Help me get the lead out

[weasel 21]

Was cleaning the handguns today after a weekend blast. Ive got a bad case of lead in the bores that will not go away. Ive tried soaking in solvent, chore boys wrapped around a old brush, scrubbing till my hands bleed. Most of these guns were 9mm and shot exclusively with lead . Any methods, help appreciated.

[docone31]

It sounds like your sizing is way off.
Might need to bump up the sizing.
One of the things I do at the range, I usually fire a clip of ball ammo at the end.
So far, I have not had a leading issue.
My 9mm I size to .357 with water dropped wheel weight.
So far, so good.

[mag_01]

Wrap a little steel wool around an undersized brush use a little oil or WD40 also those scrubbing pads used in the kitchen look like brass or bronze orange colored wrapped around a undersized brush.:castmine:

[SpaceGlocker]

Simple fix.....mix 1/2 hydrogen peroxide and 1/2 white vinegar.....find a cork put in bottom of barrel......pour in solution ...what till it stops bubbling and pour out. Run a patch thru....and another and then one with your favorite cleaning oil. This is all I ever do and it gets the lead out without ANY scrubbing....turns the lead into lead makes lead acetate that is soluble in water and pours right out! Make sure this is in SS barrels and DO NOT get it on the blueing...it will take it off. This has been used by the black powder crowd for years to clean their guns and rifles.

[sargenv]

If you're tired of scrubbing.. Outer's Foul out? :)

[Sprue]

Never use Steel Wool in a BBL. There is a tool called Lewis Lead remover, Shooters Choice liquid lead remover, J&B Bore cleaner, Bronze type scouring pads used at the kitchen sink (Chore Boy) and Kleen Bore Leadaway pads.

You're not making any new discoveries. We've all been there before. Keep tinkering, you'll find Lead Free resolve.

[redneckdan]

Simple fix.....mix 1/2 hydrogen peroxide and 1/2 white vinegarlead acetate that is soluble in water and pours right out! .


This does work very well but be aware that lead acetate is highly absorbable by the human body, specifically because it is water soluble. When I have to resort to this trick I dump the leachete on kitty litter or oil-dry and take the contaminated stuff to a hazardous waste facility, same place you would take used batteries.

[mikekj]

If you're tired of scrubbing.. Outer's Foul out? :)

+1 for the FoulOut system. Gotta love easy.

[yodar]

Wrap a little steel wool around an undersized brush use a little oil or WD40 also those scrubbing pads used in the kitchen look like brass or bronze orange colored wrapped around a undersized brush.:castmine:

chore girl kitchen scrubbys made of copper or branze can have a strant taken from it and wrapped around your jag

Lead can also be removed chemically if you are careful by filling the bbl with H2O2 and watching it FIZZ...it WILL, I am told, damage stainless steel

yodar

[weasel 21]

I used the vinegar and peroxide method which worked great. Ive never seen my Glock 17 barrel so clean. One question though; what do you use to plug the barrel? I was using cloth w/ duct tape wrapped around barrel(removed from pistol) and it wasnt very effective

[44man]

You need a rubber plug or a brass plug with an "O" ring that will seal the chamber.
The best thing for lead in the bore is to not get it to start with. Alloy, lube and boolit size can cure it.

[weasel 21]

Ive been using bullets that are sized .356 Seems like all 9mm are .356 at least commercially cast. Im not a newbie Ive been casting for 20 + years for a whole slew of calibers;just not 9mm. Also where would you get rubber plugs to fit in the bores?

[cb4017]

Simple fix.....mix 1/2 hydrogen peroxide and 1/2 white vinegar.....find a cork put in bottom of barrel......pour in solution ...what till it stops bubbling and pour out. Run a patch thru....and another and then one with your favorite cleaning oil. This is all I ever do and it gets the lead out without ANY scrubbing....turns the lead into lead makes lead acetate that is soluble in water and pours right out! Make sure this is in SS barrels and DO NOT get it on the blueing...it will take it off. This has been used by the black powder crowd for years to clean their guns and rifles.

Don't leave it in the barrel too long. It WILL pit the barrel.

Ask me how I know.:groner:

[.45Cole]

Rather than all the chemicals, I have just been buying .45 copper brushes and running then through the .38sp. I use Butch's Bore Shine. The lead comes off in flakes. Squeaky clean in a few passes. I don't have a .40 or I would use these brushes. You do go through brushes fast but it works. (I haven't set up for reloading .38sp and bought some NASTY SWCs that lead like a road painting opperation. Only have about 20 left.

[454PB]

And lastly, if you don't want to "shoot" it out, just slug the barrel. Slugging pushes all the visible lead out, then a normal cleaning with solvent and a bore brush completes the job.

[Willbird]

chore girl kitchen scrubbys made of copper or branze can have a strant taken from it and wrapped around your jag

Lead can also be removed chemically if you are careful by filling the bbl with H2O2 and watching it FIZZ...it WILL, I am told, damage stainless steel

yodar

A lot of that stuff is plated mild steel, you can heat it red hot and the plating burns off and it glows red. The 000 or 0000 steel wool would do no more harm than copper plated mild steel chore boy.

Bill

[calaloo]

Rubber stoppers can be had at Lowes in the hardware section in those large drawer units that contain many different odd bits and pieces.

[44man]

My gunsmith friend gave me a pile of black rubber plugs once so I know they make them. He had every size. I would do a search on the net. They were made for bottles.
Personally I don't like to put anything bad in a bore. I only use vinegar to etch a muzzle loader bore when it gets shot too smooth and accuracy falls off. Old timers used urine and understood a patched round ball needed "bite." This info was from Bill Large and it works.
Anyway, lead should not build up in the bore and any that is left from a shot should shoot out with the next boolit so that hundreds of rounds can be fired without any change.
Commercial boolits seem to be the worst for lead buildup, you have no control over them. Too soft or too hard, what can you do? Lube that is too hard too.

[Crash_Corrigan]

Kroil penetrating oil is the ticket. Liberally swab the barrel and let it sit overnight. In the AM dose a patch with some more and watch the lead come out in long tubes.

I had bought a SMLE for a song. I fired some corrosive 303 ball ammo through it and then some undersized lead boolits. I ended up with miserable accuracy and a totally leaded barrel.

I tried the above with Kroil and the next morning I ended up with some cylinders of lead tubing almost 6"long coming out of the barrel.

After all was cleaner than clean I slugged the barrel with Cerrosafe and found the chamber above of the end of the boolit to be .316. Near the muzzel the bore was about .308 or less. No wonder those undersized lead boolits caused a problem.