lead in cylinder

[BiXLL]

I am rather new to wheelguns. I recently got the wife a S&W 686, 4 inch. I am concerned about the amount of lead left in the cylinder after only putting 100 rounds down range. I have asked some others about this, and they say it is normal. I may be being a little anal about cleaning it, but I have always cleaned my guns after each range session. I have used breakfree, and 2 or three of the name brand bore cleaners on it, and still end up spending an hour or better just on the cylinders. I have had more then one person tell me " I just run a dry brush through, and carry on, it shoots better a little dirty"> I am having a hard time accepting this philosophy, am I wrong?
She is shooting 38 spcl rounds through it.

 

[HSMITH]

Use some lead solvent on it, soak the cylinder bores and do something else for 15 minutes, brush it a little with a bronze brush and soak again if it needs it. Personally I use a .41 cal brush on the 38/357 cylinders chucked in a cordless drill, start turning before inserting and turn until it is totally out of the bores. Takes 5 minutes.

Lead in the cylinder is not going to hurt anything. Also make sure you are not trying to clean out the erosion marks from using 38's in a 357. They will start cutting into the cylinder a little and if you clean those marks out you are going to have problems.

 

[BiXLL]

Thanks, never thought of using cordless drill:banghead: I am sure it is not errosion marks, using bore light, you can see it is build up. Is this normal?

 

[stans]

There are a few things that can cause leading in the cylinder throat. Soft lead bullets, soft or hard lead bullets that completely fill or slightly overfill the throat diameter, rough machine marks in the throat. Shooting 38 Specials in a 357 will always leave a ring of residue just short of the throat.

 

[dfariswheel]

I'm always leary of using aggressive cleaning methods on expensive guns.

The safest and most effective method is to just buy the revolver shooter's best friend, a Lewis Lead Remover kit.

This is a special tool that quickly and safely removes all lead from revolver barrels, forcing cones, and chambers. It also works on auto barrels.

This tool uses a special rod, with special tips that pull a brass screen cleaning pad down the bore or chamber to remove the lead. These have been used by revolver shooter's for MANY years.

You can buy them from Brownell's.
Unlike other, non-standard methods, the Lewis kit CANNOT harm the barrel.

Brownell's also sell special chamber cleaning brushes. These look like bore brushes, but are stiffer and sized to fit the chamber. DO NOT buy the stainless models. They are for use only on chambers that are so badly fouled there is no other option.

 

[HSMITH]

The Lewis Lead Remover WORKS!!!!!! I have not been able to find them for a number of years, guess I did not look at my Brownells catalog closely enough. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[BiXLL]

I didnt see a listing for 357. Should I use 9mm-38, or go up to .40?

 

[P95Carry]

I use the Hoppes deleading kit .... same principle as Lewis ... the brass gauze does a great job. Should not be too hard to track down .. forget where I got mine.

As far as wheel gun cylinders go .. I used to use a lot of home load, cast bullet, rounds thru my .686 ...... always got some lead build up. I used two methods for removal ... the easiest is an old 357 case .. slightly flaired only - so it still fits chamber ... and then run a small metal saw blade across case mouth from different directions, to just create a slight roughness .... cut a slot in base to accept a screwdriver blade ... insert case and twist to and fro . usually will dislodge lead with no harm to surface. Someone else refered to this in another thread ... for removing the crud ring from 38 spl ammo in a 357 cylinder.

Other thing I used at times was a cleaning brush for 357 but with stainless bristles .... only used that sparingly ..... and as someone else mentioned ... a slightly oversize copper brush in a drill will also do good.

 

[BiXLL]

Thanks to all that posted replys, I REALLY appreciate it! You have helped a lot!

 

[Standing Wolf]

I always drop the cylinder into a bottle of cleaning solvent while cleaning the barrel and frame, then use a bronze bristle brush one caliber over-size on the cylinder. I recently bought a used .357 magnum revolver whose previous owner had shot nothing but .38 special loads in it. My quarter-century-old Lewish lead remover cleaned up the cylinder bores in about ten minutes.

 

[Jim K]

"Should I use 9mm-38, or go up to .40?"

.357 is the same bore/bullet diameter as .38 Special and close to 9mm. The .40 will be too big.

Jim

 

[bountyhunter]

"Personally I use a .41 cal brush on the 38/357 cylinders chucked in a cordless drill, start turning before inserting and turn until it is totally out of the bores. Takes 5 minutes."

I use a .40 cal NYLON bore brush on my drill, and I dip the tip in auto chrome polish before inserting it into the tube. Spin for about 10 - 15 seconds and it will be clean.

 

[BEARMAN]

Before taking an electric drill and a bore brush to your gun , try this. A 50/50 MIX OF HOUSEHOLD PEROXIDE AND REGULAR WHITE VINEGAR . SWAB THE BORE OR CYLINDER , LET SIT A FEW MINUTES ,THEN USE YOUR BORE BRUSH AND SCRUB. IF THAT CLEANS OUT THE LEAD , CLEAN AS USUAL AND OIL TO PREVENT RUSTING. This also works to remove lead build up in compensators on IPSC guns. There are two strengths of peroxide , the one used as an antiseptic and the strength used to bleach hair. you may have to try the stronger one, I used it and it cleaned out a .357 cylinder that had fired a lot of .38 specials. On a blued gun don't let it sit too long or it might affect your blued finish. I did it on a blued gun and had no problems but I only let it sit for about 5 minutes.

 

[WESHOOT2]

OR

I use patches cut from a KLEENBORE Lead Wipe-Away cloth.

Will damage bluing, I'm told.

Use sparingly in your bore, and REMOVE ALL RESIDUE.
Then clean thoroughly using conventional method; suggest Hoppe's #9.
Does a great job on chambers, forcing cone face, front of cylinder, etc.
Adds an extremely gentle polishing effect.

 

[dance varmint]

I normally use a .40 caliber Tornado brush, and I also use the Lewis or Hoppes lead remover.

 

[ajacobs]

For prevenitive maintance practice with georgia arms .357 loaded to 38 special power (same as a 38 just in the longer case). This prevents the ring.

 

[BudthePrez]

Brownells sells a ceramic rod that is designed to remove the lead from .38/.357 chambers. Used with a little bit of Kroil works great with no visible damage after 6 years.

 

[Sentry]

50/50 MIX OF HOUSEHOLD PEROXIDE AND REGULAR WHITE VINEGAR . SWAB THE BORE OR CYLINDER , LET SIT A FEW MINUTES ,THEN USE YOUR BORE BRUSH AND SCRUB. IF THAT CLEANS OUT THE LEAD , CLEAN AS USUAL AND OIL TO PREVENT RUSTING.

Don't leave this in, it's basically acid with an accelerator and will eat the metal right away if you leave it in too long.

 

[Master Blaster]

Vinegar and Peroxide

Also known as Paracetic acid, acid plus oxidizer, it removes lead very well, BUT

There was somone on the firing line who tried this in his CZ and he discovered that after 15 minutes it caused red rust PITTS in his barrel, damaged the bore.

It depends what alloy and additives are in the steel, so you are taking a chance.

I tried it in my taurus 94 left it in 10 minutes and it disolved the lead and did no damage, also used it in my 686+ and it removed lead from the forcing cone very well, no damage.

After reading about the cz barrel, I did a little research and found that the industrial users of this compound have to be carefull of the metal formulation of their stainless steel tubing and tanks, because the wrong alloy will corrode/errode rapidly.

I then wondered what the unseen effect of repeated use might be on the steel.

I decided to use choreboy wrapped bronze brushes instead.

YMMV

 

[MoNsTeR]

I prefer .375 brushes. 9mm/.357 brushes don't do a good job in the chambers, and .40 brushes give out really quickly when used this way.