How to tell if you have a leading issue?

[Bitman]

New member here, did a search to no avail. I've been reloading for close to 50 years. But it's always been jacketed bullets.
I'm now loading cast bullets in two different 38-55's. I don't think I have a leading issue. If I load over 1400 FPS, I'm using gas checks.
But to be honest, I'm not sure how to tell if I'm getting a lead build up. Do I need a special cleaner to find out?
Thanks.

[Dusty Bannister]

Here is a thread that might help you determine what you are looking for in the barrel of your firearms. Smears, streaks, or just a build up that affects accuracy are the basics. But there could be a very light antimony wash that shows at the muzzle that does not affect accuracy.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?438069-When-was-the-last-time-you-had-to-remove-lead-from-a-barrel&highlight=leading

[stubshaft]

A cheap endoscope will tell you immediately if you have leading.

[Winger Ed.]

After you clean & dry the barrel, look down through the bore.
Leading will like like crud in the grooves that didn't come out with a normal cleaning.
The lead gets deposited sort of like a skid mark

Of the times it's happened to me, it gets worse and worse towards the muzzle.
I figure the lube is wearing off and the boolit is getting hotter the farther down the barrel it goes.

The faster you push a boolit, the more tendency you'll have for leading.
At your speeds and with a gas check, it really shouldn't be a problem if you're using a good lube.

[megasupermagnum]

Lead fouling doesn't really build up over time in the same way copper does. It seems like you either have it or you don't within a few magazines. Its really easy to tell if you look down the barrel. Sometimes you only get it at the chamber end, rarely you get it only at the muzzle end. Often it can be down the whole length. I'm sure if you put a bore scope down even a clean barrel you would be able to see trace amounts of lead or coating, or copper, but that's not a problem. If you are using an alloy with significant antimony in it, often you will get what many call antimony wash, which is a light grey fouling that normally shows up mainly on top of the rifling lands, but not much in the grooves. This should push out fairly easy with a patch. It is also easy to mistake this for normal powder soot. Real lead fouling is shinier, and it doesn't push out super easy. Usually a bore brush is needed.

There's nothing special you need. I bought one of those special lead removers which is some kind of copper mesh patch, but I never use it. I'm not even sure where it is anymore. Instead all you need is a plain old bore brush and whatever bore cleaner you want. There's no cleaner that will touch lead that wont also ruin other things in your barrel. That's ok since lead comes out pretty easy. If you happen to have messed up and have a heavy fouling, the easy trick is to find some copper scubber such as choreboy and use some of those strands wrapped around your bore brush for extra scrubbing. I've never had to spend more than about 5 minutes of brushing to make a barrel spotless.

Under normal conditions a normal cleaner and plain bore brush will do just fine. It's actually easier to clean lead than copper. Heavy copper fouling, now THAT is a major headache requiring bad chemicals and often days of cleaning. As for why you might be getting excessive lead fouling, that's a more complicated subject. Chances are you have no issue.

[wilecoyote]

...If I load over 1400 FPS, I'm using gas checks...
in my revolver cast shooting sessions I always use some gas-checked ammo as last rounds, however, to take advantage of the scraping effect of the gas check and at the same time returning home with a cleaner barrel.
it seems to me that it works_

[Bitman]

Thanks for all the answers, I have a much better understanding of leading now.

[trapper9260]

Also if you use JPW , run a patch after cleaning your barrel will help. I do that and also do your part you will not have the problem .

[Silvercreek Farmer]

With a really bad load, your rifling will disappear! The lead can be thick enough to push out in strips. Some folks try to shoot the lead out with a jacketed bullet, this could result in a kaboom!

[Winger Ed.]

Thanks for all the answers, I have a much better understanding of leading now.

These guys here wouldn't want you to shoot your eye out kid, and are glad to help.

If you don't already have it, grab a copy of Lyman's Cast Bullet Book.
There's articles in the front end you'll really like and will give a great understanding of the whole cast boolit process.

[Winger Ed.]

Some folks try to shoot the lead out with a jacketed bullet, this could result in a kaboom!

On another forum, I made the mistake of posting something like that.
I thought some of the members were going to come after me with torches and pitchforks like the villagers did
when the Frankenstein monster went out in town and got into mischief.

When I go out and shoot both, I always shot my full house jacketed stuff first.
I have a big suspicion that at the very least, left over lube and soot would run the chamber pressure way on up
if jacketed ammo followed after cast. I was never comfortable using full pressure jacketed bullets as barrel cleaners.

[rintinglen]

How do you know of you have leading? Well, if you are shooting good groups and things are going well and then groups begin to get larger and larger, you very likely have leading. You will see it in the bore. There are several threads on lead removal here, and there are many ways to skin that cat.

But what I do is first, run a patch with some bore cleaner through the bore to see if there is any just plain crud that needs to be removed. Then, I visually inspect the bore with a good light. If I see lead, I run a patch soaked with Kroil through the bore and let it set over night. Then I run a tight-fitting patch through the bore and push out the lead. In severe cases, I use copper Chore boy filaments wrapped around a bore brush and scrub away. In really, really bad cases, I have used Mercury, plugging the bore with a cork and soaking the lead with the liquid mercury. I have only had to do this twice, both when hard cast commercial undersized boolits coated my bores.

[pcmacd]

Use your $75 rigid 30" Teslong camera, available on Amazon, to see if you have lead in your barrel.

They are not showing up on Amazon at this time.

I own two, the shorter one I take to gun shows in a tube in my backpack.

I connect it to my cell phone to look down the bores of prospective firearms.

Sellers are always astounded that I can do this, and the images can be a good lever for negotiation.

Q.E.D.

[charlie b]

Copper is 'easy'. Use one of the non-ammonia cleaners. KG12, Proshot Copper Solvent, Boretech Cu+2. You can watch the copper dissolve as they work. Took less than an hour with a badly fouled barrel. Just a few minutes for a single shooting session. Conversely, ammonia based cleaners seem to take forever to work.

[gwpercle]

If you can't see daylight through your barrel ... You might have a leading problem .

If your boolits have started hitting the target sideways ... you might have a leading problem .

If you can no longer see rifling grooves inside your barrel ... you might have a leading problem .

If you can't get a bore snake down your barrel ... you might have a leading problem .

If a company want's to mine lead from your barrel ... you might have a leading problem .

If the EPA classifies you barrel as a hazardous Lead Contimantion Clean up Site ... You might have a leading problem .
:drinks:
Gary