Leaded barrel

[gjgalligan]

Never had much problem with leaded barrels but now I have a revolver with heavy lead in it. Besides lots of elbow grease is there any solvent better then Hoppes 9 to soften it up?

[Moleman-]

I have used a lewis lead remover, but some bronze wool or copper wool (not the plated stuff) wrapped around a cleaning brush will help remove it just as fast. Then figure out why the gun got leaded up in the first place.

[michiganlouie]

You can try plugging up one end of the barrel, and fill with Kroil. Let it sit for a few days. Kroil being a penetrating oil may creep under the lead, making it easier to remove. Then, use a bronze or stainless steel bore brush. Just going by what I've read on another forum. I've never had a leaded barrel. Undersized lead bullets are the main cause of leaded barrels. Are these bullets cast commercially or your own? Generally, you want lead bullets about .002" larger than bore diameter.

[Ol` Joe]

I have used a lewis lead remover, but some bronze wool or copper wool (not the plated stuff) wrapped around a cleaning brush will help remove it just as fast. Then figure out why the gun got leaded up in the first place.

This would be my 1st stab at it. Chore Girl scrub pads used to be all copper but now they make them in both copper and plated steel wool. I’ve used a few strands of the copper ones on a brass brush in the past and it worked very quickly. JB or Remington 40x are mild abrasive cleaners that may do it for you too.
Like Moleman said, once clean try to understand what the cause was and take measures to avoid it in the future, rough bore, poorly lubed bullets etc.

[moosefisher]

+1 for the Lewis lead remover. Works excellent

[joepistol]

..." +2 for the Lewis lead remover "..
Bought a couple of them , one for 38/357/9mm and another for 44 /45.. about 30 yrs. ago!
Had to use them right after buying them..they work great.

Too soft lead bullets,or soft lead (pushed @ too high speed) will lead a barrel, in my experience.
Use hard cast lead, or better yet, polymer coated bullets & you'll have no lead in your barrel.
Plated, FMJ, or JHP's bullets also keep lead out of the barrel.

[joepistol]

ddl post..oops

[Moleman-]

Got a great deal or so I thought years ago on a couple boxes of 500 plain base 44 mag cast bullets with blue lube. Loaded a bunch up and went plinking. They started off shooting okay but soon weren't shooting so well. Turns out they were softer than the bullets I cast and smaller in diameter. The smaller in diameter is just as bad as too soft. They leaded terrible and were the reason I own a Lewis lead remover. Some time later I bought a 357 black hawk that was leaded and got a hoppes lead remover in 357. It was a straight up copy of the lewis model with a cheaper handle.

So, proper alloy and hardness as Joepistol mentioned and large enough to properly seal barring any issues with the gun like small cylinder throats, constriction at the barrel threads or a rough bore.

[joepistol]

Yeah, I should have added something about proper sizing of lead bullets.
If you go to any business that makes & sells their own bullets, there will be a note on matching your firearms barrel diameter to the correct sizing of the bullets you purchase.
All suggest /recommend that a barrel be "slugged" ( have a soft lead ball driven down the barrel, so it can be measured for actual bore dia. of your firearm) to determine
the correct sizing of a lead bullet for your gun's barrel.

Dia. of bullet, & hardness of the lead, do determine how well a bullet seals in a barrel, and " if " or "how much" lead will be left behind, after being sent down the barrel.

[gjgalligan]

Used several different lead bullets so I am not sure what leaded the barrel.
I suspect it was the home cast bullets I got at an estate sale several years ago. I have no way of testing the hardness at this point.