bomadera Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 In shooting lead bullets, how often do we need to de-lead the bore? Or is it necessary? Will lead build-up increase pressures? Has anybody done any research on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ofcrfs242 Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 I clean my barrels after every range session or match. Lead build up will increas pressure and a lot of it depends on how much build up you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 In shooting lead bullets, how often do we need to de-lead the bore? Or is it necessary? Will lead build-up increase pressures? Has anybody done any research on this? Yes ther has been just a little bit of research. the big factor is how fast are you pushing the bullet. and what kind of lubricant does the bullet have. Teach your shelf to enjoy cleaning your equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dajarrel Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 IMHO, if you are not pushing your bullet too fast and the alloy is of the proper hardness, you shouldn't have a problem with leading. I shoot 3 parts range lead (from berms) to 1 part linotype and lube with Blue Angel hard lube. I run my .40 and .45 bullets at major PF's and never have any problems with leading. However, until I finally got my alloy figured out, I was cleaning just about every range session. FWIW dj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougCarden Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 (edited) I have been shooting lead bullets for about 15yrs, and have cleaned many a barrel. My recomendation is that you will need to try some different loads and see how the burn rate of the powder does with the hardness of the bullets you are using. I am fortunate that my caster makes the same bullets all the time and I dont have to re-invent the loads all the time. If you are using really fast powders, which is what we want.... then you have to make sure that you are not melting the base of the bullet and coating the bore. If that is happening, then you will have to clean the bore after 100 rds or so. You will need to get a Lewis lead remover from Brownells. Best thing out there for that. But you can circumvent that by not using that fast of a powder. Check with your caster to see how hard the lead is. If they dont know........you might want to find another caster..... A brinell hardness of 16-19 seems to work well for IPSC loads in what I am loading. If they are much harder you may have problems with sealing the bore and getting blowby on the sides of the bullets, which lead up the barrel as well. Your ideal load is one that makes the base of the bullet "spread" out and seal to the bore of the barrel, but not melt while it is in the barrel. If your load does not "lead" up the barrel, then you can clean it every 500-1K. Hope this helps, DougC PS....if you are shooting lead you might want to stay away from Fast Nitrocellouse powders......they burn really hot...... Edited February 21, 2008 by DougCarden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Bomadera and I were talking about this the other day... In addition to leading the barrel, what can you do to keep the lead and lube from clogging up the seating die? I've been handloading since about '91 or so, but primarily jacketed bullets. With bullet prices so high, I'm switching to lead for practice and local matches - and I'm getting some pretty clear bullet setback after only 200-300 rounds or so. Cleaning out the gunk (lead and lube) from my seating die is a first class pain in the arse and I'd rather not have to do it every time I sit down to load bullets.... I'm loading on a 650, using a Dillon seating die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooterj Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Catfish, you may want to flare your cases a bit more to avoid shaving lead and lube from the bullet during seating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el pres Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 I just started loading Precision Bullets and had to set flare alot deeper. I usually dont flare much at all and brass lasts forever but with these bullets I have to flare quite a bit or you can really feel them going in. Is this extra flare going to shorten the life of the brass (neck cracks) and does anybody have a good load for the 155 40.. They are pretty good as far as smoke, even tried some Tightgroup and it smoked more but not much... Pretty satisfied with them.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catfish Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Catfish, you may want to flare your cases a bit more to avoid shaving lead and lube from the bullet during seating. Thanks Scooter, I'll give it a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEADEYE Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 +1 on checking your flare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Throwin Lead Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 I have spent some time developing major & minor lead loads this off season and so far I don't have any issues with leading. I'm using mastercast of PA 180gn bullets and S&S Casting 220 gn bullets. I have tested these with WST & Solo 1000 and found no leading at all. I shot about 500 rounds Sunday - all lead - with no leading issues. The max velocity that I'm seeing is 930 ish fps for the 180's & 765 ish fps for the 220's shot over a chrono last Sunday when the weather broke into the mid 50's. + 1 on more flair. I did have an issue with my seating die getting gunked up from lube probably because I was shaving a bit of it off when seating the bullet. Loading 40SW the case flare is set up to .431. That is about the minimum I can go without shaving lube. After flairing the case to this dimension the major gunk problem went away. There is a slightly noticable sticky coating of lube on my seating die after loading about 1K rounds. I use rubbing alcohol applied with a small modelers paint brush and wipe out the seating & crimp die with a shop rag. The alcohol works well for removing that slight amount of lube without taking apart any of the dies. YMMV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revchuck Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 You've got to match your bullet hardness to your desired velocity. If you're shooting Minor loads, try swaged bullets. I shot 750 rounds of 158 grain Zero swaged RNs in .38 Special at ~830 fps in one day during a class. No leading - zero, zilch, nada. I shot a major match - about 200 rounds at the same velocity - with Speer swaged bullets with the same result. If you've got a balanced load, you'll get lube buildup, but no more barrel fouling than with jacketed bullets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el pres Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 (edited) You've got to match your bullet hardness to your desired velocity. If you're shooting Minor loads, try swaged bullets. I shot 750 rounds of 158 grain Zero swaged RNs in .38 Special at ~830 fps in one day during a class. No leading - zero, zilch, nada. I shot a major match - about 200 rounds at the same velocity - with Speer swaged bullets with the same result.If you've got a balanced load, you'll get lube buildup, but no more barrel fouling than with jacketed bullets. Edited cause I'm a dumbass !!! Working on caffine injection !!! Edited February 22, 2008 by DIRTY CHAMBER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revchuck Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 You've got to match your bullet hardness to your desired velocity. If you're shooting Minor loads, try swaged bullets. I shot 750 rounds of 158 grain Zero swaged RNs in .38 Special at ~830 fps in one day during a class. No leading - zero, zilch, nada. I shot a major match - about 200 rounds at the same velocity - with Speer swaged bullets with the same result.If you've got a balanced load, you'll get lube buildup, but no more barrel fouling than with jacketed bullets. What kind of class was that ?? Thats like 33000 bullets ?? Dude - Time for a fresh caffeine injection. That was 158 grain bullets loaded into .38 Special ammunition. I shot 750 rounds of this ammo in one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johann the Horrible Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 I never load anything but lead for my 45 and 9mm Luger. I have never seen any leading in my 45 but since I am shooting a 232gr bullet @ 750 fps that is not strange. With the 9mm I use a 127gr bullets at about 1100 fps and see very little leading there. If I do a normal bronze brush/Hoppes no9 clean after the match/practice no other steps are needed. Welcome to my world were we use lead bullets- not because we like it but because we cannot afford the alternatives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddy_fuentes Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 Scooter is right, it helps to have a tad more flare to avoid lube and lead shaving build-up. However, if your using the Dillon dies (they come apart easily) there is an easy solution for cleaning. I use a bore brush for a .22 and wrap it with the copper cleaning pad, like the ones used on pots. A few strokes and the lead/wax debris is removed. Since prices have gone through the roof, I shoot nothing but lead. I clean my guns about every 1,000 rounds. Buddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vrmn1 Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 I shoot almost nothing but lead. Most of which I cast myself. With a good lube, and bullets sized properly to fit your gun leading should be very minimal if at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougCarden Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 Reference gunk build up in the seater die, this is where the Dillon Die set seater comes in handy! It was designed to be able to pop it out, clean it, and throw it back in with no loss of your OAL. If you havent, you might want to try it for lead bullets. You do need to check it every 500-1K that you load... Good luck, DougC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bomadera Posted February 26, 2008 Author Share Posted February 26, 2008 Thanks guys, info greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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