How to determine leading in rifle

[cs86]

I'm wondering how one can see down the barrel and see if and where a rifle would be leading if you don't have a bore scope. A pistol is simple since it's short and most action guns make it relatively easy to remove the barrel.

The reason I ask is because last weekend I tried lead for the first time in my 308win. I noticed on the hotter loads that I would start to see a build up of lead on the crown of the barrel. Looking down the barrel from the muzzle it really didn't look like any leading, but how would you see if it is leading around the throat? I figured with some patches and scrubbing would tell me if there was anything in there. Patches seemed to come out clean, which I was happy to see. The boolits where all gas checked so I don't know if it becomes hard to see leading if the check is scraping out the lead that last boolit left...

[tomme boy]

wrong forum

[Wayne S]

With 200+ posts ??? CLASSIFIEDS are for buying, trading & selling,

[cs86]

Sorry. I didn't realize I was under swap and sell. Thought I clicked this forum before posting. Thank you for moving this.

[Tatume]

Put a piece of bright white paper in the action, with a crease and set at an angle to the bore. Shine your flashlight on the paper from the breech end. Look down the bore from the muzzle. You will get a pretty good view of the interior of the barrel.

[petroid]

If your patches came out clean and you don't see anything out of the ordinary it's probably not leaded. The crown probably had a lube star

[rintinglen]

Don't be surprised if you have no leading.

Proper fitting, gas checked boolits with a good lube will usually not lead to any significant degree. I've shot well over 100 rounds at a sitting with negligible leading at velocities up to 2300 feet. There are others here who have gone faster.

To really check for leading, soak the bore over night with a good penetrating oil (I use Kroil, but there are others just as good) then force a tight fitting patch through the bore and check for lead slivers.

[cs86]

If your patches came out clean and you don't see anything out of the ordinary it's probably not leaded. The crown probably had a lube star

It was lead on the crown. Wish I had took a pic. When its something shiny, silvery looking I don't think it's lube. When I started seeing this on the crown my groups opened way up.

Keep in mind, the topic isn't so much as to leading problems as I'm wondering how are you or what techniques are you using to view areas of leading (like at the breech end). Specifically in a rifle without taking a barrel off.


Put a piece of bright white paper in the action, with a crease and set at an angle to the bore. Shine your flashlight on the paper from the breech end. Look down the bore from the muzzle. You will get a pretty good view of the interior of the barrel.

I like this advise, and I'll give it a try sometime. Thanks