Tried the "blow out the lead with FMJ magnum" trick...

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This made me curious so I went and dug out the letter with the wax sample. The seller was C.F. Ventures. Ring a bell for anybody?
 
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Of course it works, unless the pressure spike damages the firearm by stressing, stretching or otherwise ruining or wearing something out that would have been fine if you just cleaned it.

As firearms get older they may also have minor wear and tear that makes them less capable of handling over pressure loads they once could.

It works until it doesn't. But when it doesn't you may wish you never did it.

The less buildup when you use powerful loads the lower the pressure spike, so more frequent is probably less dangerous than less frequent.
Some things I would definitely avoid using this method for though. Like revolvers that use multiple calibers and start leading the chamber when you use shorter rounds. Don't do that awhile and then decide to just clean the thing with magnum rounds without at least reducing the leading first.
Revolvers also rely on timing, and the timing mechanism is highly vulnerable to excess stresses or stretching of metal that changes the dimensions. It doesn't have to be a catastrophic failure to reduce the value of the firearm.
That's a lot of hand wringing about what others might do, ignoring that many swear by the practice. It brought to mind that the special jacketed reloads I call chasers to take to the range to remove leading are light (low pressure) loads in full length brass. My guns always start clean, so there is no real buildup. It just makes cleaning easier on some guns/loads. No lecture needed here.
 
I never loaded lead bullets to have excessive leading. I'd adjust things to get rid of the leading if I encountered some with a new bullet/powder combination.

At one time I "cleaned" the barrel out with magnum jacketed rounds.

I never really saw a benefit so I stopped the practice.
 
I have only ever tried it in 38 Special and 45 ACP revolvers and never had much luck with it working. Probably can't get either of them "Hot" enough to make it work.

On the occasion I have had a lead issue a Copper ChoreBoy on an old brush always works when I need it and the Lewis Lead Remover for the forcing cone.

But mostly I use bullets that don't lead and avoid the problem all together.
 
I don't do it. Back in Olden days, when LE carried revolvers, we were all admonished by our range staff not to do that. Another officer said he'd been shooting lead, than switched to .357 jacketed ammo in his Python. Showed me the damaged forcing cone area of his revolver. Caused by cleaning the lead out by shooting jacketed .357 Magnum through the gun? I don't know. But as I said, I don't do it.............ymmv
 
Does anybody have documented instances of guns blowing up due to firing fmj ammo after lead?

It makes sense not to but then again it doesnt make sense at all. Im skeptical.
 
I used to to this after shooting the falling plate matches back in the early 1990's. Never had a problem. And it did remove the lead. And you don't need magnum loads. Just as long as its a jacketed bullet.

In an old Gun Digest (I think) they mentioned the British would fire a shell with a foil (aluminum?) cap that would remove most of the copper fouling from cannons and Naval guns. I only read that once. Maybe someone else can elaborate.

Way back when, when gun magazines actually had content worth reading there were a couple of articles on Wax Gas Checks a fellow was selling. I still have the sample of one sheet they sent me to try. I finally learned that the sheets are just dental wax and they were written up as removing lead from the bore. It was explained that you need to keep the sheets warm(place them under your arm pit) or in a warm area. Powder your brass and then press over the case mouth. IIRC it was Mike Venturino who wrote one of the articles. You can still buy the sheets on ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Meta-BesQu...576047?hash=item281e54f4ef:g:rmYAAOSw6n5XsiBv

I believe it was lead sheets to remove the copper fouling.
 
Texas10mm you may be right. Its been a long time since I read that but do still have the book up in the attic. But I'm not gonna go look for it.:p
 
Some people make gas checks from aluminum cans with gas check tools you can buy.

Maybe it was aluminum. Inquiring minds want you to look in the attic. :)
 
Well of course I know that. :)

I read it as some sort of aluminum or lead behind a bullet they were using to clean out the cannons. Aluminum or lead was the question I thought.
In an old Gun Digest (I think) they mentioned the British would fire a shell with a foil (aluminum?) cap that would remove most of the copper fouling from cannons and Naval guns. I only read that once. Maybe someone else can elaborate.
I believe it was lead sheets to remove the copper fouling.
Since some people use aluminum to make gas checks for lead bullets, and Ratshooter was remembering it might be aluminum, I just wondered if it was and used that as an example.
 
Does anybody have documented instances of guns blowing up due to firing fmj ammo after lead?

It makes sense not to but then again it doesnt make sense at all. Im skeptical.
The problem in the debate is citing scenarios wherein lead had been allowed to buildup significantly, not just one range outing. Hard to argue that it would not be foolish at some point. I do it as matter of routine before putting a gun up, having tried everything short of doing my own casting. Worse though is coating deposits left in the barrel and trying to get back to bare metal.
 
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Maybe it was aluminum. Inquiring minds want you to look in the attic. :)

Only for you.:p The book was a 1997 Handloaders Digest I got from the used book store. I bought several of these and other older books I guess someone had sold to the store. So I got these out and the first one I picked up I looked through the table of contents and thought I remembered which article. Sure enough I found it right off. The article was written by Andrew Lambley on page 170 about using copper bands on cast lead bullets. I am posting a picture of the part of the article. I don't want to get into a copyright problem so just a section about the lead foil used over the powder. So Texas10mm was correct.

001.JPG 002.JPG 003.JPG
 
This is why I buy these old books when I find them. The book may be old but the information is just as good now as when it was written long ago. I don't even know if they still publish these type of books anymore. But if you have them don't get rid of them. They are an education you can't get anywhere else.:thumbup:

I just checked and there is a new version of this handloading book available. I am guessing it wasn't published for a time. There are used editions on Ebay and lots of the older copies for sale on ebay.
 
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I
In an old Gun Digest (I think) they mentioned the British would fire a shell with a foil (aluminum?) cap that would remove most of the copper fouling from cannons and Naval guns. I only read that once. Maybe someone else can elaborate.
US Artillery ammunition contains foil -- often in the form of sheets of foil or a foil-wrapped charge bag. It works great.
 
I’m going tp try it tomorrow I think.

I dont want to devote much ammo to it but will shoot a box of the factory Rem LRNs that are softer than butter. I typically shoot Mo Bullet Co and dont have issues.
 
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