better manufacturers, were perfectly fine after first round (STIs, Staccato, WC1911, DW1911, Walther PPQ).
As I mentioned - I always had to spend few shooting sessions to get used to each firearm and that was “break-in” period… firearm’s or mine… didn’t matter…
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My Taurus PT1911 needed a feed ramp and chamber polish before it would feed HP ammo.
The lip of the mags were so sharp they would catch the edge of the rim on the casing and stop the round from feeding out of the mag, a polishing with a hard Arkansas stone. 
Trust me, it wasn’t me that ceracoted the rails and inner slide 
. Definite wtf moment.In hindsight, a funny moment .I handed the gun off to my cl. 3 FFL/truck mechanic neighbor,and 2 weeks later he gives me the “I got good news, and I got bad news.” Good news was he got the slide on, bad news is it wasn’t becoming off 
… fortunately I have some tool making and manual machining in my background, and found, amongst the 4 and 5 axis monsters, that we still had a surface grinder and a Bridgeport (manual vertical mill for those not familiar). Couple slow nights at work and we were good to go.
My background is in turbine engine manufacture. Surface finishes, coatings and tight tolerances we’re my language, and tool making/grinding was often to “press fit” , “shrink fit” or “slip fit” tolerances…so looking at .0002" generally…
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I’m jealous!
I had to choose between table saw and radial arm moving into the retirement house 
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I think every pistol can be broken in. Some pistols (“duty” pistols Glock, M&P, etc) will run 100% right out of the box. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t a little “smoother” after a few hundred (or thousand!) rounds.
And then there are some pistols that literally won’t run right until you’ve spent a few hundred rounds through them.
My only personal anecdote on a firearm that needed a little “break in” was a Glock 43 that ejected one or two rounds per mag straight back at my face for some reason 
. It stopped that after maybe 100-200 rounds.
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I’m assuming you chose “both” right?
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Thing that killed me was the delay waiting to get this coated, the assurance it was going to be a top notch job etc…they did do a nice job, just a bit too much of it lol.
I used to work on a lot of overhauled turbines ( O&R) and managed an O&R/weld shop. Should’ve sent us that lever gun. We would’ve weld filled the divots, milled it back to size,helicoiled the blown threads, maybe throw in a quench and temper, given it a nice carcinogenic cadmium finish, and thrown in 5 certificates of conformance verifying we dun did a gud job 
…then covered it in ceracoted let your buddy try try again.
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The only time I have had this happen with my Glocks are with reloads using Hi Skor 700x. The flakey powder sometimes gave me inconsistent pressures.
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As far as mechanical break in the only thing I could see is the recoil spring, too heavy or not heavy enough, and/or weak wristing the pistol.
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whatever you do to a Glock, do not try to adjust the ejector angle. Don’t ask me how I know this
fwiw, gen 3 and 4 ejectors are interchangeable and slightly different, at least for certain models afaik.
But yeah, total agreement with the above thoughts on spring tension, round hotness, slide resistance and grip…the ejector will be either the same as new…or broken. There is no in between.
I don’t know if a pistol needs breaking in, but after getting past “What do you mean, you bought another gun???” it’s sure a good follow-up excuse to get out to the range. “But now that I have it, I’ve got to break it in.”
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You are 100% right, it may very well have been me 
The 43 was the first (and still only) “slim” grip I own, and it takes extra effort to shoot well.
But I still tell everyone it was the firearm 
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Thank you all for sharing. This is what keeps me coming back…People sharing their ideas and experiences so we can all learn from it.
FWIW…my Soeger STR9 worked great out of the box. The mags and the shooter needed a little breaking in though.
I followed the break in procedure in the owners manual for the mags and had no issues.
There is only one set of ammo that really gave me any trouble and now I am wondering if it was just me. If I remember correctly it was 90gr. I do know not a single round out of 20 ejected properly and most were stove pipes. I chalked it upper to the lighter rounds. Now I am wondering if just me.
Hmmmmm…sounds like I need to buy some more ammo and head to the range to test out.
Thanks again for all the tips, tricks and making all feel welcomed.
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Stove pipes ate mostly caused by bad grip or weak hands…but usually with common ammo (115, 124, 147).
With 90 g ammo you may have light loads with less pressure and the slide may not cycle correctly causing failure to eject.
My guess is that lighter recoil spring will fix it, but I don’t know this pistol enough and this may cause other problems with regular loads.
Check your grip, shooting technique and if it doesn’t work, shoot different ammo.
It can also be slide tight fit and it will need break in period, but this is easy to accomplish by dry firing.
Just rack the slide at home 300 times and you will be good.
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Or, if a 9mm, break it in with NATO ammo and show that tight slide who’s boss
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Disagree on m&p unfortunately. I recommend thorough cleaning before 1st shot. Even if that 1st range experience was flawless - do NOT trust the gun for carry until you pass 250-300 rounds through it. That is what I found to be the mechanical break in for m&p, but goes for every make and model imho
Thanks.
I haven’t shot the 90 gr after that 1 time. I wanted to know what my gun would or would not like.
I have close to 1000 rounds through it now. I have shot various 115 gr up to 147 gr rounds from various manufacturers. It pretty much eats everything brass in those ranges.
I am just over a year into conceal carry / pistol ownership so I tend to stick to name brand ammo as much as possible.
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I got to see this happen first hand on a consistent basis. We were doing pistol qualification for the Sheriffs Department with the Glock .40 and we had one woman who would have gone 100 lbs. fully clothed and soaking wet. She consistently had stove pipes and fail to feed on every iteration.
We finally figured out she just didn’t have the hand, wrist and arm strength to hold the pistol against the recoil.
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