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Thread: Cleaning lead from bores.

  1. #61
    Boolit Bub
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    It took a while to read through this and I have learned some new things to try. Has anyone ever used mercury on a bore or ever heard of someone using it. I realize that it is highly corrosive and the last thing on earth you want in the water table. That said will lead attach to it? I have been collecting pills of mercury for sometime and would be interested in hearing from someone who has experience with it. Thanks for reading. Sunfish

  2. #62
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Mercury will remove lead quite well.

    Mercury is not corrosive.

    Mercury is very toxic and can be absorbed thru skin contact. I wouldn't have mercury anywhere near my home. Way more toxic and nasty than lead will ever be.

    My suggestion, take the mercury to a waste disposal place that knows how to handle it and be rid of it.

  3. #63
    Boolit Bub
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    If Mercury is not corrosive what do some primers contain that is? I have seen flasks of this that are similar to acid containers. At one time most every home in America had a mercury switch thermostat. I understand how toxic Mercury is and that it can be absorbed on contact. Thank you. Sunfish



    =btroj;2078923]Mercury will remove lead quite well.

    Mercury is not corrosive.

    Mercury is very toxic and can be absorbed thru skin contact. I wouldn't have mercury anywhere near my home. Way more toxic and nasty than lead will ever be.

    My suggestion, take the mercury to a waste disposal place that knows how to handle it and be rid of it.[/QUOTE]

  4. #64
    Boolit Buddy Bren R.'s Avatar
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    Corrosive primers contain sodium or potassium chlorate. The residue from these left behind after combustion is a chlorine salt (sodium or potassium chloride).

    Mercury fulminate is a different animal altogether.

    Bren R.

  5. #65
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Ever think that the flask design is to prevent spills, not to contain acid? Wide base, narrow top. Hard to slosh out of it, wide base for stability.

    Clorate primers are corrosive, it leaves a hugroscopic deposit in boe which leads to rust.

    Mercuric primers werent bad for the bore, they just destroyed cases. The mercury damages the brass.

  6. #66
    Boolit Master
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    Mercury is so toxic that it is likely the reason all of us who played with it as youngsters ,even in high school chemistry class grew up to be gun nuts. Well on second thought perhaps it was all the exposure to lead based paint and asbestos insulation in the schools we attended.

    IMO the most toxic posions we face here in the USA is over eating and lack of exercise.


    OK seriously I know that mercury has been proven to cause birth defects and other health problems. I had a boss years ago who had all of his dental filling removed and rplaced with gold because he was concerned with the mercury used in filling years ago. I am just of the opinion that there is a big difference between coming in contact with a small amount of mercury from time to time and eating fish which have been feed a steady diet of it due to mercury pollution of rivers,steams lakes for years and years.

    Some are very concerned with lead posioning and if they have valiade concerns I guess I should be dead or extremly close to it at mininum. I grew up with lead based paints, used white lead as a lubicant for many years in Tool & Die Trade / machine shops , have smelted thousands of pounds, cast more than I have smelted, handled all that I have cast several times with bare hands. I managed an indoors range , shoveled spent lead slivers,dust (bullet remains) by the 5 gallon bucket full on a regulare bases for well over a year.

    Just under three months away from 68 so I guess my days are numbered.
    Last edited by Case Stuffer; 03-02-2013 at 11:27 AM.
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    Vet . 2nd of the 47th 9th.Inf. Viet Nam Mar. 67-68

  7. #67
    Boolit Master

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    IMO the most toxic posions we face here in the USA is over eating and lack of exercise.

    Just under three months away from 68 so I guess my days are numbered.[/QUOTE]



    Case Stuffer's got it right. Hell, I'm more worried about Bacon than I am Mercury or Lead.

  8. #68
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    Another person mentioned Kroil. In my experience Kroil works damn good at removing lead by it's self, especially if you give it time to work. If you mix it half and half with Hoppe's you have a real good cleaner that cuts powder and lead with minimal effort using a good jag and patches. Boretech's Rimfire Blend also works great for me. Actually that's what I've been using lately, Boretech products.

  9. #69
    Boolit Master trapper9260's Avatar
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    I have read all that was said on here and learn alot and thank you for that . I the past before i went back into casting and reloading after i have move and I bought some ammo for my 44 mag and got the lead bullets factory ammo and I had alot of leading and I was reading in my lyman cast manual the one before the one that is out now they say to shoot some jacket bullets to clean out the lead the fastest and then you just have the copper to deal with that is easyer to clean . I try it and it did and no lead left. then clean the copper out .then i cast and got a harder alloy and cut the leading to hardly nothing then the gunsmith i know and deal with told me about what he use that it clean out the leading good and dose not smell. It is M-Pro7 Gun Cleaner . it works greats and just spray some in the barrel and then use the brush and then a dry patch and then after it is clean i oil the barrel . and then done it is a light film of oil I put.It works for me and dose not matter if is a hand gun or rifle it works on both .
    Life Member of NRA,NTA,DAV ,ITA. Also member of FTA,CBA

  10. #70
    Boolit Master
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    Hangfire... I had to laugh when I read your experience with PB Blaster. Several years ago I discovered it cleaned guns fairly well so I called the company to inquire if there was anything in it that might be harmful to a gun. The guy on the other end laughed and then told me they originally sold it as a gun solvent and cleaner. But it didn't sell enough product. So they changed and labelled it as a penetrant. Now it sells well and they make more money. So he told me it was a fine gun solvent and cleaner. It is a bit smelly though. Speaking of smelly, I got some turpentine to see how well it worked. Man, that stuff is really stinky. My wife was not at all happy with it smelling up the house.

  11. #71
    Boolit Buddy
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    Speaking of smelly gun cleaning products. When I clean with Hoppes No. 9 my wife always seems to show up and compliments on how good it smells. Perhaps they should sell it as a cologne. The copper chore boy method has worked well for me but can be a pain to get it wrapped around the brush the way I want it. The worst trouble I seem to have is at the forcing cone of the Vaquero .44. I have read some other ideas here that I'd like to try.

  12. #72
    Boolit Buddy Bren R.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MTtimberline View Post
    Speaking of smelly gun cleaning products. When I clean with Hoppes No. 9 my wife always seems to show up and compliments on how good it smells.
    I've often joked the new Hoppes #9 would make a great cologne... the old Hoppes with nitrobenzene in it, not so much.

    Bren R.

  13. #73
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by MTtimberline View Post
    Speaking of smelly gun cleaning products. When I clean with Hoppes No. 9 my wife always seems to show up and compliments on how good it smells. Perhaps they should sell it as a cologne. The copper chore boy method has worked well for me but can be a pain to get it wrapped around the brush the way I want it. The worst trouble I seem to have is at the forcing cone of the Vaquero .44. I have read some other ideas here that I'd like to try.
    Try a brass jag (button type) Midway or Proshoot brands are ok. I use a jag of proper cal., dry flannel patch (may have to make your own or trim them to make sure they are tight) a piece of Chore Girl or Boy. Carefully (without breaking jag), I put two feet on the handle of the cleaning rod, jag end facing up and carefully push gun onto the tight fitting jag/patch and Chore boy (small piece wrapped around patched jag). I use this on my .38 and have no problem getting forcing cone clean. Alittle wordy but you get the idea when you try it. afish4570

  14. #74
    Boolit Buddy
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    Thanks for the helpful info. I will surely give this a try. Maybe the brush gives too much and the jag will work better.

  15. #75
    Boolit Mold
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    Not recommending this but back in the "50's" when my dad came back from a pistol match he would break down his NM.45, put a cork in the chamber end of the barrel, fill it abut 1/2 way full of mercury, place his thumb over the muzzle end and shake the barrel back and forth. 2 or 3 minutes of this and all the lead was out of the barrel, he would pour the mercury back in the container ready for the next cleaning, and then the EPA came along. The family still has that glass jar full of mercury but no one ever uses it.

  16. #76
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Raygun View Post
    I have been using Flitz Metal Polish to clean my revolvers/pistols in and out for years. (rifles also) I shoot a lot of lead, both soft and hard.

    http://www.flitz-polish.com/
    Flitz is good, but I think JB bore paste is a little better, however it is slightly abrasive, unlike Flitz.

    I have had great luck with Eezox on a choreboy wrapped brush, I think the eezox helps prevent the lead from binding to the bore in the first place, making future cleanings easier.

    I will say that I have a love/hate thing with eezox, it works very well, but it takes time to apply correctly. sometimes I just scrub my guns down with water and a good all-purpose cleaner, blow them dry and soak them with WD-40. I think Im going to pick up a bottle of BF CLP to replace the WD-40 though as its not the greatest lube or rust preventer
    "The problem with quotes on the Internet is that you can't always be sure of their authenticity.”
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  17. #77
    Boolit Mold
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bren R. View Post
    I've often joked the new Hoppes #9 would make a great cologne... the old Hoppes with nitrobenzene in it, not so much.

    Bren R.
    That reminds me of the movie police academy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M246_2l8Zqk I had a good chuckle, Thanks

  18. #78
    Boolit Master
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    I happened on a method that has vastly simplified and shortened the chore of removing lead, which is to shoot the bores clean. Well, clean of metallic fouling, anyway. Removing the lube and powder fouling with a patch and solvent was cake after that. This was discovered while trying to overcome the "no lube star due to insufficient lube capacity in the grooved boolit" problem with longer barrels, often exacerbated by hard lubes and alloys too soft or hard mismatched to the pressures/velocities involved. My practice was to add lube in the form of a lube cookie and card wad between boolit and propellant which did produce the lube star I was looking for. Existing leading also disappeared in a few rounds. After some experimentation, I found that soft lubes like 541 (5 parts beeswax, 4 parts vegetable shortening, 1 part vegetable oil) worked well with boolits of medium hardness, about 8-10 BHN, at moderate velocities. Many a falling plate match was finished up with a half dozen such "cleaning rounds", leaving a formerly streaky barrel with no discernible metal fouling and anointed with lube for the next shot. I cast sheets of lube in the outside flat bottoms of those cans that nuts and Danish butter cookies come in, which are about .100-.150 deep. Card wads were cut from cake box or cereal box cardboard with a sacrificial case sharpened for the purpose. (CAUTION: This method takes up some case volume, so loads should be reduced 25% or so and worked up. It's a dangerous and abusive mistake to just add a card wad and lube cookie to an already authoritative load! . . . You needn't ask how I know that.) The cases were charged, card wads inserted and lube cookies cut from the sheet of lube by using the case mouths for a cookie cutter. The boolit is then seated and you're in business.

    I figure the pressure on firing is applied to the card wad and presses lube outward as well as driving the boolit forward, forcing lube into the nooks and crannies of the bore surface as it moves, thus loosening fouling adhered to the bore. Successive rounds push out what wasn't removed previously. This is waaaay more fun than extended periods of scrubbing. It also removes copper fouling. Not as quickly, but a shiny copper and lead free bore will result.
    Last edited by yeahbub; 11-21-2013 at 01:49 PM.

  19. #79
    Boolit Buddy
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    I,ve worn out a lot of brass brushes before I tried the chore boy on an old brass brush it works for me

  20. #80
    Boolit Bub
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    Quote Originally Posted by Molly View Post
    The best, fastest, cheapest and most thorough way to remove even the worst leading from a bore is to fire about two or three CoW loads through it. Two or three shots will remove almost every trace of leading and leave the bore as bright and shining as if it had been polished. Give it a try instead of wandering all over Hades looking for Chore Girl mesh.

    Charge your case with a medium range powder charge, add a tuft of cotton to hold the CoW up against the gas check, seat your favorite bullet and go shooting. This is so effective that I've fired several dozen rounds of HOT 45-70 loads without even a gas check or sizing, with no trace of leading afterwards. I've fired full factory equivalent loads of 6.5x55 under a cast bullet with no GC, no lube and no sizing without a trace of leading. Let's see Chore Girl come even close to that.

    The only drawback is that you have to oil the bore well afterwards. The CoW loads will clean it so well there's not only no trace of lead, there's also no trace of rust protection. If you have a load that you think MIGHT lead, just take along a few extra rounds and dare them to do their worst.
    Hi Molly,

    Thanks very much for sharing your experience.

    I am going to give this a try in one of my Husqvarna 9.3X62 rifles. The bore got pretty leaded up during initial load development two days ago with some 285 gr plain base, Alox lubed, wweight bullets, and salvaged powder. Velocities were quite a bit higher than expected. Wasn't paying attention, and the last foot of the barrel is pretty gray.

    Have cleaned it up a bit with some Kroil and a tight bronze brush. Any suggestions before putting five or six rounds down the tube?

    Thanks,
    Ted

    PS: Only have PB bullets. Will this still work as well as with GC to initially remove the lead?
    Last edited by Yukoner; 01-16-2014 at 02:52 AM.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check