[renaissance]

I go with Hard cast Lead for economy.
I use what I believe to be "Good Quality" (national)
and
Load on the light (wimpy side)
.45 acp

I have read where some advise to follow a session of hard cast lead shooting with one or two Jacketed Bullets
to help "clean out" the lead from the rifling.

Does this really help?

Does hard cast lead in "light" .45 acp really present a leading problem ??

renaissance wants to know!

[HSMITH]

Leading can be a problem, and it can be found at nearly any speed. Light loads are sometimes just as bad for leading as some supermangler hot loads. A little experimentation is in order to stop the leading. I have a 45 acp load with Miester bullets that leaves the bore SHINY clean, one wet patch and one dry patch and it is clean.

Jacketed after lead is fine IF the bore is not leaded significantly. If you can see leading you should clean it before shooting jacketed. If the bore just looks a bit dirty then a couple jacketed rounds to seem to make it easier to clean out the little bit of lead that is in there. If it is leaded up and you try to "blow it out" with a jacketed bullet as a lot of guys will tell you that you can and should do you run a serious risk of blowing up the gun. Be careful when switching back to jacketed bullets, it is too easy not to.

[Standing Wolf]

I've been ending each shooting session with a few jacketed rounds for years with no ill effects. The old timer who introduced me to hand loading said it "knocked the lead out." I'm not sure it does, but as long as it's done no harm, I'll continue to do it.

[Cal4D4]

I second (or third) all that has been written with one caution. Glocks or anything with polygonal rifling should not be treated in this fashion. Supposedly the lead buildup can be quite worse with this rifling and the pressures could cause some problems when you fire the jacketed rounds.

[Johnny Guest]

There aren't many "Urban Legends" in handloading, but - - -
This one is a little like splling salt and tossing some over your left shoulder to cancel out the bad luck: The most you can say for it is, It Doesn't Hurt. (Probably. ;))

Think upon it for a moment - - - If there's lead in the grooves, what is the REAL probable effect of firing a jacketed bullet with rounded or angled ogive? The lead is pressed even harder down into the surface of the barrel.

IF you could swage or otherwise form some very hard-jacketed full wadcutter bullets with no ogive fbetween bearing surface and the front face, and just about zero radius on the "corners," then you could probably push some of the leads out of the grooves.

The suggestions about avoiding leading to begin with are right on point.

If you DO get serious leading, the Outers version of the Lewis Lead Remover does a nice job of removal.

Handy Dandy Household Hint: Another good way is to wrap copper mesh from a Chore Boy tm scrubbing pad around a bore brush, forming a snug fit. Dragging this slowly through the bore will literally pull out chunks of lead. The copper (bronze??) mesh is softer than the steel of the barrel, and the sharp edges of the mesh grabs the lead.

Best regards,
Johnny

[stans]

I agree with Johnny Guest. I used to subscribe to the idea that a few jacketed rounds would just wipe the lead out of the barrel. But, if you think about it, the jacketed bullet may push out some lead, but it going to press some of it deep into the pores of the barrel. Now you have a layer of copper jacket fouling over the lead. After shooting lead, I just clean the barrel with some copper mesh Chore Girl wrapped around a bore brush.

[Quantrill]

I had heard that story also and for years shot a lightly loaded jacketed round down the barrel after finishing with the lead for the day. When I cleaned the barrel, it took a fair amount of elbow grease to clean out the lead. Nowadays,I do not use the jacketed follower and find the barrel much easier to clean with less strokes. Quantrill

[Khornet]

National Bullet Co. lead rounds have gone down my Gold Cup with about 3.5 gr of Bullseye. Leading has been minimal to nonexistent. I do have a Lewis Lead Remover just in case, but never need it, and when I want to get lead out I use Lead Remover Cloth (? from Shooter's Choice). I make up a tight-fitting patch of it and run it back and forth awhile, and lead is gone. Easy on me and the bore.

[C.R.Sam]

Degree of leading influenced far more by quality of lube on bullet than by hardness of bullet.

As noted in above posts....jacketed to clean probably not really helping and can hurt.

Sam

[Edward429451]

I never did think that made sense. I always shoot up what jacketed I have first at the range, then start on the lead.

[HSMITH]

Welcome back Sam.