Revolver Barrel Leading Help.

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

cslinger

Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2002
Messages
5,462
Location
Nashville, TN
Ok so what is the best way to clean leading out of a revolver barrel.

I have tried a lead away cloth and that works to an extent but not really good enough.

I have yet to try a Lewis Lead Remover as there is always something else to spend the money on. I have always heard good things.

I have an aversion to steel brushes. I have seen them sold and I may even have one but wouldn't steel on steel harm the barrel at least over many uses?

So is they any wundersolvent or do I pony up for a lewis lead remover?

Thanks
Chris
 
You got it. Pry open that wallet and spring for a Lewis Lead Remover. If you have a really fouled bore, there is nothing quicker or easier.

Once you get the barrel really clean, I think you'll find that it doesn't lead up as bad in the future.

Good Luck...

Joe
 
I've always had greatt results by using aa worn bore brush and a Chore Boy. The Chore Boy is a copper wool product sold at the grocery store. Unwrap it, beef up the bore brush and scrub away.

I've also found that using Flitz or GunBrite helps too. Probably smooths out the bore.
 
I have yet to try a Lewis Lead Remover as there is always something else to spend the money on.
Click to expand...

I was in the same frame of mind several years ago. I still kick myself for not buying one sooner. In less than a year the lead remover's cost will be re-couped from not having to buy so many patches and brushes.
 
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. I know. It really isn't the money as much as the effort needed to order one online have it shipped etc. If I came across one at a local shop I would buy it without thinking.

I am going to order one though.

Do these work for rifles also?

I already new the answer I just wanted to see if anybody else had any other alternatives.

Thanks much.

Chris
 
I've never seen one advertised with a rod long enough for rifles, kinda suspect over that long a pull with even a minimal amount of lead you might end up getting stuck...

Unfortuneatly Brownells website is on my favorties list and a package mysteriuosly appears at my door every 3 months or so. Ordering is just to darn easy :(
 
Once you get the Lewis Lead Remover, you will sit back and read theads like this and laugh. Leading is a non-issue. I shoot full house cast bullet loads out of my .44 Mag. Yeah, they lead; five seconds of work with the lead remover and it is good as new.
 
The Lewis Lead Remover works just as well on "Cowboy" rifles shooting lead bullets. You simply attach it to the longer rifle rods. It removes the leading left by bullets nicely, and as in the pistol, without damage.
The only thing to remember is to back off on the nut on the rubber tip so it isn't expended until most of the heavy lead is out.

Whenever you real about the latest "Miracle Lead Remover solvent" have a good laugh. There is NO chemical that can "dissolve" or remove lead, that won't also dissolve and remove YOU.

The old timers sometimes stupidly used mercury as a lead remover. The bore was corked and mercury was poured in. The mercury would "amalgamate" with the lead, and the whole mess could be simply brushed out.
The fact that you were exposed to deadly heavy metals, and the brushing put particles of heavy metal into the air where you could breath it in, wasn't considered.

True, some chemicals like Kroil can creep under the lead and help lift it off, but the operative words are "help".

Nothing is as fast and safe for your gun and you, as a Lewis kit.
 
I have and use Lewis lead removers in .45, .41 and .357/.38 sizes and they work great for a really leaded up bore. For a lightly leaded bore I use an old bronze bore brush of the correct caliber and wrap it with bronze wool - just running it in and out of the bore (as you do with the bore brush by itself) will clean most leaded bores. Just keep adding a little bronze wool as it becomes packed into the brush. The wool is available from Brownells (and sometimes Lowe's) and one package will last for YEARS! Odessa
 
There is an old timers trick of mixing 50/50 hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar. Plug bore and carefully pour in or use eye droper. Let sit for a few minutes and pour out. It should be black. Rinse with water and clean with bore cleaner and reoil. Don't let the solution or the foam it will make get on any blued surface. It eats bluing too.
 
Annuder vote for Chore Boy. Why work so hard? The only thing better is what my father use to do: "Son, clean the guns."
 
Well I had a Lewis Kit, it worked great until it grew legs and walked off.

Chore Girl does the same the thing for me, wisp around an old bore brush. Actually I went to the nylon bore brushes, seem to grab better but I can remove if need to refresh.

Rifles: aha, this is where I found the Otis pull through with a nylon bore brush and Chore girl is great. Them lever guns and cowboy loads ...no problem.

It ain't cheatin' if it works--its ingenuity
 
Revolver leading?

I usually end my shooting sessions by shooting a couple of cylinders of cast Gas checked ammo. The gas checks do a pretty good job of removing any leading. It works well for me. A few Gas checked rounds thru a rifle bore will also do the job on leading in your Cowboy guns. :D
 
Just wondering campanies bullet your are shooting? and if they're yours what lube are you using. I shoot a lot of top end big bores (41, 44 mag., 45 Colt, 454 Casuall and can't remember when I last had to clean out a bore either using flat base or gas checked. Concerning the lube I think it was John Linebaugh that stated if the lube hadrness is like a crayon it should be used to draw not shoot. I agree I've shot purchased cast bullets and when I recovered the bullet they still had lube in the grooves. My favorite is LBT's green lube. The NRA ALOX formula is one of the best but it's messy and smokes like shooting black powder.

You may need to check your bore for a burr and then lap the bore.

Oh by the way the worst leading I ever saw was from a friends MAC 11 (stamped) who decieded to save money he'd use cast bullets.

Have a good day.

Turk
 
For years I put off buying a Lewis Lead Remover, and tried about every brand of solvent out there. How stupid I was ! Get a Lewis lead remover.
 
that or just fire one or two jacketed rounds before you go home after shooting all the lead loads. Stainless brushes work well to as its usually just a pass in and a pass out to break up the lead in the tube so a soak and brass brush can finish it up. A lot of folks whine about using a stainless steel brush but they will slam a steel jacketed copper plated slug thats smaller than the hole its going tru and at 35k psi too.....
 
I've got to politely disagree with the "Shoot a few FMJ rounds through..." school of thought on leading.

I've used a lewis lead remover on several guns and noted an actual "tube" of lead being pulled out the bore. If a FMJ round was actually blowing this stuff out the bore after a long range session the pressures would be incredible. I think whats more likely happening is that the harder FMJ round is simply pressuring the lead in the bbl deeper into the grooves so it's not as visible. Whats even worse is that it leaves the normal copper residue on top of that. After several sessions like this what you've got is a layers of highly compressed lead coated by copper fouling, coated by lead, coated by copper fouling etc...

Problem is that if you notice virtually all bore cleaners are weighed on one side or the or the other to clean lead really good or copper fouling really good (and a Lewis lead remover will pull out lead, but not copper). So you've got the lead protecting the copper or the copper protecting the lead depending on your solvent choice at the moment. I've bought a couple of used guns whose bores were an absolute bear to totally clean. By that I mean a days long process of soaking, wearing out half dozen brushes, bags of patches, and using multiple types of solvent. I've always suspected these two guns were victims of the "Shoot it out" school of thought.

If I'm going to shoot mixed rounds I shoot the jacketed bullet first, then lead. Get home use lead remover clean as usual, then use a good copper solvent for final cleaning. Takes no time for me to get any of my bores to absolute clean steel should the mood strike me, even the two guns which were originally such problems. Just my humble theory anyway.
 
The old trick of shooting jacketed bullets to remove lead was to seat the bullets base up. then instead of the bullet having an ironing effect on the lead, the square base of the bullet cleans the grooves. Usually it doesn't work very well unless your bore is loaded with soft swaged lead.
 
I used to shoot lightly loaded FMJ though the pistols after a session with cast lead believing that it would help clean out the lead that was left. Then I would scrub the barrel. I found that it was easier scrubbing out the lead without the copper "cleaner". Now I use a Lewis lead remover and it is the easiest of all. Quantrill
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

P
  • Locked
Ok, I am a convert (to lewis lead remover)
Replies
13
Views
1K
MCgunner
M
K
  • Locked
Cleaning lead of Ruger GP100
Replies
17
Views
2K
4v50 Gary
4v50 Gary
R
  • Locked
Lead Removal
Replies
17
Views
766
dogrunner
D
S
  • Locked
Neurosis or proper cleaning technique?
Replies
1
Views
299
earplug
E
O
  • Locked
Pro Shot Metal Care Cloth vs. Birchwood-Casey Lead Remover Cloth
Replies
0
Views
678
Ops Officer
O
Back
Top