lead in barrel

[Battis]

I've shot the Vetterli .41 less than 20 times. I cast my own bullets out of soft lead, but not pure lead. I use black powder. I keep seeing specks of lead on the cleaning patches. It could be from the previous owner, since this is the first time I cleaned the barrel extra well. If not, should I use softer lead, harder lead, or just accept it and keep scrubbing?
If you ever get the chance to shoot a Vetterli, you will like it. Very little kick and very accurate.

[Chicken Thief]

If it is the same 44 Lee boolit you have mentioned before then not enough lube is your problem.

Do you do anything to negotiate the fouling?
Blowtubing or cleaning between shots?
BP fouling is hard and acts like tarmac on the passing boolit.

I'll bet you $ for donuts that if you shoot from a clean barrel every time, leading will be zero.

Next time you go shooting do this:
After every shot push a dry patch down the barrel.
After awhile you will notice that the patch starts to stick at the muzzle end and it will progress down the barrel towards the chamber.
That is called lube run out.
Not enough lube to moisten the BP fouling all the way through the barrel.

Add a lube cookie under the boolit and try again.
And indicator that you have enough lube is a lube star at the muzzle after several shots.

My boolit carries @ 2grain lube and i shoot 55grains of Swiss #4 (1½f)

[Battis]

That makes sense. The .430 bullet doesn't allow much lube. I ran a wet patch after every 3 shots, but I'll do it after every shot next time out.
Very accurate gun. Nice grouping at 50 yards. Have you ever tried smokeless powder?

[Chicken Thief]

When patching please finish with a dry one, That way the bore is the same before each shot.

No never tried smokeless but i can shoot you some QuickLoad guestimates if you need.
But remember that you need to crimp if you are going to use the mag and smokeless.

[Don McDowell]

Dry patch after the wet one, or the moisture left in the barrel can peel lead.

[Battis]

I'll just stick with the black powder. Yep, I wasn't dry patching after the wet patch so that could be part of the problem.

[Chicken Thief]

For the next loading try compressing the powder another 1/8"
Add a 1/8" disc of boolit lube between 2 wads of milkcarton.
That will solve your lubeproblem once and for all.

Instead of popping the bolt after every shot to whipe the barrel you might consider a blowtube.

To test it's effectiveness try this:
1) Shoot one round from a clean barrel.
2) Pop the bolt and give the barrel 4-5 deep breaths of air with a blowtube.
3) Push a patch through the barrel and see just how much crud is discarded (the next boolit will push it out you know )

I can shoot mine for however long i fancy just using a blowtube, and the final cleaning is something like 2-3 wet patches followed by 2 dry and an oily one.