Lead Solvents?

[leadmonkey]

Somehow, I suspect that this is a subject that has already been beaten to death, but I really did try some searches before I decided to post this thread.

I recently overloaded a few rounds, and wound up with a badly leaded barrel. I spent a considerable amount of time and ruined a couple of bore brushes scrubbing it all out. I've since ordered some bronze wool for any future chores like this.

After spending some time researching this subject on the web, I have learned about numerous "lead solvents." Lots of glowing reports that they work as advertised. But I don't understand this.

Lead is a metal. AFAIK, the only chemicals that can "dissolve" lead are things that can also dissolve steel, and bluing. So can someone help me understand how these alleged lead solvents work?

[Pb2au]

Leadmonkey,
I cannot speak with any kind of knowledge/experience about lead solvents. I've seen the subject pop here on occasion and the answers run from using mercury to every witches brew you can think of.
I am a big fan of Occam's razor. The most simple answer is usually the correct one. Your favorite solvent, plus a bore brush wrapped in bronze wool or bits from a Chore Boy scrubber, plus some elbow grease will remove the leading in short order.

[bowenrd]

On occasion I will use "Shooters Choice" lead remover. It does not desolve the lead but it will help loosen it when left to soak a few minutes.

#1 method is copper Chore Boy (not plated steel) and a lot of scrubbing.

[leadmonkey]

...The most simple answer is usually the correct one. Your favorite solvent, plus a bore brush wrapped in bronze wool or bits from a Chore Boy scrubber, plus some elbow grease will remove the leading in short order.

Agreed. What I've found was that any "solvent" only helps the brush/scrubber by lubing the surface and making the shaved bits of lead easier to remove. Mineral spirits works as well here as the more expensive "lead solvents."

I've seen claims from some of these solvent makers that no scrubbing is necessary. They claim that the stuff dissolves the lead away. I'm skeptical of that. Just wondered about others' experiences.

BTW, nice avatar.

[Pb2au]

Thanks!
The idea of a solvent that can chemically break up/dissolve an element such as lead makes me seriously consider the ramifications of that. I am by no means a chemist in ANY capacity, but I could only imagine the resulting goo would not be something too healthy.
There are some chores in life that are best served by rolling up your sleeves and getting to it in a direct way.

[CastingFool]

I once worked at an aluminum processing plant. The extrusion dies were dipped in a hot caustic solution for cleaning the aluminum slugs out of the dies. The caustic would just eat away at the aluminum (if would eat away at you if you got it on you, too!) After an hour, the dies could be disassembled for further cleaning and inspection. The hot caustic solution did nothing to the steel dies. Maybe something like that could work on lead.

[Old School Big Bore]

I use the white label Shooters Choice and a heavy duty stainless brush (use carefully) for 'oops' heavy leading or good bronze brushes otherwise. I do notice a lot of lead in suspension when I'm using the lead solvent, gotta be careful about removing that slurry from your skin. Kind of afraid to use my Lewis tools with it, leery of hurting the rubber part.

[Alan in Vermont]

I'm a firm believer that most, if not all, of the miracle solvents serve best to seperate the gullible from their money.

[fourarmed]

I have never used it on really heavy leading, but Kroil does a very good job of penetrating UNDER lead deposits and lifting them so that a tight patch can push them out. Run a loose-fitting patch or two soaked with Kroil down the barrel, let it sit for a few minutes, then repeat with tight-fitting ones.

Mercury is the only thing I know of that will actually dissolve lead without attacking steel.

[Scharfschuetze]

I once hoped against hope that some of the lead solvents would be the holy grail of the cast boolit shooter, but I never did see anything exceptional in the results when using them.

I like the Lewis Lead Remover in my revolvers and pistols when I get something wrong and get leading in them, although for 99% of the time just a good bronze brush with my normal solvent formula (with about 20% Kroil) works fine in both handguns and rifles.

[mdi]

I have used kroil for the same reason fourarmed mentioned, and it works ok, not great, just ok. One "solvent" I've tried does dissolve lead, that's white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide mixture. But, if left in the barrel too long it can cause pitting (BTDT on a Dam Wesson barrel). I used a 50-50 mix, scrubbed it on with a bore brush and let it set for 1 hour. Pretty good but still a few streaks of lead left in the bbl. Second application I got "smart" and plugged the barrel and poured a little mix in the bbl. and let it sit for a few hours (actually I forgot it). When I cleaned the mixture from the barrel all the lead was gone, but there were some small pits along the bore, and I soaked the whole barrel in kroil to stop any reaction. Well, now I have a clean barel, no lead, but one with pits in it...

[djgoings]

Shooting a couple of gas check bullets before cleaning will help.

[Shiloh]

Acedic acid will dissolve lead. It will aslo etch the bore.
Stick with the tried and true methods of a bronze Chore Boy wrapped around a cleaning rod and some elbow grease.

Shiloh

[dudel]

Foul-Out. No scrubbing, no lead.

[upnorthwis]

I second the Outers Foul-Out. I had leading so bad in a .45 ACP that steel wool would only polish it. Foul-Out sucked it right out.

[whipper]

I use this
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=lead+away+cloth&tag=mh0b-20&index=aps&hvadid=872393803&ref=pd_sl_7i6k1w4njl_b
it works for me. :)

[Bloodman14]

Shiloh is referring to vinegar, it will dissolve lead over time. The ancient Romans used vinegar as a table condiment, and kept it in lead cups. After awhile, the lead dissolved, and was known as 'sugar of lead'. It was used as a sweetener in cakes, pastries, and the like. It's amazing what you can learn on this site, isn't it?

[btroj]

Use a physical means. Like chore boy or steel wool on an old brush.

[ryan28]

In my experience, anything that dissolves lead, also etches steel.

[nekshot]

for what its worth I recently cleaned 2 ex military barrels and I used a lead boolit as a plug and with the Hoppes Copper solvent in barrel 1 hour would leave a blackish sludge come out the bore when I would pull the boolit/plug and the lead in the boolits looked sand blasted. The solvent sure was attacking the lead wheel weights.

[JWFilips]

I have and old Gun smithing book from mid 20th century: It list a lead cleaner as 1 part pure turps Plus one part Hoppes No 9 . Combined with what I have read in the past few years: I have adopted the old formulae with the new & make up a mix of 1/3 pure gum spirits ( Grumbacher) along with 1/3 Hoppes No. 9 and 1/3 Kroil. Soak for what ever amount of time as necessary It removes leading with a very tight patch

[bdecker9]

i have found rem oil to loosen leading in my pistols. left to soak it seems to help it "let go." not a miracle cure or anything, but seemed to get out what i couldn't with a bore brush and a drill lol. this was before i learned of using chore boy. anyone had the same luck with other oils? i imagine a good penetrating oil would work better.

[Scharfschuetze]

Shiloh is referring to vinegar, it will dissolve lead over time. The ancient Romans used vinegar as a table condiment, and kept it in lead cups. After awhile, the lead dissolved, and was known as 'sugar of lead'. It was used as a sweetener in cakes, pastries, and the like. It's amazing what you can learn on this site, isn't it?

There is a growing body of evidence that lead poisoning from the ingestion of lead sugar had a very negative impact on the upper strata of the Roman elite and leadership classes. While not as insidious as lead sugar, casting and handling of lead can and has caused problems for shooters with poor habits (like smoking and eating around the casting pot) when handling lead.

[lwknight]

The last one I had badly leaded up was a 9mm taurus 24/7. I sprayed penetrating oil (don't remember but it probably don't matter) and let it soak awhile then drove a semi hard slug down in reverse. It picked up all the lead shards and shoved them out looking like a porcupine . After that the rest was easy cleaning.
Probably any rust dissolving penetrating oil will work.
Like Gunk, PB Blaster , liquid wrench, Kroil and a lot more.

[MtGun44]

I have a small amount of a lead remover cleaning solvent. Never needed it for a severe
case, but it seemed to work fairly well in helping lead to get looser. I don't remember the
name of the product, probably can find it and report if anyone cares. Bought it about
30 yrs ago, never used much because I hardly ever get any lead in a bbl any more.

Bill

[wallenba]

A good hardware store has brass wool. That's what I use. There are too many Chore Boy imitators out there that are plated steel. Take a magnet when shopping.

[Freischütz]

I've used the 50/50 hydrogen peroxide/white vinegar solution and never had a problem. I let it sit until the bubbles stop and then wait another five minutes. If I spill a little on the bluing, I promptly wipe it off. I've never damaged a barrel or removed any bluing.

[olafhardt]

I always accuse cellulose nitrate of binding together most fouling so I use MEK or acetone to clean guns works for me. I have also used aluminum screen I buy at the hardware store.

[Shiloh]

Shiloh is referring to vinegar, it will dissolve lead over time. The ancient Romans used vinegar as a table condiment, and kept it in lead cups. After awhile, the lead dissolved, and was known as 'sugar of lead'. It was used as a sweetener in cakes, pastries, and the like. It's amazing what you can learn on this site, isn't it?

And it is pure poison. Sweet cumulative poison. I think you go nuts first as it dissolves holes into brain tissue.

Shiloh

[h8dirt]

Wrap some Chore Boy around a bronze brush and apply a dose of Hoppes. It works like magic. Do NOT use steel wool if you like your bore.

[btroj]

Steel wool won't hurt a thing. I use it often with no problems.

[ValorsMinion]

Just a note on the vinegar and vinegar/hydrogen peroxide solutions... they will dissolve the lead and form lead acetate which is much more toxic than elemental lead. Using a Vinegar/hydrogen peroxide solution is popular for cleaning 22lr suppressors but the the waste byproduct needs to be handled very carefully and disposed of properly.

Anything that actually chemically dissolves lead, and not just loosens it, is going to create byproducts that are more toxic than regular elemental lead.

[blackthorn]

What is the "proper" procedure for disposing of lead acetate?

[mdi]

What is the "proper" procedure for disposing of lead acetate?
Don't drink it![smilie=1:

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

copper chore boy doused with turps works well for me

[ValorsMinion]

What is the "proper" procedure for disposing of lead acetate?

Take it to a hazardous waste facility or community collection event.

[hendere]

Leadmonkey,
I cannot speak with any kind of knowledge/experience about lead solvents. I've seen the subject pop here on occasion and the answers run from using mercury to every witches brew you can think of.
I am a big fan of Occam's razor. The most simple answer is usually the correct one. Your favorite solvent, plus a bore brush wrapped in bronze wool or bits from a Chore Boy scrubber, plus some elbow grease will remove the leading in short order.

And From Alan in Vermont: "I'm a firm believer that most, if not all, of the miracle solvents serve best to seperate the gullible from their money."

These two statements will save you tons of money and time.

[Kermit2]

I take the copper Chore Boy pads and cut them up with an old beat up pair of scissors. I then wrap strands of the copper around an old bore brush. I make sure it fits tight in the barrel and then scrub away. I use a magnet to make sure I don't get steel srub pads. A store in town carries the real honest to goodness Chore Boy copper pads, and if they're out will order more for me.

[Shiloh]

I'm a firm believer that most, if not all, of the miracle solvents serve best to seperate the gullible from their money.

+1
I use Ed's Red almost exclusively. With surplus, it is ammonia water chased by Ed's Red.

Shiloh

[Shiloh]

I've used Chore Boys and steel wool. No issues with either. Steel wool is very soft steel. Chore Boys hold a a LOT better.

Shiloh

[captaint]

Just the real copper Chore Boy and Kroil. No lead. Mike

[whisler]

I'm a retired chemist and have worked with some pretty dangerous stuff, including plutonium, lead pigments and hazardous solvents, always with appropriate precautions at my places of employment but there is no way I would ever work with lead acetate (lead plus vinegar/acetic acid) in my home. Too easily absorbed.