Whats leading look like?

[Greenhorn44]

Just went to the range today, and blasted out 100 rounds of 240 grain wadcutters with beeswax home lube. First homegrown i have ever shot, Talk about a flinch on the first pull:oops:
After i shot about 12 rounds i ran a clean patch through the barrel with alittle hoppes, then wiped it clean. i could see some deposites in the barrel near the chamber. after awhile it seemed to shoot to the left. could this be caused from leading? whats it look like? i cleaned it up at home. still has alittle roughness look to it near thechamber. havent ran a brass brush through it yet.
Im alittle anal bout keeping my guns clean. I never need a brush to clean them.
After 100 rounds my gun was filthy, so were my hands. I guess unique is not a very clean powder, I had people asking me if i was shooting black powder, it was rather smoky, and smelled like a 1000 year old man just blew out his birthday cake candles[smilie=p:.
I thought wolf ammo was smoky and smelled bad. But all in all it was a victorious experience. I woudnt have changed it for the world.
Thanks again to all the Elder Casters. :bigsmyl2:

[Shiloh]

Leading opens up groups to patterns. I don't recall seeing it move POI only one direction.
Dull gray areas. You can't miss it. If you have it, you will have to brush it out, or wrap a Chore Boy around a brush or jag.

Tell us more about your load. Bullseye and Unique are smoky and stink. An acrid hurt your nose smell. The accuracy I get from them is what I look for. What are the boolits sized at?? Do you get leading from this boolit with other lubes??

Shiloh

[inuhbad]

I'd have to say that A LOT of the smoke is from your lube!

I switched to a Rooster Red (sp?) Lube that requires a heating base, and now smokey lubes are a thing of the past for me...

As for the leading, Revolvers take a different means of getting the lead out - I shoot most lead boolits in my 45...

[HeavyMetal]

Can't help without more details.

You were shooting Unique and 240 grain SWC's.

Now we need lube type, powder charge weight, caliber.

I'm gonna guess your shooting a 44 mag with an alox type lube in a mid range load like 9 to 10 grains of Unique.

If so you may as well take a smudge pot to the range with you as a cover story for the smoke
you'll make burning all that alox!

[buck1]

The sun will move my poi. In the morning I favor one side and the evening I hit to the other side a bit.
Leading looks like roughness in the bore. It will also be heavier more towards the chamber and run a thin wire next to the rifleings. Brush(or a brush wraped with copper chorboy) and soak with Hoppies and run tight wet patches through it and only one dry one. When I dry patch my barrels a lot , I lead much worse. Brush a little and soak a lot.
I even finish cleaning by running a patch with a tad of boolit lube through the bbl ....Buck

[243winxb]

"Leading opens up groups to patterns". < Very True. http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n420/joe1944usa/Leading45acp_2.jpg http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n420/joe1944usa/Leading45acp_1.jpg http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n420/joe1944usa/Leading45acp_3.jpg

[GP100man]

243winxb

It`s been a long time since I seen a barrel that looked like dat!!!!!!

But I`ve scrubbed my fair share of em!!!!

[RayinNH]

Now that is serious leading. Well done :)...Ray

[AZ-Stew]

243winxb:

Man! That's a nasty looking barrel!

Greenhorn44:

The part about "it was rather smoky, and smelled like a 1000 year old man just blew out his birthday cake candles" is a clear indication that you're burning a lot of wax-based lube. That's not a bad thing. It's not the powder, it's the powder burning the wax lube. Dirty hands and guns are a part of casting. If you want "clean", shoot J-words. Keep in mind that the wax coating on your guns prevents rust. The part that gets on your hands will wash right off. If you shoot where there's not a place to wash up, take some baby wipes with you to clean your hands before driving home. The wax will keep your hands from rusting, too. :bigsmyl2: It's really no big deal. You have to clean the gun and wash your hands anyway.

Leading on a cleaning patch looks like little shiny flakes, unless you have a LOT of leading. Then you probably won't be able to push a patch through the bore until you ream it out with a bronze brush. Leading doesn't cause groups to migrate in a given direction, it causes groups to open up. If your groups are drifting in one direction or another (I'm assuming you're shooting a handgun), it means you're not squeezing the trigger straight back. There's a chart somewhere that shows what you're doing wrong, depending on where the center of your group is with respect to the target center. Someone who reads this will tell you where to find it.

Regards,

Stew

[buck1]

AMEN! :violin:


243winxb

It`s been a long time since I seen a barrel that looked like dat!!!!!!

But I`ve scrubbed my fair share of em!!!!

[Greenhorn44]

Yup wax based as all get out.

my round is
wolf LP primer
Remington case
10.6 unique powder
Homegrown lube
240 Wadcutter.

My Alaskan throws a fairly tight pattern using factory ammo. I think my lee auto measure isnt as consistant as lee makes it out to be. I will try trickling all the rounds the next go around.

[Shiloh]

Good Leading Photos!!

Thankx!!

Shiloh

[Wayne Smith]

Yup wax based as all get out.

my round is
wolf LP primer
Remington case
10.6 unique powder
Homegrown lube
240 Wadcutter.

My Alaskan throws a fairly tight pattern using factory ammo. I think my lee auto measure isnt as consistant as lee makes it out to be. I will try trickling all the rounds the next go around.

240 wadcutter of what alloy? What diameter? What are your revolver throat diameters? What is your goove diameter?

Once we have those facts you can get a reliable answer. Until then all we can do is guess.

[JDFuchs]

The worst leading I ever had was in my Ruger Mark II 22lr. By the time I had it home and looked down the barrel I could not see the rifleing =/ It looked like a poor condition smooth bore. Took half an hour to clean it out. Its still the best target 22 handgun I have, just not sure what started the leading.

[Three44s]

Like others have posted, your alloy makes a huge difference.

Fitament issues aside ........ where there is leading if you back off your charge ...... 10+ gr. of Unique is on the upper range ...... you may get an improvement.

I like 8.5 gr. with WW alloy in a .44 mag case ..... it's know as a Skelton load and many happy casters have tamed their .44 mags down with it.

Three 44s

[Blammer]

what dia are you sizing your boolits too?

I'd drop the charge back to 9gr, make sure your boolits are sized and then make sure they are NOT sized again when seating them in the seater die.

[pjh421]

+1 on boolit diameter. If you are shooting boolits that are too skinny for your throat diameters you will have leading, period.

Paul

[Cadillo]

The worst leading I ever had was in my Ruger Mark II 22lr. By the time I had it home and looked down the barrel I could not see the rifleing =/ It looked like a poor condition smooth bore. Took half an hour to clean it out. Its still the best target 22 handgun I have, just not sure what started the leading.


I had the same thing happen to me with my stainless Mark II, which I have always thoroughly cleaned after each shooting session. I was shooting Remington Thunderbolt ammo, which I will never use again. I gave away the remaining three bricks of that junk to a friend after warning him of what he could expect from it.

Yes, he got bad leading too just like I told him he would.

[Recluse]

Greenhorn,

Here are a couple of things for shooting--one is the Shooter's Wheel, and the other is a PDF file on shooting and what's happening when your aim is off.

Both are simple, but good.

Enjoy.


Like others have posted, your alloy makes a huge difference.

Fitament issues aside ........ where there is leading if you back off your charge ...... 10+ gr. of Unique is on the upper range ...... you may get an improvement.

I like 8.5 gr. with WW alloy in a .44 mag case ..... it's know as a Skelton load and many happy casters have tamed their .44 mags down with it.

Three 44s

Concur completely.

I shoot far more 44 Special than I do magnum. When I do (load and) shoot magnum, it's usually with SWC or HPs--something I either hunt with or carry for personal defense situations.

That 8.5 load is pretty good.

:coffee:

[prs]

I guess unique is not a very clean powder, I had people asking me if i was shooting black powder, it was rather smoky, and smelled like a 1000 year old man just blew out his birthday cake candles[smilie=p:.


Now hold on thar Pard! I think Unique stinks real good. Not near so beaucasome as Holy Black, but enough so as to brang a smile t' me ol' face. Ain't nothing smells so good as Holy Black on a cool damp morning; unless its real maple syrup pouring over vanilla ice cream on waffles.

prs

[badgeredd]

"Leading opens up groups to patterns". < Very True. http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n420/joe1944usa/Leading45acp_2.jpg http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n420/joe1944usa/Leading45acp_1.jpg http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n420/joe1944usa/Leading45acp_3.jpg

THAT should be a sticky for sure!!!!!! Seems like I see the question about every couple months and those pictures are a great illustration!!!!

Thanks for posting them 243winxb.

Edd