question: Lead Bullets and barrel health

[guimus]

First post here, but I've been lurking for a while. I just picked up a Ruger Super RedHawk in .454 Casull, and the seller included several hundred bullets. They are pretty evenly split between Bull-X and Laser-Cast. Both of these are advertised as non-leading, but I've never shot non-jacketed bullets above 900fps. Can anyone reassure me that these won't cause any damage to my barrel?

[Mikey]

Sure:  I'll guarantee you that bullets cast of soft material (lead, tin and antimony) will never harm the barrel of your 454 which is made of hardened rifle steel.  If after 5,000 rounds of cast lead slugs down your bore you see any sign of any damage, leading not included, you take that revolver right on back to the manufacturer and tell him you want another.  Any gun maker worth his salt would probably give you a free gun if any of his barrels showed any sort of damage at all after even 50,000 rounds of cast lead slug down a rifled steel barrel.  Mikey.

[willysjeep134]

What you might see after a lot of shooting is leading. Lots of people mistake leading for bore damage. After thousands and thousands of rounds of lead ammo without cleaning, sometimes the rifling grooves fill in with fouling. This would be an extreme case. The nice thing is it isn't really damage, just dirt. If you scrub and clean enough you can get back to the original bore with no harmful effect. It isn't damaged, like a dirty window isn't damaged, just dirty. It takes a little work to clean a really leaded bore, but if you keep up on cleaning it will never get that bad.

[Dusty Miller]

Actually it does not take a lot of work to get the lead out of a STAINLESS barrel.  Just mix up a concoction consisting of 50% hydrogen peroxide and 50% white vineger, plug one end of the barrel ( I normally just hold my finger tightly over the hole) and fill the barrel.  After five minutes drain out the juice and scrub the bore with a bristle brush and VOILA!! a clean barrel.  Don't use this stuff on a blued barrel 'cuz it'll take the bluing off in a heartbeat.

[guimus]

Thanks all for the help and advice. Sounds like I have nothing to fear but a sore wrist. I'm thinking it will take me a couple of years to shoot a thousand rounds out of this thing, so even if I didn't clean my guns after every range trip (which I do) I'd be fine.

[jpsmith1]

Lead shouldn't ever damage a gun barrel.  As has been said, leading can be an issue.  A quick solution that I use is to shoot a couple of jacketed bullets.  That tends to wipe a lot of lead out of the bore in extreme cases.

[Castaway]

One other bit of advice.  Though not normally done on pistol barrels, if it's new, I'd break it in using jacketed bullets with shooting once, clean and repeat for ten times.  Then shoot 5 times, clean and repeat for 10 times.  Any smoothing of barrels irregularities will go a long way in reducing barrel leading.

[swampthing]

Lead is very slippery, thus has a lower friction coeficient and is less abrasive than copper.
The only thing I would concern myself in this case is:
                  Start with a light load of fast burning pistol powder and increase it till you get the velocity and accuracy you want or until you start to see leading, minor light dust is not a problem and I would not go any higher, sludgey means your pushing too hard.
                   I would not load a non gas checked lead bullet above 1300 fps.
                   A max load with a hardcast will generate dangerous pressures with a softer alloy.
                  If you want to hunt, some LBT's with gaschecks will go as fast as your wrist can handle.
An "ALL COPPER" , not copper clad steel, "ALL COPPER" "chore boy brillo pad" from the supermarket, unrolled and wraped around a .30 cal bore brush until it is thick enough to be a snug fit in the bore will clean the nastiest of leaded barrels in about 15 strokes. 

[Dand]

I use a Lewis Lead Remover to clean up leaded bores and it works great. Its an aluminum rod with brass screen patches supported by a brass and rubber jag.  A couple pulls through the bore and most  leading is gone.  You can buy them in Brownells, maybe Midway, or Dillon's catalogs.

[Headspace]

When shooting .45lc lead bullets in the SRH leading will build up between the cylinder and barrel throat more so than the full length .454's. It can cause the cylinder to stick if not cleaned.