Leading in barrels

[GregLaROCHE]

I’m a newbie to casting, but am really excited about how it can bring costs down.

I’ve never seen leading before. I have a 6.5 mm bore, so it’s not so easy to look into it. I have been experiencing with gas checked Alox as well as some conventionally lubed boolits. Not more than ten and a few powder coated. What and how should I look for leading?

This is a new rifle to me, but the barrel seems to get a lot hotter than my other guns. Can leading cause the barrel to heat up more than normal?

Are there there any pictures out there to help me know if I have leading?

Thanks

[Dusty Bannister]

Rather than try to explain what you have in the barrel, it might be better to just start at the beginning to make sure you have been following good cast bullet reloading practices. First would be to obtain your data from one of the popular cast bullet reloading manuals. Many of your questions will have been answered by reading through the manual and since you are now asking a basic question, you may not have started off correctly.

So let's get some of the basics out of the way. What is your alloy? What is the diameter of your cast bullet as measured with a micrometer. Did you slug the barrel so you know your bullet is large enough to be a gas tight seal in the barrel. Is the powder and the powder charge at the starting range from your cast bullet reloading manual. Are you starting with a clean barrel and one that is not copper fouled or badly pitted. A 6.5 MM barrel could be a lot of different cartridges. Be clear in your descriptions of what you are doing and what you see. When you say the barrel seems hotter than other guns, what exactly do you mean? Is this a new rifle, or a used rifle that might not have a good barrel.

If you have shot several rounds through the barrel, I think the first place I would look is at the face of the muzzle and see if it has a lube star, or a silver or lead colored star. That should be very easy to see. Once you can clearly describe what you are seeing, and have filled in the rest of the blanks, then perhaps it can be determined if you are having leading or normal fouling in the bore.
Dusty

[Outpost75]

If a wet patch goes through the bore smoothly, with no more than normal effort, and you see no large lead flakes on the patch, only a few very minute particles which come out by wet patching only, no brushing required, you are good.

[Wheelguns 1961]

Sometimes you can shine a flashlight in the breech and look in the muzzle

[popper]

Shine a light down the bore - or use a white paper as a mirror/diffuser. You will know it when you see it.