Do jacketed bullets clean out lead?

I shoot almost nothing except lead-bullet range loads, and do so weekly. I have never had leading in any of my handguns. It is as simple as this: don't load them for supersonic speeds and use hard-cast bullets. I use 148gr WC in my .38sp and .357, and 124gr truncated cone in my 9mm BHP. I think the old wives tale about "a few jacketed rounds to clean out the leading" is just that -- an old wives tale.

Cordially, Jack

It's not advised to "push" lead out of a bore with a jacketed bullet because it may increase pressure during firing.

That said, I do it. It's works best with my Redhawk after testing hot cast bullet loads. If I see some leading when cleaning the revolver, I take it to the range next time with a jacketed bullet load. It cleans out the bore very nicely and saves me hassle and patches.

Well, My uncle used to handload for his 30-06. He took me target shooting once 30 or so years ago and would shoot 1 jacketed round for ever 5 or so lead rounds. hmmm.

I am thoroughly against "shooting" out lead with jacketed bullets, and I used to do it as well.

The lead can be "ironed" into the barrel rather than "pushed out".

Also, it is never a good idea to shoot ANY firearm with anything obstructiing the bore in ANY way.

Leading is not the bug-a-boo-difficult-to-clean problem that it is supposed to be.

Go to the grocery store and buy the copper "Chore Boy" cleaning pads. Strip as many strands as needed to wrap around a copper brush and give a tight fit in the bore. Use a solvent or lead removing solvent and scrub the bore a few passes. It will clean out the lead very quickly and easier than a "Lewis Lead Remover" tool.

If there are minute tracings of lead left in the lands use a "Lead Free" cloth patch and remove them easily.

Why use ANY method [such as shooting out lead] that is in any way potentially abrasive, or at worst, capable of bulging a barrel?

__________________
Have guns...will shoot'em.

I'm going to guess the first question we need to ask is "how much lead?" Its a fair question to ask, and the answer will probably determine what you should do.

I've done it for so many years I don't even give it a second thought. But I don't allow any of my guns to get so bad that it even might cause a pressure problem, and I don't load to pressure or velocity levels that even might be a problem. I just never let it bother me or control my shooting.

I've fired both jacketed and lead ammo for years. For a while I had some bullets that tended to leave some lead. I stopped using them and went to a different bullet lube to remedy that problem.

__________________
Dick Burg

Just for a reference - Lyman's 3rd edition of Cast Bullits recommends shooting jacketed bullets to clean out lead.

I cast my own and never really had a problem with leading. I've shot (more for experimenting) some really soft bullets out of my 45 colt (like maybe 8) and they leaded terrible. Steel brush knocked it right out.

I have been using jacketed bullets to blow out lead fowling from my guns for about 20 years. Works fine and never any troubles. One point though, I never go more than 200 rounds of lead with any of my guns.

on another thread,someone states to plug a leaded barell,then fill with peroxide...let it sit 30 min.or so then clean...anyone heard of this?

__________________
SWCA#2208
KK4EMO

Yes, but it's a 50/50 mixture of hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar and it is to be used on Stainless guns ONLY as rumor has it will damage bluing. Doesn't need to sit for 30 minutes, either, you just wait for it to quit bubbling. I got this technique out of American Rifleman many years ago.

I've used it for years. It works.

I read somewhere a couple of days ago to just let the barrel set where the air can get to it. Appearently lead oxidizes fairly quickly and should just brush out without chemicals.

I personally use the Lewis lead remover and then the lead remover cloth's wrapped around a smaller than caliber jag.

The SURFACE will. You would have to do it over and over for any significant leading. That assumes there are no contaminants to slow the process, such as carbon fouling.

I, too, use the Lewis.

Thanks for the replies.

Wheel-er,
Don't give up all hope; there're still some old-time hold-outs in Wisconsin that know how things are supposed to be done. TACC1

Wheel-er

Forget the home remedies. Pro Shot makes a very good liquid lead remover as does Shooter's choice. For heavy leading you may want to try a Lewis lead remover tool.

__________________
Doug

Wheel-er
Thanks for the laughs. It appears the 70's in rural Nebraska weren't much different than the SW. My uncle once shot himself in the foot and was too drunk to admit it. Good to know that some things change for the better.

That's a must have tool for revolvers.

I use a "chamber brush" for the chambers. Some don't like the idea, but I use the stainless ones. Just a couple brush strokes cleans them out good. Just don't over-do it with the stainless brushes.

__________________
NRA Benefactor Member

Wheel-er....

I grew up when beer cans and beer bottles out in the country trash piles were the targets of choice. I learned to shoot with a single shot .22 Remington and a dump full of Falstaff bottles. Now there's trash pickup in the country, the dumps are gone, Falstaff beer is pretty much history and breaking glass is politically incorrect.

As for clearing lead from a barrel shooting jacketed bullets, I've heard that too. But, in all honesty, it never worked for me. I always got better results with Hoppe's No. 9 and a bronze brush.

Exactly right 500MN.

"I've done it for so many years I don't even give it a second thought."

I'm with rburg on this. I'm still using some of the same revolvers I was using 30 or more years ago and they still give excellent service and top accuracy. Upon inspection their bores will be bright and shining, the rifling sharp and clean.

Not only will the jacketed bullet loads clean the barrel of lead residue but will minimize lead rings on the cylinder face, lead residue accumulation on the leading edge of the sides of the cylinder at its front over each chamber, and lead residue accumulation on the underside of the top strap. A cylinder-full of jacketed bullets does all of this. Then the revolver is cleaned easily and normally. I've seen other revolver shooters scour and dig at these areas, trying to clean them up.
Keeping guns clean avoids so much wear and so many mechanical issues. Regular cleaning makes the cleaning chore much easier. My firearms are thoroughly cleaned after every shooting session. I don't use lead bullets that perform so poorly that they lead like fiends. I don't follow up shooting lead bullets with some gut-bustin' hot jacketed bullet handload either.

I never saw leading as a big problem but I have to wonder if a few rounds of good jacketed ammunition is less detrimental to a bore, forcing cone, top strap, and cylinder face than some methods of lead removal.

As far as ironing lead INTO the bore, I have to say I'm very skeptical.

IMHO if you make sure you don't get leading in the first place you should be OK.

When I bought my first centerfire handgun and found it was too expensive to shoot I immediately started reloading. My first try was using Speer 148 Wadcutters and the leading was aweful. A month later I bought a Lee mold and started casting my own with #2 alloy. In later years I switched to 100% wheel weights.

Now, 40 years and 60,000 rounds later, I load 26 different calibers and have never seen leading in any gun I own. Just keep the loads at the minimum powder the book recommends, and size to the groove diameter or a few 0.001" larger, and it should be fine.

I've been chasing lead with jacketed for 40 years, still waiting for the high presure to develope. My favorite 357 Mag load runs a Penn 158gr TC at 1400 from the long 686. Using the Premiums from Penn I've found that NO scraping or jacketed is needed. Nice bullets.

Interesting thread, but let's put a myth to rest. Shooting copper over lead simply pounds the remaining lead down into the rifling grooves. I've been using the Outers Foul Out system for years now. I simply have better things to do than try to mechanically scrape out lead and lead fouling covered with copper out of barrels. This system will deposit the metal fouling along the length of a rod that runs down the bore. You know exactly where fouling is occurring. This is not a big diagnostic regarding revolvers, as most fouling occurs in the first inch closest to the forcing cone. It can be a great indicator of a rough spot in a rifle bore. The fouling will be deposited on the exact spot along the length of the rod. You can then mark and lap that problem area. Modern barrel cleaning technology is available...........you might want to use it!

"Shooting copper over lead simply pounds the remaining lead down into the rifling grooves."

How?

i remember reading this from Elmer Keith at one point in time, but I really don't use alot of jacketed bullets that much anyways, so I agree with SemperFi's use of copper scouring pads. Take a small piece and run it around a bore brush. What I also do is use the next size up brush for the caliber I am cleaning. For instance a .40 caliber brush for a .357 caliber gun. This tends to clean much of the leading out of my guns.

__________________
Vaya con Dios

I'm a firm believer in the old ditty "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure", so I try to avoid shooting ammo that leaves lead in my guns and I do not shoot anything through barrels that are visibly leaded. That said, after a quick peek down the barrel using ambient light off a thumbnail, the last cylinder is usually FMJ unless the bore is significantly fouled. (Old habits from my .45acp bottom feeder days. )

I also believe a little leading leads to more leading. I'm not into returning guns to pristine condition after each trip to the range, in fact my guns may well be contenders for the dirtiest guns on this forum, but whenever I acquire a used gun, it gets introduced to Kroil, oversized bronze brushes, Chore-Boy pads and J-B Bore-Cleaning Compound until dry pads come out clean. Once the barrel is squeaky clean, keeping it lead free is a lot easier.

As for prevention, I tumble lube the pre-lubed lead bullets I buy with Alox/alcohol (50/50) and stick to medium power loads for everything except for the practice rounds I shoot in snubbies that emulate the factory rounds I carry. Even then, I get very little leading and at worst, there's < 2" of barrel to de-lead.

John

__________________
Age + Treachery = JohnnieB

I have heard whereby shooting hard cast bullets at low velocities will also increase leading and I have seen this in almost all of my Cowoby Action revolvers.

The theory is that the hard cast bullets do not "slug up" to fill the bore and the gases jet past the bullet initially and melt the sides causing leading in the rifling just forward of the forcing cone, but not down the entire length of the barrel. As I said I have heard this as theory.

I do not worry about leading anymore as I have used both the Lewis Lead Remover and the Chore-Boy process extensively and have found the Chore Boy to be much easier and less time consuming than a Lewis Lead Out. However having both is an advantage as the Lewis Lead Out can clean lead out of the forcing cone.

I have seen a my Lewis Lead Remover "iron" lead slivers in the bore. The system works for heavy leading but will leave slivers of lead in the grooves. As such then I use the Chore Boy and all is removed. Also with minimal leading I go straight to the Chore Boy.

As to lead being "plated" or "ironed" into the bore? I must correct myself and say I have not seen proof but it was reported by others. How they proved it I do not know. It makes sense but so does shooting jacketed bullets and their diameter [if sized right] might as well "scrape" out the lead.

However leading is an obstruction in the bore. Whether or not it is easily removed in one of many manners...why shoot something else in an obstructed bore? And even though it may have worked well for a lot of years for any individaul...all it takes is one time to destroy a good barrel.

I am a belt and suspenders kind of guy. I do not want to take chances with firearms that are no longer made and parts are becoming harder to get.

I will try bmcgilvray's method though and see if the firing of jacketed ammo cleans the cylinder faces, etc. There is a possibility of people using very harsh cleaning methods [digging/scraping] to remove leading from the cylinder faces, and frame "corners" due to leading.

It would be interesting to see if his method works.

__________________
Have guns...will shoot'em.

My favorite method of lead removal involves the Lewis Lead removal tool and a follow up scrubbing with ChoreBoy. The two of them seem to work well in concert. I haven't trird the chemical lead removers yet.

I remember Skeeter Skelton advocating this as a sound practice. I believe he would have known.

__________________
Georgia On My Mind

A .22 shooting a shaken full bottle of beer that's been sitting in the sun for weeks is just . . . Spectacularly explosive! To heck with cans.

I'm not in favor of blowing out lead with a jacketed bullet. My gunsmith told me that there are only two ways to rid a barrel of lead--friction or chemicals. Regarding chemicals, he said the "old-skool" way of doing it was using Mercury. Can you imagine doing that today?

I concur with the Chore-Boy method for cleaning lead. I was skeptical at first --the key is to ensure you have a very tight fit--its amazing how well it works! After using the chore-boy method the Lewis lead removal tool is only good for getting lead and carbon out of the forcing cone area.

I don't use jacketed bullets in my revolvers, but if I detect any leading, I use hand-loaded Cream of Wheat rounds to clean the barrel.

The ol' Cream of Wheat trick, eh?

Please keep us posted should you ever try Colon Blow.

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-li...n-blow/229046/

Sorry, but what is barrel leading and what causes it, and how do you fix it? Thanks.

Ahhh, I wish you hadn't mentioned Colon Blow. I'm going in next week for a Colonoscopy...

A friend and I have a shooting spot off the beaten path that some high school kids also use as a party spot. We frequntly clean up their mess and dispose of their bottles for them. I just used a .357 to blast a wine bottle today. Shooting glass is awsome its the having to clean it up that sucks. I don't think my range would see the fun in it when i left the broken pieces for them to clean up.

As far as the leading go's I would think something is wrong with my load if I shot fifty rounds and had leading. Most of the time if you look down the barrel and see gunk it is leftover bullet lube. And if you shoot a jacketed bullet down the bore it will clean that **** out. If you push a patch down the bore and it is black that is lube and powder fouling. Lead will look like lead (silver). I shoot almost entirely lead rounds and am a frequent non-cleaner. My guns regularly shoot 700-1000 rounds between cleaning. What I have learned here and at castboolit forum is fit trumps all in preventing leading. In revolvers you want your lead bullets .001 bigger than your cylinder throats and your cylinder throats .001 bigger than your barrels largest dia. Autos the lead bullet should be .001 bigger than the bore dia.You can use soft bullets if the fit is right. Hardcast is just easier for commercial casters to make and get proper fillout. The hard lube they lube them with is ****** as a bullet lube but stays put during storage and shipping.

What a great thread, and group! But you've instigated this new guy on your block. I have strong thoughts about cast bullets and real or mythical bore leading, after a bit over 61 years of shooting and 50 years of reloading and bullet making, cast and jacketed. During that time I've probably made just about every mistake that can be made, but I still have all my fingers and original body parts. I hope those mistakes have taught me how not to make more...or at least not as many.

Bmcgilvray has it pretty much right on all counts, as do some others here.

You don't pound lead into a bore by shooting jacketed bullets through it. That doesn't happen, with one exception. If there are deep pits, that's where the lead stays, unless removed with a brush or chemicals. But that's a losing battle, because lead from the next cast bullet will be deposited in the pits again immediately, even with correct alloy, lube, and velocity. You need a new bore, or stick with jacketed bullets in that gun.

A highly polished bore does not easily attract lead deposits in the first place, even if your cast bullet alloy is a bit soft and the velocity above the recommended limits. But a bore made with a bad reamer and cutter will attract lead, even when you are doing everything right. Those who have tried some of Numrich's barrels know about this.

Anybody ever ponder just what a gas check is for? It prevents hot pressurized gas from melting lead alloy from the base of the bullet and sort of soldering it to the bore at the higher velocities. But its secondary job is cleaning from the bore any lead which even that bullet, or a previous one, may have already deposited, despite being properly lubricated.

Does it work? There's no need to "wonder". I've examined hundreds and hundreds of recovered gas checks, in .30, .44, .45, and .357. Every one was plated evenly with at least a thin, fused coating of lead where it contacted the bore, but not on the bases.

S&W does a fine job of finishing its modern bores. A well designed gas check, made of the right gilding metal alloy, crimped onto a cast lead bullet of the Lyman #2 alloy equivalent, used even with good quality home made non-Alox lubes, will not lead a typical Smith bore up to at least 1500 feet per second, maybe higher. If you do get leading in that range, one of the controllable factors is not right.

Another consideration is that copper colored gas checks, and bullet jackets, contain all, or a lot of, copper. Few things bond as well as clean copper and lead/tin alloy solder, if you heat them together, which happens inside a gun barrel. We take advantage of this by pushing a jacketed bullet through a somewhat leaded bore. The thin lead deposits are sandwiched between the steel bore and the copper jacket, under great heat, pressure, and friction. The copper has a much higher coefficient of friction than the steel, and the lead alloy fuses to it more easily than to bore steel. Then with lead bullets, we try to use the right bullet lube and an alloy which hopefully ensures the worst possible "soldering job" on bore steel. Those of you who have done some electrical or plumbing soldering understand the dynamics of this.

There are a million ways to get leading, even in a smoothly polished bore, at velocities as low as 600 - 700 fps. That's airgun speed. Just use the wrong lube or soft alloy, or have a roughly bored barrel. And there are other factors.

During five decades of reloading, I have never before heard that the shooting of jacketed bullets in a moderately (not heavily) leaded bore is a bad idea, or that it is not a quick, safe, and effective way to remove such deposits. Lyman and just about everybody else has long recommended it.

Those who make .22 conversion kits for AR-15s and other gas operated rifles, such as the AK family, recommend that after firing 500 rounds or so of lead .22 LR bullets, you should switch out the kit and fire a few rounds of jacketed ammo. That will clean out the gas port and the bore. (Does not apply to actions incorporating a gas piston, which needs to be otherwise cleaned.)

I'm an incurable ballistics student (albeit not so venturesome where reloading manuals and my lack of lab equipment for pressure measurement is concerned). I've recovered jacketed .30, 8mm, .44, 9mm, and .45 bullets, both mine and commercial ones, fired after using lower velocity lead bullets. The jacketed followup bullets do a great job of dragging the lead out, and it stays on the jacket, even after the abrasion of going through several feet of wet backstop dirt and rock. They pick up lead even if you could not previously see it with a bore light. After it is gone, which only takes 3 - 5 shots, the recovered bullets come out clean. To me, that pretty thoroughly disproves the notion that anything has been "hammered into the bore". So for those of you who have been concerned about it, rest easy. I've done this a few times, to get rid of moderate lead in bores of guns bought at a show.

But of course, that's not the ideal way to approach the issue. Try not to get the lead fused in there in the first place. Use the right alloy for cast bullets, the right lube, the right powder, and understand velocity and pressure limitations...for the specific firearm and bore. By all means, don't be afraid of shooting lead bullets. I wish I could convince all of you who still have reservations. Cast bullets, some with gas checks, are almost all I shoot, even in rifles up to about 2300 fps. I have put thousands through my 1928 Thompson, at around 900 fps. IT-DOES-NOT-LEAD-UP! So stop worrying about leading a Smith. Best of all, lead bullets put almost no wear on a bore. On a $25,000 classic submachine gun, that's important. It is also important on a 70-year-old Smith which, to me, is like a fine painting. Save that bore, but shoot and enjoy it.

...which makes me pause to consider how wonderful S&W handguns of the golden era really are. Many of today's CNC-produced generation are even better, because modern tooling enables the mass production of bores with a remarkable surface finish, with good quality control management.

Remember what I said about my own mistakes? As a newbie reloader with a brand new S&W 36 Chief in about 1959, I thought it wouldn't hurt to fire a few rounds made with un-lubricated bullets, as I had run out of those black lube sticks for my Lyman #45 Lubrisizer. Those 148 grainers were so beautiful and shiny, how could it hurt? I fired no more than 20 rounds, hit no crows, and went home to clean the gun. Unbelievable. The leading was visible in strips and chunks that could be carefully pried off with a small screwdriver blade. Diameter was wa-a-a-ay below .357, and I'm lucky I did not pass the pressure limit. I was not "shooting" those last couple bullets; I was swaging them.

Now, that would have been the wrong time to use a jacketed bullet to try to clean out lead, as the jacketed projectile could not have been swaged down as easily as the lead slugs, and even that 2" +P Model 36 barrel or cylinder could have burst, or so I've theorized.

I've never used commercial chemical products to remove bore leading, because I've been religiously careful not to allow it to accumuate. And I've never had to use the reportedly excellent Lewis Lead Remover. I reload for over 30 different cartridges, thousands of rounds, for quite a few handguns, rifles, and a couple automatic weapons. And I don't get leading. I'm actually afraid of it, after my Chief's Special experience. And anyway, it is such a monumental pain in the butt to remove the stuff.

But thanks for tolerating all this maundering. I just wanted to share my experiences, as it has been so much fun learning all of the above, and it won't do me any good once they nail the lid shut. It would not have been nearly as much fun without all my wonderful S&Ws, and historian Roy Jinks is one of my heroes. The S&Ws are truly the best of the best, and I hail the company's resurrection. Now, don't go out there and use 450 grain jacketed hollow points to magically iron last weekend's residual cast bullet leading into the bores of your nice new $8,000 S&W custom shop .547 Magnum revolvers.

<You don't pound lead into a bore by shooting jacketed bullets through it.>

Perhaps "pounding" is not the best word. I guess you have to see this to believe it. I have cleaned copper fouling from barrels with the Foul-Out system, and then changed solutions and then removed more lead fouling. Those steel rods the fouling gets plated to, don't lie. The copper color is very distinct on the rod. The lead fouling is a soft gray that can be wiped off the rod with a paper towel. Now how did that lead remain in the barrel when that copper jacketed bullet "scoured" it out of there??? On really neglected barrels you can actually find copper/lead fouling laid down almost like layers of laminate. I'm betting some folks have never seen a really clean barrel through a borescope. You just think your barrel is clean, and it is most likely clean enough for general and safe use.

You're right, of course, but I usually abstain from such discussions because the people who don't use the high-tech equipment to inspect and clean bores "know for dang sure" what they see with their eyes.
The saving grace to leaving the bore fouled with lead and copper is that most people can't shoot a handgun well enough to tell the difference. Look at the number of people who buy and swear by their boresnakes to keep their guns "clean."

A well-known custom barrel maker confided to me that half the "shot out" rifle barrels he replaces are merely too fouled to shoot accurately. They could be cured with the Foul Out, but the owner ordered a new barrel, so that's what he gets. You can lose a customer by telling him he doesn't know how to clean a barrel.

__________________
Science plus Art

Sir, are you a gunsmith that regularly performs bore cleaning service for customers or just a hobby shooter? If you are the later I would find it perplexing that since you are using the Foul Out system and own a bore scope you would let your barrels foul to the condition that you describe above. Clearly the barrels that you describe as having layered fouling are akin to sewer pipes that should be replaced. There are varied opinions generated from the bench rest community relative to the level of cleaning that is required to maintain .01 - .02 groups. I have yet to see anyone at the bench with a Foul Out system or their bore scope in use between matches. Unquestionably some level of fouling will still allow peak accuracy not just allow "general and safe use." The only possible way for lead to be present under copper gilding is if the lead has filled inclusions, deep reamer marks or gouges. A jacketed bullet will, without question, strip lead from the lands and grooves of a top condition barrel. Just curious, but which model Hawkeye bore scope do you own? If you have the Luxxor attachment may be you could share some bore photos here on the forum.

__________________
Doug

I wonder whether it is possible to have a "layer" of leading beneath copper fouling. I can't imagine by what physical process this could take place, unless lead might have built up in those pits I mentioned, below the level of the bore surface.

We should remember that steel is porous, which can be seen under low power magnification. Once lead bullets have been fired through a new bore, some lead is likely to remain in those pores for a very long time, even after thorough cleaning of any sort, physical or chemical. Same with the use of gilding metal jackets. But the question is only academic. The bore does not have to be cleaner. In fact, we take "fouling shots" to prepare the bore for best stabilized accuracy before serious match shooting, because "too clean" is not a good thing.

Everything is a tradeoff, a matter of compromise and some doubt. But one thing about which I have no reason to wonder is that most S&W barrels which were built for serious accuracy are capable of it, if kept reasonably clean and not abused. That's because the steel is of good quality, smooth and slick, and was carefully bored and finished most of the time. It does not hold lead as easily as lesser barrels. So no matter how well you maintain a bore of lower qualilty, using either lead or jacketed bullets, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

That's one of the reasons I, and I guess most of us, are so pleased with S&W handguns. If a supposed target quality handgun doesn't shoot better than I can hold it, I don't want it. And many won't. So my inventory tilts heavily toward S&W.

Having said all that, there are exceptions which I don't understand. One of the most accurate 1911 .45 barrels I have fired came from a Korean War battlefield "dug-up" pistol and no longer had any visible rifling...just a matte surface of evenly distributed tiny pits everywhere. It shot almost as well as my Gold Cup. All I fired through it overseas were my cast lead SWC bullets, and you know that the thousands of pits had to be evenly filled with lead. So who can know anything "for sure"? We observe, learn, and do what seems to work and make sense.

Hi PhilOhio;

Maybe the lead was a restorative in your old .45 barrel.

Philohio. That was the clearest, most commonsense explanation of this subject I have seen to date. I am going to look forward to reading your future posts on other subjects.

Learn something new every day.

Thanks for the informative posts.

I have a 1911 barrel that has visible lead/fouling in the grooves of the barrel. I have always shot jacketed bullets though. Never exposed lead bullets. I clean it often but it seems there is a little line of residue along one side of all the grooves. Any tips? I have let it soak with Hoppes #9 for 24 hours and am trying T17 foaming bore cleaner now. Any other tricks I should try. What about that tip on the 50/50 peroxide/white vinegar trick?
Thanks
PS I use a brass brush and .45 jag. Should I switch my tools?

"Any other tricks I should try."

OK WEBER, INC. : SWEET'S 7.62 BORE CLEANER - World's Largest Supplier of Firearm Accessories, Gun Parts and Gunsmithing Tools

The blurb says Sweets cleans out lead. I really don't think it would be particularly effective against lead. I use it for copper fouling and it does an exemplary job of removing that. Only one example of many: I have a .220 Swift that has been steadily used for 24 years now and it shoots better than ever after at least 2500 rounds. I attribute the extended life of the bore to keeping it clean with Sweet's 7.62. The bore is conditioned with proper cleaning. The results are cleaning ease between use, better accuracy, and longer life.

BROWNELLS : J-B NON-EMBEDDING BORE CLEANING COMPOUND - World's Largest Supplier of Firearm Accessories, Gun Parts and Gunsmithing Tools

For used guns that are badly fouled, J B Bore Cleaner is the most thorough. Used per instructions it removes fouling and build-up so that the bore may be maintained more easily in future.

If the two above products don't help then the bore is past its prime.

<Sir, are you a gunsmith that regularly performs bore cleaning service for customers or just a hobby shooter?>

Just a hobbyist that shoots conventional (bullseye) pistol on a regular basis. Actually, it was a family member in the gun biz that turned me on to the Foul-Out system. He thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread when it came to cleaning and evaluating used guns, particularly older M-1 Garands and M-14's. He does have the Hawkeye borescope. I have no knowledge of this Luxxor system. His simply has a flashlight attachment that serves as a handle. Maybe we can do some before/after pics.

Who said anything.........mr expert commentator........about benchrest barrels. Comparing a precision Broughton benchrest barrel to a factory S&W pistol barrel is like comparing a diamond to a lump of coal. Only a fool makes that comparison. The original poster had the common sense to doubt that you can simply shoot the leading out of your barrel with a jacketed bullet. All you do is simply copperplate over that soft lead that is down in all of those small scratches and tool marks. To say that the fouling down in these areas helps/hinders accuracy will be a subject of endless debate!

Now to the poster that "dug up" his most accurate 1911..........Do you really expect anyone to believe that a barrel with no rifling, nothing but pits(his words, not mine) will shoot as well as a Colt Gold Cup that is in reasonably good condition??? Come on now........get real!

<I have a 1911 barrel that has visible lead/fouling in the grooves of the barrel. I have always shot jacketed bullets though. Never exposed lead bullets. I clean it often but it seems there is a little line of residue along one side of all the grooves. Any tips?>

Put a little dab of Flitz on your brass brush. Run it back and forth through the barrel 50 strokes. Run a dry patch back and forth 50 strokes. I'm betting your barrel will look better than it ever did.

What stores can I buy Flitz at? Also, I have read about "Kroil" and "Remington Brite Bore". Where do I purchase these at?

Thanks for the help.

You can buy Fitz at Ace hardware, at least that's where I get mine. Better price than Midway too. Rem products are available at Gander Mtn., Cabela's, about any decently stocked gunshop. Same with Kroil.

JB bore cleaner can be bought at the same places as the Remington Products, and it'll do anything in your bore that Flitz will do, and some things better. Flitz is primarily an exterior polish. It works well on nickel finishes, and the tube I have right now says it's gauranteed to not harm blued guns, but if you ever polish one with it, be careful and go slow.