"Things sure are a lot more like the way they are now than they used to be." --Yogi Berra
That is a lot of shooting! I know club members that have over 50K rounds through some of their handguns and they are still going strong. But any reason for a new barrel is a good one. I bought a Glock barrel just to shoot lead bullets, then I got into PC so I now have another barrel I will never wear out.
For the rust, get the blocks hot. I like to float them in my casting pot. Then scrub em down with a copper brush. The rust comes right off. Then spray em w/wd40 or the like while it's still smoking hot. Kinda oil blues them. I did this on about 25 rusty nasty molds I inherited, works like a champ. If there's any lead smears they wipe right off w/a wet rag while hot too.
There is a lot of good information here, this thread might be a candidate for a sticky.
Keep the suggestion coming!
I have a mould that has burned in oil. The original owner never cleaned it, just started casting until he got 'good' bullets! Which have rounded bands. I've never been able to get the burn in crud out!
Political correctness is a national suicide pact.
I am a sovereign individual, accountable
only to God and my own conscience.
Boy, this thread went dead.
Political correctness is a national suicide pact.
I am a sovereign individual, accountable
only to God and my own conscience.
I would soake the blocks for 24 hours in "Oil Eater" to soften the debris or maybe "Kroil Oil" would be better to get under it or do both. Use the sharpened point of a hard lead pencil and keep digging at it; pencil lead won't scar the mold, but you might be surprised at what it will remove. Color the cavities & block faces with a #2 pencil to aid in release.
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 |