I thought Lead "Fowling" was outlawed?! Aren't you supposed to use non-toxic shot for wetlands? :biggrin:

The chore-boy trick is a great one for removing lead fouling in my S&W revolvers.

 

I thought Lead "Fowling" was outlawed?! Aren't you supposed to use non-toxic shot for wetlands? :biggrin:

The chore-boy trick is a great one for removing lead fouling in my S&W revolvers.

I use the old chore-boy ploy also. "Fowling" may have been outlawed, but, "Lead Poisoning" occurs quite often in the Greensboro area.

 

"Fowling" may have been outlawed, but, "Lead Poisoning" occurs quite often in the Greensboro area.

Thanks guys and I like this quote has a lot of meaning. Good job so just read between the lines LOL.

 

The solution I settled on is to shoot 90 - 10.
Shoot 90 rounds of lead then shoot ten rounds of jacketed.
Very easy cleanup afterwards.

 

#1 thing I've found to remove lead fouling is Lead Away Cloth. I use it exclusively on my SW500 and 45/70. Shoot mostly lead bullets I cast through them. Just run a couple of regular patches down the bore, then a couple dry ones to remove the loose stuff and powder residue. Then cut a couple of small patches of the Lead Away Cloth and run them down the bore. Only takes a few.

 

You can remove lead with bronze brushes, bore oil and patience (NOT a STEEL brush!). But it's better to prevent lead fouling than to remove it.

Leading usually occurs due to 1) bullets too soft, 2) undersize for the bore, 3) poor lube, 4) rough bore or 5) fired too fast. Or a combonation of these.

If you are shooting soft bullets then change your lube to NRA Alox/Beeswax or Lee's Tumble Lube, reduce the speed and make sure they fit the bore correctly (same or .001" larger).

I shoot .45ACP/.357/.44 mag and .30 cal. rifle cast bullets hard, up to 2k fps, as hard as they can be driven, without more than an easily brushed away light trace of leading.

 

I use choreboy and hoppes#9 , But hadn't had to do this since I started water dropping my bullets and useing alox, also before you go plinking you might want to run a little alox down the barrel of your gun this helps alot too

 

Commercial cast bullets will almost always leave some lead in your bore. This is usually caused by undersized, underlubed, and overdriven bullets. Back when I was buying cast bullets, I started adding an extra coat of Lee liquid alox to the .45 and 9mm bullets I was buying. This helped a lot. I am casting my own now, and not just pistol bullets, but rifle bullets too. Everything is cast and sized to fit the particular rifle or pistol, so no more leading. I usually clean my rifles with just a pull thru BoreSnake and a wipedown, and that is all that is needed. I do still see some small flakes in my pistol barrels which come out easily. You didn't say if you are buying or 'rolling your own', but if you are using commercial cast, then about all you can do is add the LLA, which should help some.

 

Another thing about he Alox, alot of people don't like it because it dries thick, brown, sticky, and gunky. What I do, is once the bullets is seated and crimped, I take a paper towel with a small amount of rubbing alcohol and wipe the exposed part of the bullet. No more sticky mess, and lube is still on the drive bands where it needs to be.

 

WNCCHESTER hit it on the head. Find out which of the five are the cause and your in business.

 

I boughtsome Sweets a while back at a gun show. Its an amonia based soulvent. I believe it works too good, because it usually takes a few rounds to get back to shooting good groups!! It will take it ALL out. Just be careful and make sure you oil your barrel and anywhere the soulvent ran down the muzzle or action, because it will dull the bluing.

 

If you deceide to try the LLA, be sure to heat it or thin it down a little first. A 'light wash'
is all that is needed on top of your commercial cast bullets.

 

Commercial cast bullets will almost always leave some lead in your bore. This is usually caused by undersized, underlubed, and overdriven bullets. Back when I was buying cast bullets, I started adding an extra coat of Lee liquid alox to the .45 and 9mm bullets I was buying. This helped a lot. I am casting my own now, and not just pistol bullets, but rifle bullets too. Everything is cast and sized to fit the particular rifle or pistol, so no more leading. I usually clean my rifles with just a pull thru BoreSnake and a wipedown, and that is all that is needed. I do still see some small flakes in my pistol barrels which come out easily. You didn't say if you are buying or 'rolling your own', but if you are using commercial cast, then about all you can do is add the LLA, which should help some.

'Commercial cast bullets will almost always leave some lead in your bore' is a mighty powerful statement to declare without presenting empirical data to back up the claim. To make such a statement, one would have had to perform extensive and exhaustive tests for each and every bullet from each and every commercial cast bullet manufacturer.

Commercial cast bullets can provide very enjoyable times both on and off the range if they are made of quality alloy and lubed with quality lubricant. The bullet's fit to the bore is important as well. The bullet's fit to the bore should be 0.001" over the bore diameter.

Leading can be produced by inadequate alloy, improper lubricant, and improper bullet fit, or a rough bore. The shooter should be aware of the bore's diameter to order the proper cast bullet diameter. A quality lubricant is a must in order to provide a shiny bore after each and every shooting session. Over driving a cast bullet is a result of not adhering to the reloading data provided in the reloading handbooks. Commercial cast bullet manufacturers have no control over what the reloader does in his reloading room.

 

Quote>> Commercial cast bullets will almost always leave some lead in your bore' is a mighty powerful statement to declare without presenting empirical data to back up the claim. To make such a statement, one would have had to perform extensive and exhaustive tests for each and every bullet from each and every commercial cast bullet manufacturer<<Quote:
*************

Well...I haven't run exhaustive tests with every manufacturer...but I have shot a bunch of'em...and every commercial cast bullet that I've shot has leaded my bores to some extent. Some badly. One of the worst was Lyman #2. I normally cut #2 with an equal part of lead for good .45 caliber 200-grain SWCs. (H&G # 68 clone)

My bullets don't lead bores.

I've been casting my own since 1963, give or take. My first mould was a .358 caliber single-cavity number that my ol' man made for me in Western Electric's Chatham Road plant. Didn't even need to size the bullets that fell from that mould. I include this so it can be plain that I'm not exactly a greenhorn at this cast bullet bidness.

The problem with commerical bullets is that most of'em ship in bulk packages. The bullets have to be hard in order to prevent deforming en route. The lube has to be hard in order to stay in the lube grooves and not all over the bullets. Alloy that's too hard for 90% of the applications, and too soft for the other 10. Hard lube is also conducive to lead fouling.

Most commerically cast pistol bullets are made from certified hardball alloy. 92% lead...2% tin...and 6% antimony. Too hard, in my experience. Cutting the antimony to 3% or so, with a tin content of 1-2% is about right for anything from 700 fps up to 1250-1300 Properly sized...about a thou over nominal bore diameter...and you can kiss lead fouling goodbye in 98% of the guns out there. We're assuming no heavy pitting in the bores, and bores that aren't badly worn. My go-to alloy is 95 lead/3 antimony/2 tin, for a total of 5% hardening agents. This works with 800 fps .45 ACP to 1250 fps magnum revolver rounds. If I need more velocity...which I rarely do...I'll bump the tin and antimony up a little...about a half percent each...and use a gas check...which is also a rarity for pistol caibers.

My barrels come clean of all lead with one in/out stroke with a dry, slightly oversized bronze brush. From there, it's a matter of a little solvent on a patch, and I'm done.

Commercial alloy...It takes a lotta scrubbin' with solvents to get'em clean.

 

lead RN 125gr

I am using the Georgia Arms cast bullet in my Glock. Was told to watch out due to the rifling cut for leading. They post their cast bullet specs on line. I have not seen a lot or much in the bore anyway with over 500 rounds so far that I was concerned about. I use Aerokroil and a bronze brush to clean all my stuff. I don't seem to have any issues, heck even my daughter thinks the Aerokroil smells good. Besides gasoline and gunpowder in her veins, what else could a dad ask for, right?
VETTOM

 

My way of thinking is that a little lead form commercial cast is OK. Especially if it means affordable shooting. The 'sizing axiom' of .001" over bore size really only holds true for handguns. More often than not a rifle will shoot cast best when sized .002-3" over bore size. Rifle cast bullets should be sized to fill the throat, and that often means a fatter bullet than .001" over bore. A cast rifle bullet benefits from some nose support when launched. That is why cast rifle bullets are seated out to touch the lands for best accuracy. I have been casting my own pisotol bullets for over 20 years, but rifle bullets are a newer venture for me. Only been casting rifle for 3-4 years, and it is still a learning experience.

 

Another thing about he Alox, alot of people don't like it because it dries thick, brown, sticky, and gunky. What I do, is once the bullets is seated and crimped, I take a paper towel with a small amount of rubbing alcohol and wipe the exposed part of the bullet. No more sticky mess, and lube is still on the drive bands where it needs to be.

I would also caution loaders to check their die periodically to remove the build up of lube that's sure to accumulate while bullet seating.

As far as removing excess lube from the loaded bullet, what a pain that is when you're loading multiples of 100. I know, I've done it. About the only use commercial television has for me is for times like that.

Cheers,

Ramon

 

Bore cleaners with ammonia (Sweet's 7.62, etc) are for copper fouling. They won't do much to leading.

 

The 'hardness' of a lubricant is not indicative of its ability to perform properly. Rather it is the content of the lubricant that allows it to perform properly. Properly engineered lubricants can and will provide excellent results.

Matt

 

The 'hardness' of a lubricant is not indicative of its ability to perform properly. Rather it is the content of the lubricant that allows it to perform properly. Properly engineered lubricants can and will provide excellent results.
Matt

I don't doubt it. I just haven't yet seen a hard lube on a commercial cast bullet perform properly...and like I said...This ain't exactly my first trip to the show.

The problems associated with commercial bullets are what led me to start casting again.
There was a time that I could buy'em so cheap, that it wasn't really worth the effort to roll my own, and I just lived with the fouling. Then, the costs jumped. So, I gave up, and went out and got enough wheelweights to sit my truck down onto the overload springs.
Ain't looked back.