How can you tell if boolits are "leading the barrel"?

[Jayhem]

So I just fired my first 30 rounds of my own cast boolit reloads. When cleaning the gun the barrel looked about how it looks after 30 rounds of J-bullets. I got a good amount of gray soot on the rag after soaking the barrel in Hoppe's copper solvent and brushing it out with a bronze brush. There were a few flecks of lead on the cleaning patches, nothing I'd call severe. There were some light deposits near the chamber neck at the start of the rifling...they came off with the brush but I'm not sure if these were leading or powder deposits.

Having not seen a "leaded barrel" before I'm not sure if this is normal or if this is leading. Accuracy was on par with my J-bullet rounds I'm used to shooting.

I'm shooting
.40 S&W
175 gr TC cast boolit
resized to .401 (barrel slugs at just over .399)
5.3 gr WSF
1.125" OAL
taper crimp to .421" at mouth
Velocity is estimated to be between 850 and 950 fps.
I'm using wheel weight equivalent alloy.

cliff notes: What symptoms would I observe in cleaning if my barrel is "leaded"?

[joeb33050]

I'm a rifle and lr pistol guy, , so..........
With a rifle, the accuracy goes south when the barrel leads.
To check for lead;
Couple of patches to get the loose stuff out, then a dry patch.
Push one TIGHT Leadaway yellow patch or one TIGHT patch with Kroil on it thru the barrel. If there's lead, you'll see it on the patch.
I get the lead out with either Leadaway or Kroil.
I've had lead in the barrel and not seen it, that's common.
joe b.

[45-70 Chevroner]

Shooting and cleaning and looking will soon tell you if you have some leading. It will look like skid marks that won't come out with a brush or rag after running them through a number of times. Leading can be quite stubborn to remove sometimes. I use a lewis lead remover (no longer made) But some other Co. is now making them and I'm not sure who they are. There are other methods also, and I'm sure someone on here will tell you about them. Using a brass brush can take a lot of work to get all the lead out.

[prickett]

I had never seen leading before last month. After you run a brush and a few patches thru you will see the lead (if you look down the barrel).

Normally, your bore is mirror clean. Not so with lead. There will be visible dull streaks and even some bumpy textured spots.

Don't worry. If you have lead you'll notice it.

If you have lots of lead, you might want to look at getting an Outers Foul Out cleaner. Its an electrical device where you fill your barrel with solution, insert a metal rod into the barrel/solution and apply the electricity. The lead from your bore migrates to the metal rod. Wipe the lead off the rod and repeat a few times and you are back to lead free.

[parson48]

I've used the brass "Chore Boy" scouring pads to quickly remove lead. I wrap a little bit around an old brush and a few strokes typically does the trick.

[canyon-ghost]

The first sign of leading is a gray star shaped ring at the muzzle, that usually shows you are nearing the velocity where the boolit wants to shred.

[dakotashooter2]

Sounds like you probably hit the right recipe. Given the velocity, sizing and hardness of the bullets I'd say you are doing ok. What you are finding is probably lube residue which generally wipes out pretty easy. Leading at the breach would mean your bullet is too hard or velocity to low. At the muzzle would mean bullet too soft and/or too fast.

[Orygun]

I've used the brass "Chore Boy" scouring pads to quickly remove lead. I wrap a little bit around an old brush and a few strokes typically does the trick.

This is the quickest and easiest method that I have used. Though I believe the Chore Boy pads are copper and make sure they are NOT just copper coated steel. Easy magnet test to check.

[montana_charlie]

cliff notes: What symptoms would I observe in cleaning if my barrel is "leaded"?
joe b. said to use a tight patch and Kroil. I agree with that...sort of.

Run a Kroil-soaked patch through the bore and let if 'soak' for thirty minutes.
Then run the very tight patch through, and look for flakes and slivers of lead.

Some say that using Kroil helps cause a barrel to lead.
I don't know if that's true, but I have started using pure gum turpentine as a (recommended) substitute.


In either case, your patch should squeal when it's passing through a clean barrel.

CM