removing lead

[1 ozzy]

What is the best method of removing lead from a barrel? I am using straight lee liquid alox for lube. The barrel if my .45 1911 is getting slight to moderate leading in the first 1" or 2" of it. I have tried various solvents ( even some cr10) and nothing removes it EASILY. Anyone have any suggestions for what type of solvent works best. I use the pistol for idpa shooting. Typically we shoot about 150rnds in a given sesion. Is it normal to get leading with that few of rounds? Perhaps its time for a new lube???

[hoosierlogger]

I use the cotton mop that comes with most cleaning kits, wrapped with strands of copper pulled out of the copper chore boy pads. I learned of that trick on here. It really works well. Alox will work, but other lubes will work better. It is just hard to beat the ease of use for Alox.

[mooman76]

If the lube wasn't working the barrel would have leaded all the way down. Probubly your boollets are a tad too small. Like Hossierlogger said wrape a few strands of a copper chorboy around a cotton patch or a brush and it should take it right out.

[captaint]

ozzy - what the other guys said about Chore Boy. It's available in grocery stores. Also try some Kroil. Penetrates to 1 millionth of an inch. Use the Kroil before cleaning, let it sit for an hour or so. The Kroil is available from the mfg'r at "sales@kanolabs.com. Or from Sinclair Int'l. The Sinclair site is way more fun. enjoy Mike

[ReloaderFred]

I use the Lewis Lead Remover for most of my handguns. It's quick, efficient and thorough. Brownell's bought the rights, but it's available from numerous sources, including Missouri Bullets.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[RobS]

1 ozzy:

Make sure that the Choreboy or copper scrubbing pads are in fact copper. Some are copper coated stainless steel so if in any doubt take a magnet to the pad and check to make sure it's not steel. Lewis Lead Remover system can work too, but the copper chore boy can be found in your local small town supermarket most of the time and it is much less expensive at a 2 or 3 bucks. Choreboy and your current cleaning setup vs buying a $30 kit at Brownells...........I'm cheap so do the math.

I actually dedicated a copper cleaning brush for each caliber and wrap the choreboy strands around it.

[thx997303]

I use 0000 steel wool wrapped around an old brush. Works well.

[jsizemore]

oz, Try dropping one of your boolits in the chamber of your barrel. Bump it with a wood dowel. Turn the barrel around and knock the boolit out of the chamber. Should show contact all the way around of the lands and grooves. Measure the chamber groove impressions (the fattest part). Then pull a boolit from a loaded round. Measure. The pulled boolit should be larger then the one with the chamber impressions. Your alloy could be too hard or stop water dropping. Good Luck

[MGySgt]

FWIW:

Cleaning - Chor Bow around a brush.

Why the leading? When I shot my 1911 in comp it would take 10 or 15 rounds through a clean barrel for it to shrink the groups down. The first inch or so of the barrel was leaded. then it would shoot good for about 300 rounds. I learned not to clean all the lead out and it shot great.

One of 2 problems - your aloy is either too soft or you are driving them too hard/fast and it is skidding in the barrel for the first inch. Remeber the 1911 has shallow groves (or low Lands hoe ever you wantr to state it)

If the barrel is not leaded at the end (muzzel) then your lube is fine.

[jsizemore]

Oxxy, I made a slug of Choir Boy. I bump it up a little at the end of each stroke. Check your boolits for fit in your barrel. Your alloy could be too hard or stop water dropping. I add 1.5% tin/pewter to my clip-on WW's and cast at a lower temp. Good Luck

[hhranch]

I have used regular steel wool "000" or "0000" for several years to remove stubborn leading from various pistol barrels without any ill effects, ie, scratching the bore or wearing of the rifling. Either wrap it around a worn out bore brush or just push a wad of it through the barrel several times, although the former method works best for pistol barrels and the latter to remove lead and plastic from shotgun bores.

[Mk42gunner]

What is the best method of removing lead from a barrel? I am using straight lee liquid alox for lube. The barrel if my .45 1911 is getting slight to moderate leading in the first 1" or 2" of it. I have tried various solvents ( even some cr10) and nothing removes it EASILY. Anyone have any suggestions for what type of solvent works best. I use the pistol for idpa shooting. Typically we shoot about 150rnds in a given sesion. Is it normal to get leading with that few of rounds? Perhaps its time for a new lube???


The best and easiest way to remove lead from a barrel is to bribe someone else to do it.:kidding: I believe this is the method recommended recently by Recluse.



Robert

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
I love the LEWIS LEAD REMOVER, think it is made in most pistol cal.,works great!
I made a version of it for my 22 & 7mm rifles using bronze window screen & later also copper core boys will do the job.

[Cherokee]

I get a little residual leading in my hot 9 and 38S loads, doesn't seem to bother accuracy and cleans up real easy with cleaning brush when I clean them. 45 ACP takes a little more effort sometime (chore boy). Undersize bullets are the worst for leading in my personal experience. Some people say a second coat of the Lee stuff helps.

[stephenj]

plus 1 on the kroil and chore boy , but one thing about the kroil make sure you remove all of it from the bore before you shoot it again , when i first started shooting cast bullets i was using kroil to oil the bore after cleaning and just using a single patch to wipe the bore before shooting again then i started getting leading , a old timer i was shooting with seen me using the kroil to remove the lead and asked me if i was making sure i had cleaned the kroil completely out before shooting , after a good butt chewing i made sure there wasnt any traces of it left and after i no longer had any leading problems and no i have no idea why the kroil would cause leading i just know in my case it did .. but its wonderful stuff for just about anything you could ever use it for and a little goes a long way , .. some people realy hate the lee alox and dont have anything good to say about it , ive always had good luck with it on slow to moderate loads but i havent used it for anything realy fast ...

[alamogunr]

Be wary of most of the copper scrubbers you find in the grocery aisle. I picked up a package of three a few months ago just to have on hand when I used up the Chore Boy brand I had on hand. In another thread, it was mentioned that many of the scrubbers now are steel w/copper coating(wash?). It was recommended to use a magnet to see if it was steel. That fine mesh barely reacts to a magnet but my package was copper washed STEEL. All the package said was COPPER. So it goes to the kitchen for pot duty.

John
W.TN

[RobS]

Be wary of most of the copper scrubbers you find in the grocery aisle. I picked up a package of three a few months ago just to have on hand when I used up the Chore Boy brand I had on hand. In another thread, it was mentioned that many of the scrubbers now are steel w/copper coating(wash?). It was recommended to use a magnet to see if it was steel. That fine mesh barely reacts to a magnet but my package was copper washed STEEL. All the package said was COPPER. So it goes to the kitchen for pot duty.

John
W.TN


1 ozzy:

Make sure that the Choreboy or copper scrubbing pads are in fact copper. Some are copper coated stainless steel so if in any doubt take a magnet to the pad and check to make sure it's not steel. Lewis Lead Remover system can work too, but the copper chore boy can be found in your local small town supermarket most of the time and it is much less expensive at a 2 or 3 bucks. Choreboy and your current cleaning setup vs buying a $30 kit at Brownells...........I'm cheap so do the math.

I actually dedicated a copper cleaning brush for each caliber and wrap the choreboy strands around it.

Well it's here too. :)

[geargnasher]

I learned the chore-boy trick here, too, but nobody explained why it works so well. I found that, like shooting boolits in a copper-fouled bore, lead sticks to copper like crazy when the two are rubbed together.

I have, based on this logic, found something I like even better than a Chore Boy patch or fine steel wool: Bronze wool. It is fine enough to get down into the base of the lands, yet copper sticks to it readily. Steel wool won't harm the bore IME, but bronze wool most certainly won't.

Gear

[MGySgt]

the way Veral explains it in his book is that the copper having a sharp edge, just cuts (scraps?) the lead out.

[leadman]

Pull a bullet from a loaded round and measure the diameter to make sure you are not swaging the bullet down if you are crimpng. soft lead bullets can be sized down just by loading them in a tight necked case.
Compare the diameter to one that you started in the rifling for size. Should be at least .001" over bore diameter.

[Bret4207]

I will repeat yet again that 4/0 steel wool will not harm your barrel. It's what your gun smith uses to give your nice blued gun it's final finish.

[1 ozzy]

thanks for all the great responses/ideas. I will give the chor boys a go. I run all my bullets through a sizer(.452) so they should all be relatively consistant. I don't crimp them either. To this day i have not had any problems with set back. When i reload them i flare the case mouth just enough to facilitate the bullet to load without cutting/scraping the lead. Thanks again