Lead 45 acp bullets?

[tggdeer]

Those of you who are shooting lead bullets in your 45 acp. How much cleaning ,of your weapon, is involved to keep the lead from building up in the barrel. I've been thinkiing about ordering some from missouri bullets, but this has been keeping me from doing so.

 

[LiveLife]

Regardless of whether I shoot jacketed, plated or lead, I clean the barrels of my pistols after each shooting session (each session averages 300-1000+ rounds).

Most fouling will come clean with Hoppes #9 solvent soaked for about 10-15 minutes (By "soak" I mean running dripping bore brush/mop through the barrel, not dunking the barrel in a bucket).

If there is any lead left, I will soak the barrel with lead bore cleaner (Remington Bore Cleaner is what I use among other) and run my copper bore brush through. I have recently used the copper chore-boy wrapped around the rod end and it works very well too.

I used to shoot jacketed/plated in 45ACP, now I only shoot lead (I am still shooting mixed jacketed/plated/lead in 9mm/40S&W with very little leading).

 

[Gik-tal]

Lead is about all I shoot out of my 45 ACP. I always clean after I finish shooting for the day. I use Montana X-Treme Cowboy Blend Bore Cleaning solvent to loosen the lead and a Lewis Lead Remover from Brownells to remove all the lead fast. Usally run a patch of the cleaner down the barrel, let it sit 5 miniutes, Usally while I clean the rest of the firearm. Then pull the lead remover thru once and barrel is clean. By the way you cannot go wrong with the Missouri Bullets.

 

[243winxb]

Lead should not build up in the barrel if everything is correct. The chamber might need scrubbing if your shaving lead on bullet seating. missouri bullets You will have 2 BHN hardness alloys to choose from is some styles of bullet. Make sure you pick the correct one for your usage. See the info on there website.

 

[evan price]

I shoot 90% lead bullets, I cast my own 45's from wheel weight alloy and range scrap. Properly sized and lubed and loaded to the right velocity, they don't lead up the barrel. I shot a thousand or so in my Sig 220 before I cleaned it. It was dirty, but no problems with excessive leading.

 

[Steve C]

Lead seems to accumulate on copper fouling so if you have shot much jacketed ammo in your pistol before switching to lead make sure you've cleaned it of any copper fouling first as that will save having to clean both out later on. A good copper removing bore cleaner like Sweets 7.62 or other with ammonia will remove copper fouling the best. An electronic foul out is probably even better. If you start with a clean bore you should have little leading as long as you match bullet size and hardness to pressure and velocity if using commercial cast.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I shoot mostly lead bullets in my 1911 and I rarely get any leading at all. The .45 ACP is a fairly low pressure caliber so if you use soft bullets (no more than 12 BHN) you will be fine. Missouri bullets are the right hardness for your use.

 

[THe Dove]

I only shoot lead boolits in my 45 ACP pistols and LC pistol. Never had a problem with leading and I clean them about every other shooting.

The Dove

 

[bluetopper]

Hard cast lead pistol bullets is all I ever shoot. Even in 357 and 44 Magnum, what very little lead that does accumulate after several hundred rounds comes right out with a stiff bore brush. Jacketed bullets are a thing of the past for me.

 

[TonyT]

I have shot a lot of 185 gr. LSWC through my 45's in bullseye pistol matches. I keep the velocity at 720 fps with HS-700X for up to 25 yards and VV N-310 for the 50 yard shots. I clean the barrel with a 50 cal bronze brush a few swipes removes any leading.

 

[snuffy]

Those of you who are shooting lead bullets in your 45 acp. How much cleaning ,of your weapon, is involved to keep the lead from building up in the barrel. I've been thinking about ordering some from Missouri bullets, but this has been keeping me from doing so.

What makes you think you're going to get a leaded up barrel? Don't believe the internet myths that lead bullets ALWAYS cause LEAD fouled barrels.

 

[tggdeer]

Thanks for all the information. Looks like I will be ordering some of those missouri boolits. So, would it be money wasted on a lewis lead remover ? Sorta sonds like it would be.

 

[Roccobro]

I'd wait and see how your firearms do. I shot some lead MB .40's through a Glock last night to check function and leading. Had a little bit of junk (lead?) in the bore after 25 rounds that came out with >10 passes of a dry bronze bore brush. Doubt it was even lead. But I kept checking every 5 rounds to no avail.

Looks like this gun won't have any Lewis Lead Remover run through it ever.

Justin

 

[tango2echo]

I have more trouble with copper fouling than lead fouling. I shoot ALOT of lead in .45acp and have never done anything other than normal cleaning. Run a few JHP's through it at the end of a long shooting session and then hit it with a boresnake soaked in solvent. Then a dry boresnake. Takes like 2-3 minutes.

When shooting XTP's and GDHP (Hot reloads) I get pretty heavy copper fouling after 50-100 rounds, which requires some work to remove. After about 200 rounds the groups start growing until I deal with the copper.

As far as lead goes, the Missouri Bullet "Softball" 230gr is about as good as it gets. I load them over a stout charge of Unique. From a tuned 1911 they will shoot one hole groups at 15 yards all day for me.

t2e

 

[NuJudge]

The .45 acp is pretty low pressure and low performance, so it does not take much of a lubricant to prevent Leading.

Too small a bullet can cause Leading. I like pistol bullets to be at least .001" larger than groove diameter.

Too soft a bullet, especially in a rough barrel or where the lubricant isn't very good, can cause Leading. A lot of .45 acp shooters like soft bullets for it, believing that they will upset on firing and seal better: I'm not one of those people, I like them hard.

I find a BoreSnake takes care of any Lead wash in the bore of my Colt Series 80.

When you start with 9mm or .40 S&W, everything will change because they're much higher pressure, and because 9mm barrels usually have oversize groove diameters.

 

[Maj Dad]

I use the Lewis Lead Remover on my 38/357s, 44s & 45s, but only if I see lead building up. I haven't found it necessary to use it every time, but you certainly could - it's not labor intensive by any means. A streak of lead doesn't send me panic stricken for the corrosive/caustic remover de jour, and electrolysis is reserved for women's mustaches...

 

[Travis Two]

www.pennbullets.com has great .45 bullets as well as everything else.I shoot literally tens of thousands of these every year. A quality product loaded properly will give you very little or no leading issues to deal with. I use WST and Clays as my two go to .45 powders. Very Clean.

 

[loadedround]

I've been shooting 200 gr SWC Laser Cast bullets by Oregon Trail in my 45's and actually in all big bore pistols and revolvers for many years now. The Lase cast bullets are some of the hardest cast bullets on the market today and I have never had a leading problem with any handgun. These bullets have an excellent lube on them and I have very little fouling to clean up either. I highly recommend these bullets for your 45.

 

[Tacoma]

Missouri makes a good lead bullet. It's all I buy these days. Note that leading is largely caused by bullets being pushed at the wrong speed. Missouri taylors their bullets to meet various needs/ velocities. Seems to work. Explanation is on their sight.
No affiliation yada-yada

FWIW, I like their round nosed flat point in 200 gr as a "do all" bullet. They work well in all 7 of my 45's.