Copper FMJ - will it remove the lead in a barrel?

[Benelli Shooter]

I used some LRN Fiocchi .38 specials in my SP101. Besides being dirty, it leaded my barrel real bad. The lead was packed in after only 50 rounds.

I bought the Lewis Lead removal kit from Brownells. I think I got 90% or more of the lead out of the barrel and forcing cone.

If I take the gun out and shoot it with 50 rounds of FMJ ammo, will that remove the small remainder of the lead stuck in the grooves?

P.S. I don't think I'll ever shoot lead bullets again. What a pain in the rear.

 

[bluetopper]

Try it and see is all I can tell you.

ALL I shoot is my cast lead reloads in all pistol calibers from 38 up to 44 Mag. I have no leading problems at all.

I haven't shot a factory round in a looong while.

 

[Confederate]

Once you've removed the residual lead, the copper-clad bullets will likely only compress it into the grooves. Soft lead is horrible and bullet companies have been burdening shooters for decades. People who cast their own lead bullets can cast them hard enough not to leave sloughs of lead all over the lands and grooves, so I don't know why ammo companies can't get it right.

Sometimes magnum jacketed rounds can clear lead out of the barrel, but it's really tough.

 

[kanook]

I would try to find some hardcast to shoot before I ran some FMJ down it.

 

[BushyGuy]

use a hard bristle copper brush that you stick down the barrel, first i send a wet patch down the barrel to clear out the dirt then i use a soft bristle brush dont the barrel 4 times then use a wet patch then the barrel looks liek new again.

 

[BlindJustice]

Had some severe leading in my 625 - paid a gunsmith to clean it up

He recommended the Lewis Lead remover kit. It is sold by caliber/bore
size. Try Brownell's

Leadhead bullets are hardcast fwiw

Randall

 

[Benelli Shooter]

I used the Lewis kit. It got most of it. But, I can still see traces.

 

[ChristopherG]

Why do you feel its essential to get every visible trace out of the barrel? Is it affecting accuracy?

 

[armoredman]

Chore boy copper scrub pads. Make sure they are all copper, not copper washed steel. Cut a small piece of it off, put it on your rammer, and after you have soaked the barrel with solvent, scrub away. That should solve the leading issue. Then get hard cast, (I use my own cast wheel weight lead, no leading issues), and go for it.

 

[Walkalong]

I would not do it in a severely leaded bore. Clean it out using one of the preferred methods.

 

[Jeff H]

Copper FMJ - will it remove the lead in a barrel?

Very interesting question I don't think I have heard definitively answered before although I have heard many people claim that they shoot FMJ after lead for that very reason.

I would not do it in a severely leaded bore.

I agree but what about only a little bit of leading???????

I very recently started reloading 357 and I am using some cast bullets (158GLSWC)made locally (probably wheel weight hardness but I have no way to verify this) that work great in my 38. Shooting them over 15g of 2400 leaves just a bit of leading in the 1st inch of the barrel, and only takes a minute to clean (the only reason I noticed it was that a patch seemed to find resistance when I pushed it down the bore), but if the FMJ could clean it out for me...

 

[GRIZ22]

I have used a wide variety of lead bulllets swaged, hard cast, and not so hard cast over nearly 40 years. If you are getting leading your load is too hot for the hardness of bullet you're using. The leading doesn't come from the bullet being driven over the lands and grooves but from the pressure deforming the base of the bullet.

If conventional cleaning methods don't remove the leading the only thing I'd use is a Lewis Lead Remover. The barrel is too expensive to try some home remedy.

You also keep the leading down by cleaning properly after every shoot.

 

[Noveldoc]

Careful. You do not want to get a whistle clean lead free barrel with damaged rifling.

Tom

 

[Walkalong]

I agree but what about only a little bit of leading???????

No problem, although not 100% will agree.

Leading in the first inch means the bullet is undersized for the throats or too hard for the pressure to bump up and seal the throats/bore.

Softer bullet. More pressure. Bigger diameter. One of, two of, or all three of those together, will solve the little bit of leading you are getting.

 

[fourdollarbill]

Unlead your barrel in a minute !

To get rid of any heavy leading in any barrel within a minute I do this:

1. unroll a Chore Boy or an "Oh Cedar" brand copper scubber and snip off a 1" tube.
2. wrap it around a 22 caliber bronze brush until it is twice the size of the bore to be cleaned.
3. lube it with hoppes #9
4. scrub the barrel and it takes all the lead out very quickly

This is the fastest way I have ever cleaned a bore and I don't know what I would do without it.

As far as the cause of leading I made two simple rules that work for me.

1. If the leading looks like long slivers or splinters the bullet is too hard for the lower pressure you loaded it. Get a softer lead or up your pressure.
2. If the leading is anything else then you need to check your sizing.

If you look down the barrel and see long slivers or splinter looking pieces of lead it is because the hot gas made its way around a lead bullet that was too hard and it cuts the side of the bullet not the butt. To remedy this, load that harder lead bullet hotter to specs so it will help expand it out. If you like your powder charge better then get a softer bullet.

I'm not that experienced but I read an article yesterday that explained Elmer Keith's favorite mix for the 44 magnum was 16 parts lead and 1 part tin. I think it said the BHN was 11. It's all in the sizing!

 

[KBintheSLC]

I usually run a dry BoreSnake through 5-6 times after shooting soft lead rounds. It doesn't get it spotless, but it removes enough fouling to switch to FMJ without any issues.

 

[lloveless]

Jeff,
I hope you aren't running 15 gr of 2400 in your .38 with 158 gr swc. That is near top end for .357 Mag.in that weight! That could be your reason for leading.
ll

 

[rgs1975]

This is why I shoot FMJ's only at the range.

 

[zt77]

ew dirty barrels....that is why I shoot lead only at the range.

I've yet to experience leading. In any of my pistols. I only shoot my cast bullets and no copper.

 

[kmrcstintn]

if you do shoot mixed loads (fmj & lead) then shoot the fmj first followed by the lead; if you do the opposite then the softer lead can get compacted and imbedded in the grooves which makes cleaning the lead out a major chore

 

[eldon519]

You can try putting some Kroil down the barrel and letting it soak over night. Kroil is an oil that does an excellent job of penetrating even the smallest of cracks. Sometimes if you let it sit over night in a leaded barrel, it'll get underneath the lead and loosen it up.

 

[pps]

+1 on the Lewis lead remover AND the chore boy. I find the Lewis tool to be faster (1 pass has cleaned even the worst fouling)

I've posted these pics in the past, but here is the worst fouling I've had. I didn't bell out the brass enough before seating the bullets, thus shaving them to a diameter that was to small for the barrel. Here is what the barrel looked like.

Here is what the tool looked like after just 1 pass. The barrel was as smooth and clean as a baby's a$$.