Shooting jacketed bullets to remove lead

[94Doug]

Wasn't there even the theory of loading the jacket bullets backwards and shooting the lead out?

d

[pls1911]

The best advice above is to avoid leading in the first place...
Highly recommend gas checked bullets when approaching common sense pressure/velocity levels in pistols and ALWAYS in rifle calibers.... never had any leading problems.

Have easily cleared lead in the past for others by treating with Ed's Red or Kroil the night before, then shooting a few gas checked bullets or J bullets (LOW velocity plinker loads only) like FAsmus describes above.

Regular cleaning and storage with Ed's Red, coupled with the appropriate bullet selections will preclude leading in any popular cast caliber... Well, at least in my experience with .38/.357, .41, .44, .45, .30-30, .308, 30-06, .35 rem, 45-70...

[AZ-Stew]

For the fourth or so time... A story that's been posted here before, but bears repeating...

30+ years ago a friend of mine showed me a M-28 Smith Highway Patrolman 6 inch that had a bulge in the barrel just ahead of the frame. Here's how it got there.

The revolver belonged to a friend of my friend. He wanted to do some cheap shooting, so he bought some of the Speer swaged lead semi-wadcutters. These bullets are nearly dead-soft lead and are excellent for shooting up to 900 fps or so. Instead of studying their limitations in the Speer reloading manual, he made the assumption that he could shoot full-power .357 Magnum loads with them. After a dozen or so shots, accuracy went out the window. The barrel was heavily leaded and bullets were "squirting" through the remaining opening in the barrel. His shooting buddies that day recommended that he shoot out the lead using a couple of jacketed rounds. The first one treated the leading as a bore obstruction and bulged the barrel.

A very light amount of lead streaking near the muzzle can safely be removed with jacketed loads, but full-length barrel leading should be addressed by other methods.

Regards,

Stew

[cajun shooter]

If you use Kroil and soak the bore over night. No chance of messing up anything that way.

[Changeling]

If it works so well why did the 45 revolver I bought last fall have layer upon layer of lead/copper fouling the barrel so bad it took several weeks of soaking to get it all out?
Veral Smith, a man of considerable experience, recommends getting every trace of copper out of a barrel.

Learning how to clean a barrel is as big a part of accuracy as working up a load or any other aspect of shooting. If it's to much of a choir, maybe you could hire a local kid to clean your guns for you, correctly.

[andrew375]

There are two problems.

1. Are you clearing the lead out or just pressing it further into the barrel surface and then covering it in jacket fouling?

2. Jacket bullet fouling is a lot harder to get out than lead fouling!

My rifles get cleaned on two occasions. Before shooting jacketed bullets and after shooting jacketed bullets. Except my M94 and .375 H&H, neither of which ever see a jacketed bullet, they get cleaned once a year. If I think about it.

[9.3X62AL]

I don't have a deep scientific reason for not running a jacketed bullet through a leaded barrel, other than it seems very darn unsafe to do. Lots of people have done it, and with great success.

Just like dacron wadding for powder-positioning in rifle cases. After my first swelled chamber, I ceased that practice. So, I classify the "jacketed bullet to remove lead deposits" right along with dacron fillers--a fine idea that works well--until it doesn't.

[splattersmith]

I use lead removal cloth. Simple, easy and safe. Use it rarely when a lube or another "test" goes south. Or when my buddy forces me to try his new, magic concoction. It is easier to comply than listen, forever.

I read something about lead under copper fouling as a no-no, which seems what the Badger break in procedure implies. Don't know about that but still wonder.

[sergeant69]

whatever happened to the LEWIS LEAD REMOVER?

[WARD O]

Some also say to use well fitted very hard cast bullets - they supposedly act the same way as jacketed but without the copper issues. Anyone have any thoughts on this procedure?

Ward

[gray wolf]

I cleaned my barrel and my pistol today after three trips to the range.
So thats about 600 rounds of shooting. I shot HP, SWC, flat point and round nose.
All different powder charges ( no max loads ) three different hardness of bullets.
None very, very soft and none very , very hard,
I didn't even look at the barrel, I just ran a bore brush in and out with a piece of chore boy
about 5 strokes, and then three clean patches. Barrel shines and is spotless in relation to any leading.
Well that's a great report from me but does not help anyone
What may help is to say that my bullets fit MY barrel and my lube works for ME
My accuracy is what I want.
I can't help but think in certain situations copper jacket bullets through a badly fouled bore
could/may create a high pressure problem. Since there are so many folks shooting fire arms that hardly know what end the bullet comes out ( not here I am sure ) I don't recommend it. What I do recommend is to slug the darn bore, shoot the right size bullets and use a lube that works.

Sam

[trapper9260]

I had shot some factory load lead bullets and had fouling. The bullest must of been swag with soft lead. The bullet went alover then I shot some jacket that I load and the leading clear. Then I shot some cast GC bullet I done myself and I had no problem after. The gun shot good.Oh by the way where I learn to shot jacket with leading is from the Lyman cast book. Yes you just make sure that you just donot have leading bad in the first place .Like orthers had pointed out.

[sergeant69]

still can't find any chore boy where i live.

[frankenfab]

still can't find any chore boy where i live.

Group Buy!!!!

Seriously.....when I worked for Kimberly-Clark we had these big rolls of copper mesh that we tore pieces from to wipe down polymer extrusion dies. I will see if I can find it, pretty sure it came from McMaster. The stuff looked just like chore boy, and it was like a 200 ft. roll.

[gray wolf]

Group Buy!!!!

Seriously.....when I worked for Kimberly-Clark we had these big rolls of copper mesh that we tore pieces from to wipe down polymer extrusion dies. I will see if I can find it, pretty sure it came from McMaster. The stuff looked just like chore boy, and it was like a 200 ft. roll.

I would be interested in a piece of that.

[frankenfab]

I would be interested in a piece of that.

I looked last night on the McMaster website and couldn't find it. I will get in touch with one of my friends who still works at KC and get the part#.

[sergeant69]

I would be interested in a piece of that.

me too!

[qajaq59]

I had to look in both the local supermarket and Wally world, but I finally found it. But be sure you read what it is made from. There are several types that are copper covered steel. And yeah, it'is in the fine print.

There is also some that is made from stainless steel specifically for gun barrels. I saw a thread that was talking about it and got some. It works too. Can't remember the name of it but I suspect someone in here will and say what it is.

[frankenfab]

OK, I have gotten the part# for the copper mesh. It is a 100ft. roll. Once I decide how best to go about a group buy, I will place a post in the group buy or site benefit section. I don't want to make any money from the deal, but I wouldn't mind seeing the site make some.

My work schedule is such that I never know for sure when I am going to have time to get by a post office other than Saturday, so I may contact someone else on the site about handling this.

Could somebody who just bought some chore boy please post how much it cost and how big a pad it was?

[HammerMTB]

Here's something related that kind of has blown my mind.
I shot a CC match yesterday. I usually have a comp'd bbl on my Glock and it has Ballard rifling. No comps for the CC match, so I reached for my stock bbl. Lo and behold, it wasn't cleaned the last time it was used, and has a modest amount of lead in it. Not a lot, but it was enough to make out, all up the bbl to the muzzle.
So, with nothing else to do, I just shot the match and figured I'd clean it up after....
Went to clean it up in the evening, and it didn't look like there was any lead in it at all! I could see a bit of powder fouling, but no lead streaks....
So I used the Lewis Lead rremover. I know I didn't need that tool, but it always saves all the leading on the mesh so I can see it. There was absolutely none!
I have no explanation....
It seems I shot leading out with a lead boolit....