Leading in barrel real bad.

[JimG]

Dan Wesson 357. I think it is lead in barrel from forcing cone to about halfway to the muzzle (6 inch barrel). Outers bore foam will not touch it. Serious scrubbing with Hoppes #9 and a brass brush seems to have made some progress. What takes lead out?

[southern utah]

I use the lead remover cloth form Birchwood. I cut 3/8 by 4 inch pieces and wrap them around an old brush and scrub out the barrel with them . Follow up with some Hoopy's #9

[Prof. Fuller Bullspit]

Lewis Lead remover works well. A careful use of steel wool will too.

To eliminate leading try one or more of the following:

harder bullet
softer bullet
different sizes of bullets
slowing the bullet down

Also check the size of your chamber throats relative to your bore size. If there is a huge difference very little short of a gunsmith will cure the problem.

[Jim n Iowa]

Chore Boy at your local food store. Wrap some around a brush and scrape the lead out.
Jim

[JimG]

It is a used gun. I have no idea as to what was shot in it before I got it. I got most out with '0000' steel wool used as a patch and long soakings in Outers bore foam. I guess I'll shoot it for the first time tomorrow to see what effects the remaining lead has on accuracy. I don't think it has ever been cleaned til now. :shock:

[Mikey]

DO NOT use steel wool on a gun barrel to remove lead buildup.  All you will do is scour away the rifling if you use it hard enough and you will still have the lead.  

Use the Lewis Lead remover or the products recommended by Southern Utah or Prof. Fuller Bullspit but stay the hay away from the steel wool.  

If you are leading up that badly use harder bullets or start with slugs .001 smaller than you are using now.  Leading is often caused by oversized and soft bullets.  

If she still leads up after changing slugs then you may wish to firelap the bore to smooth it out but stay the hay away from steel wool.  Mikey.

[Heavyhaul]

If you can get the worst of the lead out, I have had luck running a few jacketed bullets through my guns to remove the last thin coat.  I would not recommend this if the barrel is severely leaded.

[Tn Jim]

Get some of the copper scrub pads from the grocery store ( the kind used to scrub pots). Take a few strands and wrap it around a used/undersized bore brush and it will take the lead out in no time. If the lead is in the first half of the barrel the bullet is either too small or is not being driven fast enough to bump the bullet up to bore dimensions. If you can safely increase the powder charge, try that or make the next batch of bullets softer.

[Lone Star]

If you are leading up that badly use harder bullets or start with slugs .001 smaller than you are using now.  Leading is often caused by oversized and soft bullets.

Not according to the Cast Bullet Association membership it isn't.  Most leading is caused by gas blow-by when the bullet does not fully seal the bore.  An undersized bullet allows more gas blowby, thus more leading.  A relatively soft bullet will obturate better and eliminate most leading - as long as it is strong enough to hold the rifling.  It is almost impossible to eliminate all leading - even jacketed bullets leave deposits of metal behind in the bore.

The most common causes of gas blow-by are undersized bullets and bullets which are too hard for the pressure of the load.  Sorry, but the examples in the post above are obsolete statements made many decades ago and repeated over and over again in the gun press.  That didn't make them true then, nor does it make them true today.   Veral Smith of LBT agrees, go here to read what he says: http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=88847  
.

[Odinbreaker]

I use a scotch brite pad cut to size with bore lap compound.  You have to get a tight fit.  The lewis lead remover also works good.  Be very careful with any steel abrasives.

[Lone Star]

The bronze ScotchBrite pads work very well, they are harder than the copper and will stay sharper longer.  They are still soft enough not to damage the bore.  Be sure to use solvent or oil with the pads - don't use them dry!

[Mikey]

Lone Star - thanks for the update from the Cast Bullet Association, it makes sense when you add Veral's writings but I don't think my statements are mutually exclusive of his findings.  Smith stated that your gun (barrel) has to be properly set up to avoid leading with oversized, soft bullets, which means the barrel needs to be properly lapped.  I agree with this - if your barrel is properly set up (lapped), shooting soft bullets one thousands oversized should not cause leading.  

I have lapped a number of pistol, revolver and rifle barrels and once properly set up they will handle all sorts of cast loads without problem, which is why I recommended lapping, as does Smith, for barrels that neither shoot as they should, or lead.  

Did the information you cited by the Cast Bullet Association reference any points commensurate with Smith's findings????  It would be interesting to hear what they have to say about lapping.  Mikey.

[Questor]

Here are two things I can pontificate on because they are tested and true:

1) Using jacketed bullets to "remove" lead is really just a special technique for ironing the lead into your barrel so that it's even harder to get out. If the leading is thick, it's also a great way of increasing pressures beyond standard maximums.

2) Forget all the other crap and the nostrums and chemicals, and call Brownells to buy a package of fine bronze wool. Wrap the wool around a sub-caliber bronze brush until it is snug in the bore, then stroke the bore with it. The lead will be gone faster and more thoroughly than with any other method.  For example, if you're cleaning a 45, use a 38 caliber bronze brush.  I believe the chore boy method is also good, but have not tried it.

[Lone Star]

Mikey, the objection I had to your statements was the reference to oversized bullets and soft bullets causing leading.  Undesized bullets cause leading, particularly if they at too hard to upset in the bore.  As for soft bullets, as long as they hold the rifling they will not lead - they seal the bore and don't let gas past the bullet base.    This all assumes the use of an adequate lube of course.

The CBA findings mirror Veral's - no surprise since they are all correct and provable.  Handloader Magazine editor Dave Scovill published numerous studies in the 1990s connecting bullet hardness to chamber pressures, and he developed a 'constant' used to multiply by the bullet hardness to determine the minimum chamber pressure needed to eliminate leading.  Use a bullet too hard for the pressure and you're guaranteed leading, regardless of bore condition.  In fact, bore condition was not that important as long as the bullet upset to seal the bore.  If the bullet was too hard, vaporized lead collected in pits and made things a lot worse.

Veral's use of bore lapping compounds goes back to his first writings of the 1980s - his pivotal 1987 article "Correcting the Revolver's Critical Dimensions" was one of the first to accurately describe the problem of undersized chamber throats and forcing cones, their contribution to leading and inaccuracy, and how to fix them.  His bore "lapping" compound was developed so that the average shooter could open up the throats and forcing cones to match bore dimensions without a gunsmith.   Bore smoothness is less important than the critical dimensions in accuracy and leading.

[Dusty Miller]

Consider going to a gas checked bullet to prevent future leading.  I use'm all the time and leading in my barrels is minimal or non existent.  I sent some real screamers thru my Vaguero yesterday and there's not the slightest hint of leading (either that or I'm blind as a bat!!).