acceptable leading?

[par0thead151]

Im new to casting, and am in the developmental stage of working up the load that work with my handguns(sig 226, beretta 92, and HK P2000SK)
i have gotten the bullets to work fairly well in my sig 226. it is accurate(at 25M) as any jacketed or plated bullets are, and cycle well. i do notice though that when cleaning i can see lead, almost like a sliver sometimes hanging from the barrel. when i say sliver i mean very thin and not too large. is this something to be concerned about? I probably need to resize it down smaller a bit to solve this as i am running on the larger side(it was the closest re size die i have on hand) when i slugged my barrel.
i will try to take pictures to show what i am trying to describe.
thanks

[Potsy]

I think there was a similar thread awhile back but I'll chime in.

In my opinion, all cast lead bullets lead to some degree. When things are running right, there will be a small amount of lead fouling in the barrel and it won't build up from there. That little bit of fouling will provide bullets running down the barrel with some lead to "ride on".

Think of it in terms of your first shot with a jacketed bullet down a clean barrel, it usually groups a little better after a few rounds.

Same with lead, a little fouling doesn't hurt a thing and actually helps, it is only a problem if it builds up. If your casting and loading technique are correct, you really should never HAVE to clean your barrel because of lead fouling. No jacketed load can claim the same.

If you can fire a couple hundred rounds without accuracy suffering, I sure wouldn't worry about it. I wouldn't change sizers either as an undersize bullet will lead quicker than an oversize one (in most normal cases, I'm someone can point out exceptions).

[fredj338]

You may want to adjsut your alloy &/or lube. If anything, you would want to size your bullet larger not smaller. The 9mm can eb very finicky about lead bullets.

[jsizemore]

I shoot nothing but cast in my 1911 and I have zero leading using BAC from White Label lube. Click on Lar45's LsStuff at the bottom of this page.

[par0thead151]

i use tumble lube lee liquid allox
i apply 2 coats of the lube.
the above situation happens after a few rounds and upto 200 rounds(most i have shot back to back before cleaning)

[Potsy]

I've ran close to 300 through my Kimber without cleaning the barrel. Accuracy didn't seem to suffer a bit, but I didn't study real close.
Though I've not had any problems with wheelweight metal plus 2% tin, you might try heat treating your bullets, usually the harder the better in an auto.

[Esau]

Where I had problems with that, was in a 357 revolver. After shooting a lot of 38s through it, the 357s wouldn't chamber. Normal cleaning didn't help. So, I cleaned out the lead fouling with a brass brush, with some copper strands from a chore boy wrapped around it. That worked great!

Of course, lubing them after I sized them helped too. Although, it isn't a cure.

[Shiloh]

I shoot nothing but cast in my 1911 and I have zero leading using BAC from White Label lube. Click on Lar45's LsStuff at the bottom of this page.

Ditto.

Lots of Alox tumble lube as well. Lead boolits are virtually free. They shoot very accurately. they don't lead my barrel. Why shoot J bullets??


Shiloh

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

I'm with jsizemore and Shiloh. I size might two thousandths over and use quality lube. No problems with leading, excellent accuracy.

Dave

[par0thead151]

I'm with jsizemore and Shiloh. I size might two thousandths over and use quality lube. No problems with leading, excellent accuracy.

Dave

what is considered quality lube?
LLA is probably middle tier/grade lube i assume?

[243winxb]

i have gotten the bullets to work fairly well in my sig 226. it is accurate(at 25M) as any jacketed or plated bullets are,Leading is loss of accuracy. Anything else, dont worry about it.