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"leading" From Shooting Slugs?


tpe187

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Hello all,

Well, I was trying to clean my 1100 barrel and it looks like a train wreck inside. It hasn't had that many rounds through it, maybe 500 with a good cleaning at 200. What I think has happened is that I shot some regular shot through the barrel which left some was residue, then about a week later, I fired some more shot and then about 35 slugs through it. After trying Shooters Choice and Hoppe #9, I noticed some nice gray sheeting coming off the patch. I recognized it as lead like when I used to shoot my Ruger Blackhawk with lead loads. I have tried the above solevants as well as Shooters Choice Shotgun and choke cleaner. Ive scrubed with a brush about a hundred times, and it just barely removes any.

Is this normal with slugs? The area goes from the chamber to just past the gas ports. What do you use to get rid of it. I don't have any lead remover on hand, but is that the best way? I'm really looking for a quick fix. If I need the lead remover, I'll just shoot it the way it is until it gets here. I'm sure it won't have much of an impact anyway.

Maybe this is the time to send it off to get the forcing cone lengthened. Do any of you have a recommendation for where to send it, with contact info? Thanks for any information.

Tom

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Hello all,

Well, I was trying to clean my 1100 barrel and it looks like a train wreck inside.  It hasn't had that many rounds through it, maybe 500 with a good cleaning at 200.  What I think has happened is that I shot some regular shot through the barrel which left some was residue, then about a week later, I fired some more shot and then about 35 slugs through it.  After trying Shooters Choice and Hoppe #9, I noticed some nice gray sheeting coming off the patch.  I recognized it as lead like when I used to shoot my Ruger Blackhawk with lead loads.  I have tried the above solevants as well as Shooters Choice Shotgun and choke cleaner.  Ive scrubed with a brush about a hundred times, and it just barely removes any. 

Is this normal with slugs?  The area goes from the chamber to just past the gas ports.  What do you use to get rid of it.  I don't have any lead remover on hand, but is that the best way?  I'm really looking for a quick fix.  If I need the lead remover, I'll just shoot it the way it is until it gets here.  I'm sure it won't have much of an impact anyway.

Maybe this is the time to send it off to get the forcing cone lengthened.  Do any of you have a recommendation for where to send it, with contact info?  Thanks for any information.

Tom

Odd, I've never had a problem with leading but maybe it's due to already having it back bored by the factory. I believe Briley does a good job of this. As it is, I tend to just clean the innards of the trigger group and the soot off around where the gas piston is on my gold. I don't usually swab or clean the bore regardless of shooting lead slugs, lead shot, buckshot, or steel waterfowl loads.

Vince

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Browning tells people not to shoot slugs in their back-bored barrels. I think that the new Citori has a bore around .740"-.745".

I just wanted to mention that so people would double check to see if you should shoot slugs in a large bore.

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Nah, I don't worry about swarf in shotgun barrels either. Like Vince, I just clean the gas system and the trigger group/receiver anymore and barrel just gets a Tico Tool through it once in a while to slop some lube in it.

I think I bothered to use steel wool on a stick to clean the bbl down to metal once a couple years back, but never bothered again when I realized how much work cleaning it was and how fast it got mungy again ;-)

--

Regards,

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Get out your power drill and obligatory wooden dowel. Slap some JB bore paste on a rag & polish that sucker up.

Option 2 is to ship it off to Coles. I called them maybe a year or two ago and they lengthened forcing cones for something like $40 or some unbelievable cheap price.

www.colegun.com

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I'm kind of surprised about them telling people not to use slugs. I use the Brenneke style slugs and they just squeeze through a modified choke for me. They shoot ok for me to about 50 yards, and maybe a little farther because I generally don't shoot them past 50 yards. I wonder if the brenneke style with the mostly attached basewad has something to do with why they seem to shoot ok. I don't recall reading anything that said not to do so, but then it's been years since I read my Gold Manual. I wonder if this was something they reccomend for their o/u's and not neccesarily their repeaters.

Vince

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OK, class time. Shotgun bores get loads of plastic and lead (slugs and buckshot) in them. Just because you eyeball the bore and it "looks clean" doesn't mean it is. However, being dirty may not adversely effect accuracy, considering the nebulous realm we call "accuracy" in a shotgun.

If you want it clean, here's what you do: get two four foot sections of 550 cord and a red shop cloth. Go to the grocery store and buy a copper pot scrubber. Tie the cord around the cloth so you can just pull it through the bore. Do the same to a similar size piece of pot scrubber.

Pull the pot scrubber through the bore. You'll find sheets of plastic and lead coming out. Repeat. When the debris falling out of the bore decreases, pull the shop cloth through.

Ignore all advice to use bore solvent, brushes, cleaning rods, etc. They are all sub-standard methods of getting huge amounts of gunk out of your bore. Once the bore is clean, you can try Eric's method of abrasive cloth on a rod and a power drill. However, don't expect much improvement in fouling. It will load up again, just not quite as fast.

We developed this cleaning method at Second Chance, where you could put literal cartons of ammo downrange during the match.

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Thanks for that little trick. I know exactly what you mean about it looking clean, but being far from it. I used to do a lot of skeet shooting and would look down the barrels and think it was clean. Just for general maintenance, I decided to clean the barrels.. Wow, all of a sudden, little bits of plastic are sheeting off and it looks like hell.

Not sure what impact it has, but a lot of times it is mental. If you think it is effecting your shooting, than it is. That is why confidence in your equipment/setup is so important.

Anyway, good advice! My wife is heading to the store this afternoon. I will ask her to get some of the copper pot scrubber and put this technique to work. Thanks again.

Tom

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And do make sure you only use copper ones. The stainless bore err... pot scrubbers will damage your barrel. I promise!!

I'm curious what it might do? They told me that Steel shot will damage my bore but I have yet to see any damage done after shooting several seasons of Steel shot through it. :)

Vince

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And do make sure you only use copper ones. The stainless bore err... pot scrubbers will damage your barrel. I promise!!

I'm curious what it might do? They told me that Steel shot will damage my bore but I have yet to see any damage done after shooting several seasons of Steel shot through it. :)

Vince

I've seen pictures, no first-hand experience, mind you, of scratches and gouges in bore that were cleaned with stainless scrubbers. This also makes sense in view of the recommendations that we not use stainless chamber brushes in bores because stainless could scratch them as well.

Bob

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And do make sure you only use copper ones. The stainless bore err... pot scrubbers will damage your barrel. I promise!!

I'm curious what it might do? They told me that Steel shot will damage my bore but I have yet to see any damage done after shooting several seasons of Steel shot through it. :)

Vince

I've seen pictures, no first-hand experience, mind you, of scratches and gouges in bore that were cleaned with stainless scrubbers. This also makes sense in view of the recommendations that we not use stainless chamber brushes in bores because stainless could scratch them as well.

Bob

Ok, I'm going to go on a limb here.. In a rifled barrel I can see that this might have some bearing, but since we are talking smoothbores, what if any detriment will this have other than looking lousy? What functional difference does this make to a scattergun? I don't know that a scratched smoothbore will pattern any different than a truly smooth surface barrel. Ok, it's scratched, does it stop functioning? does it now pattern to the left? How can you tell? Do you see where I'm going with this? What difference does it make other than not looking good when you look down the barrel?

:)

I know, I'm being a pain, but no one has proven to me that it makes a difference.

Vince

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+1 on the copper pot scrubber. Big time saver. Except I use a undersize bore brush (20 ga brush in the 12 ga barrel) to wrap the scrubber around. works good on the chokes also.

I have used this method on handgun barrels with great success too.

I cant tell you that it increases the slug accuracy at all, as I cant shoot slugs for beans anyway.

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