Is there a break-in period with NOS or gently used vintage reels?

[CincyDavid]

Speaking generally, will a properly-assembled and lubricated vintage worm drive spinning reel feel smooth right out of the box, or will be get smoother and feel better after some use? I have a Penn 710 Greenie that is not NIB or NOS but shows almost no wear and it just feels vaguely gritty or mechanical, like I can feel gear teeth engaging. Is something wrong or do I just need to hang it on a rod and use it as intended?

[oldmanjoe]

 My best guess is that the ball bearing is doing that gritty feeling .
  many times I have a bearing that feels good in the hand and after assembling it feels gritty .  Sometimes you add the grit with grease or oil because you moved a hidden particle in the bearing race .   

[CincyDavid]

Thanks Joe, I'll dig into it again and see what I find.

[Midway Tommy]

Many times when you completely and thoroughly refurbish an older spinning reel there will be a transitional breaking in period before the reel becomes smooth and quiet again.

Think about it, if you do the cleaning appropriately you have removed years of old grease and oil that had hardened and created a film that coated the gears, main shaft, etc. once cleaned and burnished you are back to original bare metals. Sometimes it takes a little while to recreate a lubricant coating. Once you get that coating things quiet down and smooth out. It's a normal process, but it usually doesn't a long period of time.