Chills1994 Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Yep, what does leading in a barrel look like? How do you get rid of it? Yes, I did a search, entered "leading" in the window at the search page. Thanks, for responding and hanging w/ my newbie-ish questions. Chills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFD Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Look through the barrel at a light source. The leading will be an obvious buildup on the otherwise smooth bore. For all of the guns I shoot lead in, the leading is going to be in the first 1/4" or so of the barrel. I haven't found any chemical means to easily remove it, but I haven't devoted a heck of a lot of effort to the search. I either use a Lewis Lead Remover (Brownells of course) or what I believe is a better technique. Take a nylon bore brush and wrap it with strips cut from a copper scouring pad. Easy to find, just go to the grocery store and look for Brite Boy. Messy when you cut it, so do it over a trash can. I find that a few passes with this will clean out the lead. I'll follow up with some of the new Hoppes bore gel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdragon Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Mercury! But I wouldn't recommend that! Ivan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmorris Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 http://www.gunaccessories.com/Outers/FoulOut.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinMike Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 The barrel in my Kimber got leaded pretty bad when I was trying out some moly coated bullets. Copper chore boy wrapped around a bore brush helped. Kroil works pretty good to help get it out. I've got a bottle that I mixed 50/50 of Kroil and Hoppes No. 9. Liberal squirts of that down the barrel followed by soaked patches on a jag brings the lead out in chunks. Ultimate solution was to start shooting jacketed bullets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 Chilly, take the barrel out, clean out any oil or bore solvent with soap and water, then stuff a foam ear plug just inside the muzzle. Stand it on the muzzle end next to the sink. Pour the barrel full of hydrogen peroxide 3% solution, like you get at the grocery store for 75 cents. Let it stand about 15 minutes and brush with a stiff bronze brush. Repeat this until the peroxide doesn't foam anymore. Lead oxidizes very easily compared to barrel steels. But, don't leave the peroxide in for more than half an hour. The small foam bubbles are the lead being oxidized. Pistol barrels can be lapped with 600 grit valve lapping compound and then JB bore cleaner, lead won't readily stick inside after that. I've hand-lapped all my barrels and they just don't lead-up anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParaJoe Posted February 7, 2006 Share Posted February 7, 2006 I made one of these to remove the lead in my Para barrel and have never looked back. The stuff just comes right out. I usually find my lead build up right after the chamber and a little in the barrel. JOe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted February 7, 2006 Author Share Posted February 7, 2006 Okay, thanks for the replies everybody. I was going to hook up my Foul Out ?? system to it yesterday, but too much time up on the shelf ruined it. Popped the battery cover off to discover the AA batteries inside had corroded up the terminals. It must have been years since I used it. I tried fresh batteries and even cleaning off the terminals, but it still didn't work. Wow, th prices on the Foul Out systemes have really jumped up according to that link above. I bought a different chemical today marketed as a lead remover. I also took the rubber stoppers from the Foul Out system to plug the muzzle end of the barrel. Then over the kitchen sink I poured some of this "lead remover" down the chamber end. The label says don't leave in the bore overnight, so I'll just try a couple of hours. It's a stainless steel barrel, so I think it shouldn't hurt it. I also took a small pick and scratched at the crude, sure enough, small greyish silvery specks came out of the barrel. I was shooting 147 gr 9mm through it last, but I don't know if it was those bullets (going at a slower speed) or the other lighter lead bullets (going at a faster speed) that caused the leading. Anyhoo...thanks for the tips/advice everyone. Chills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 Nope that Shooter's Choice lead remover sitting in the barrel for a couple of hours didn't do much for it either. It's either the homemade fould out system or the copper brillo pad method next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 When lead was shoot though my glock barrel (it leaded badly), I finally took one of those plastic cleaning rods that comes with the Glock, cut off the loop on the end, then chucked it up in my drill. I threw a good bore brush on it and solvent, then went to town. I wish I had tried that first. Lots of other stuff didn't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek45 Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 +1 on the Copper kitchen scrubber. Works great. I heard the peroxide will eat your barrel, never tried it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted February 16, 2006 Author Share Posted February 16, 2006 Yep that copper "brillo" pad works great! I just did my 9mm barrel. It looks as clean and shiney as it did brand new. And it was very fast. Cut the copper pad over the trash can so I didn't get little copper strips everywhere. I didn't have a nylon bore brush so I used an old copper bristled one. Made one cut with a pair of scissors, let the flakes fall into the trash. Wrapped a pinch of good stuff around the brush. In less than ten swipes the barrel was lead free. The copper pad I got was under the Libman name at my grocery store. Two came in a package. So that should be a lifetime supply for me. You guys are great. Thanks JFD and Derek! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFD Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I was amazed myself at how well the copper scrubber worked. I can easily say it does a better job and is 100% easier to use than the Lewis Lead Remover. Whole lot cheaper too. Glad I could help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted February 18, 2006 Share Posted February 18, 2006 I'll add a vote for the Kroil. A couple squirts into a rubber stopper plugged barrel, and another in the other end and another plug. An occasional shake as I clean the rest of the gun. Then I drain the barrel and use a regular phosphor bronze brush. I'd never seen curls of lead come out of the barrel until I started using the Kroil. There's still a need for some elbow grease, though. The scrubbing with the copper pad sounds pretty good. And I like sam's lapping idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daemon Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 I made one of these to remove the lead in my Para barrel and have never looked back. The stuff just comes right out. I usually find my lead build up right after the chamber and a little in the barrel. JOe Just be careful with this. I used it on my sig220 barrel and it caused extensive pitting in the barrel. So if you do this make sure the ammonia is thinned with water and dont leave it in for more than 15 minutes at a time. FWIW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim thompson Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 One of he values of pouring your own is making the bullets hard enough that you don't have a leading problem. Use 1/2 Lynotype to 1/2 WW metal and you won't see much leading at all. I used straight lynotype for 44 Mags and encounter little if any leading. The first load works better with 9MM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scclimber Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 all this sounds too complicated. i just shoot a mag or 2 of jacketed bullets after a match to blow most of the fouling out. then, clean as usual. just my .02 blake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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