Cleaning out leading

[provalov]

I just spent half the weekend cleaning out the leading in my XD40 barrel. I reload with Georgia Arms 180gr lead cast round nose because they cost $10 for 300, but man!, that lead took forever to get out.

Does anybody have a faster way to de-lead a barrel?

I used Kleen-Bore's #10 alternated with Novum Solution's Blue Wonder gunk, a stainless steel brush and a jag, over and over and over. Any advice on a faster solution would be welcome.

I've heard of some sort of electric rod/chemical procedure that sounds like some sort of electrolytic process -- anybody know more?

 

[Navy joe]

LEWIS LEAD REMOVER!

 

[labgrade]

or shoot proper bullets, at proper speeds

Been shooting lead for over 30 years & have (except once) have had to clean lead out of either handgun or rifle.

Yeah, I know. Evreybody gets to do it at least onoce, but there's no reason to ever have to clean lead outa yer bores.

Do it right & you'll never have to.

All the joys, none of the hassles.

 

[provalov]

Alright, I'll bite -- what do you consider a proper bullet and a proper speed?

 

[labgrade]

Simplistic answer is "those that don't cause leading," no?

I shoot wheel weights at over 1500 fps in .38/.30 cal (handguns/rifles) with zip leading. You can get better with better alloys.

There's a decent blend with proper bore sizing/lube.

Shooting swagged (dead soft lead) at too high velocities causes leading, as can un-matched bullets-to-bores.

Thing is, there's no need to put up with leading ever in the first place.

Maybe goto THR's handloading forum & dial in to some casting discussions.

Not to be denigrating in the least, but lead's cheap, it's accurate, it kills stuff DRT - just as good as any jacketed bullet - has been for 100+ years.

Too many "prior beliefs" to deal with here.

Goto the experts in handloading.

 

[charleym3]

Several things cause leading. Soft lead, rough bores, driving the bullet either too fast or too slow.
The only way to fix the soft lead is to get a hard cast bullet from a reliable source. Personally, when I shoot lead it is from Lasercast. I've had very good results. I've no experience with GA bullets.
Rough bores can be fixed by fire lapping. The kit is available from Midwayusa.com. I use it on all revolvers and some autos.
I've found that the general operating window for the cast bullets I've used to be between 750 fps and 1200. Softer bullets can be driven slower (read swaged) with no ill effects. Very hard bullets can be drive faster.
As for getting it out. The labor process is the Lewis Lead Remover. I haven't found anything else that works as well. If you want a chemical process, get the Foul Out system. Midwayusa has that too. It is a reverse plating process that electrochemically plates a rod inserted into the barrel with the lead in the bore.

There is one more thing, you can switch to a jacket bullet. montanagoldbullet.com is pretty inexpensive if you're willing to purchase 2 - 4000 bullets at a time. Not as cheap as lead, but not bad either if you want to go fast and not clean at all.

No I have no affiliation with any of the companies that I've named. YMMV, batteries not included.

Good luck and shoot well.

 

[CWL]

When I clean my barrels, I used oversized brass/bronze brushes. If you shoot .40 S&W -use a .45 brush.

The rare times I use JB Paste, it is the occasional scrub I give barrels to remove difficult lead deposits.

 

[braindead0]

I'd heard that the Lewis was essentially the same as the Hoppes lead remover, which doesn't do squat as far as I can tell...or perhaps it's not the same?

I have better luck with an undersized (wore out) bronze brush and then use it to push through a small square of lead removing cloth, it usually gets hung up on the brush allowing a return trip.

I only get a bit of leading in the first 3/4" of the barrel or so, probably not driving my HC bullets fast enough, as soon as I get a lubrisizer and dies I'll start using WW for the competition loads.

 

[BHP9]

Several things cause leading. Soft lead, rough bores, driving the bullet either too fast or too slow. The only way to fix the soft lead is to get a hard cast bullet from a reliable source. Personally, when I shoot lead it is from Lasercast


I read with great intrest all the misconceptions of shooting cast bullets.

1. It is a myth that when dealing with hadgun bullets that shooting soft lead causes leading

Many years ago when I was shooting a .44 magnum I got leading even with hard cast bullets that were gas checked, properly sized and had a good lube on them Why?

I noticed that dead soft factory ammo with only 3 per cent antimony added gave no leading at all even at high velicities. Why?

It you want to reduce leading It may be that you are using to fast a burning rate of powder and in too large a quantity. In my .44 magnum experiece simply by going to a slower burning powder did the trick. I went from a bore that was coated with lead to vertually no leading whatsoever.

2. Myth 2 , rough bores cause leading. ONce again in my experiece pushing rifle bullets as fast as 2,000 fps I got very little leading even from military bores that had been damage from shooting corrosive ammo out of them. The bore has to be extremely pitted to pick up a lot of leading. It can happen if the bore is really bad but then the weapon usually needs rebarreled and will not accurately shoot even jackted bullets for very long before fouling out.

What does cause leading besides to fast a burning powder.

1, Undersized bullets

2. Poor types of lubes

3. Not using gas checks when approaching 2,000 fps. They are not necessay for most pistol velocities.

The one big draw back of buying store bought cast bullets is one of quality and also one of size. When casting your own you can size it to fit your particular bore.

I also do not like the plastic lubes most commercial bullet casters use. I find the lubes inferior to the old NRA 50/50 alox formula.

How I clean out leading.

When shooting 9mm's fast on a hot summer day I sometimes do pick up a minor amount of leading. I simply us a .35 caliber rifle brush and some Hoppe's no. 9 and run it back and forth though the bore until the leading is gone. It takes about 30 seconds of back and forth scrubing or about 100 to 200 strokes. Sounds like alot of work but it is not. It only takes about 30 seconds of work.