I need help. I have a ruger sr22 and I've put around 500 I cleaned it everytime I shot it. Well last time I shot it I ran remington thunders down the gun and I have so much lead fowling in it. I've tried everything I have but it won't come out. I soaked it in break clp over night. I planed on going to the range tomorrow and would like the barrel clean. Anyone have any advise?

The fouling is in the bore right? Go to the store and get a copper Chore Boy scrub pad. Cut a piece of that off and wrap it around a bronze 22 bore brush. Scrub the bore with that and whatever solvent you like. Make sure to use enough Chore Boy pad for a tight fit. That will strip the leading out in no time.

Where would I get that?

Get Chore Boy at your preferred local retailer.

Look in the kitchen/dish soap section.

Yep, grocery store. Will be in the dish soap section by the sponges and scrub pads. Make sure you get the all copper one. Some of them are copper coated steel, which could scratch your bore.

If you're going to continue to shoot .22, you need to get a different solvent than Breakfree CLP. There are a number of products made specifically for lead fouling. CLP is OK for general cleaning, but won't do much (if anything) to lead fouling. The advice of the other posters is right on about getting the lead cleaned.

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Typically Walgreens has Chore Boy or you can get Bronze Wool at many Ace Hardware or Home Depot

Don't let the Ace webpage mislabel fool you, it's not "Bronze Steel Wool", it's pure bronze without any steel in it.

Wrap a couple of strands around a snug fitting bore mop and run it back and forth a few times every 6 inches or so. You'll see a bunch of silvery dust come out and your bore will now be clean.

I believe it's strands of copper not bronze. But yes Chore Boy works well. I use it with Hoppes Bore cleaner or Hoppes Elite foaming bore cleaner. Yes , most anywhere that kitchen cleaner is sold.

Dumb question, but you are using a bronze bore brush aren't you? My wife and I just finished off a brick of Thunderbolts, she used a Bearcat and I used my Single Ten. When I clean them, I get a lot of lead out of her barrel but not mine. For some reason the Single Ten isn't leading like the Bearcat. The Single Ten is SS and the Bearcat is blued. I am not sure if the Bearcat has a smaller diameter bore. I use Hoppes 9 and use a bronze brush.

Bronze bore brush, with bore cleaner, several scrubbings, then follow with a thin wrap of 0000 steel wool around the brush bristles , bore cleaner and scrub well again.
This is in the bore, if you have lead on the outside of the gun , that's another story.
Gary

First, the SR22 is a 22 caliber SEMI AUTOMATIC, not a revolver. So, you don't have to worry about the finish as much as you would with a revolver. In addition you can remove the barrel from the frame, which means that you can drop the barrel in a cup or glass of solvent. In fact you could drop the barrel in a small ultrasonic cleaner filled with an appropriate solvent for lead.

BTW, those suggestions for using a Chore Bore and wrapping it around a bore brush may work with a larger caliber but IMO will not be practical with a 22 caliber bore. In fact I suspect that trying this with a 22 caliber bore brush will likely lead to a 22 caliber bore brush solidly jammed into your barrel.

Now for a specific solvent for lead which can be found on the Net. First, a warning, the resulting compounds produced by this solvent are HIGHLY TOXIC and mildly absorbable through the skin, so use latex gloves and dispose of any handling materials and remaining solvents in a responsible manner. The recipe for the solvent is 50% white vinegar and 50% peroxide from a pharmacy. The toxic product of the reaction with lead is Lead Oxide, a white powder once used in paint. I also have no idea on the effect of this solvent on the bluing on the outer surface of your barrel but suspect it won't be good, so you may want to think about polishing the outer surface of your barrel for a look that "pimps out" your SR22 a bit.

Usage, best is probably is soaking with intervals spend using a bore brush to expose a fresh layer of lead to the solvent by scrubbing of the oxide products with a bronze bore brush. Second best may be using an ultrasonic cleaner but I've never tried doing this. Time involved can run from 6 to 14 hours, so it's not a fast process. However, I have had to do this with a 357 Magnum and the results were a clean barrel.

Future prevention of a re-occurance. DO NOT USE REMINGTON 22 CALIBER AMMO. Read the Net, Remington's 22 caliber ammunition is not very well thought of. My personal experience with with Remington 22 caliber ammo goes back to the 70's and I wasn't impressed back then and seeing current postings about it's misfiring and leading leads me to continue avoiding it. If you want to shoot lead bullets get some Winchester, the lube used may be smoky but it's excellent for keeping leading to near zero. For copper washed bullets I like Federal, the plating is a bit thicker and it's never leaded in any of my 22 caliber firearms. I also like CCI copper washed when I'm feeling a bit spendy and can't find Federal.

I like cci, winchesters and federals. Only reason I have remingturd ammo is because that's the only one I can find.

Thanks for all your help. What's the longest I can keep it in the vinegar and hydrogen peroxide for? I'm going to try that

No offense, but producing a toxic substance that in turn renders another toxic substance just isn't the best idea. Then you also have the dilemma of how best to dispose of said toxic substance. The vinegar will strip the bluing from the barrel, although this may be a good thing, as it makes it easier to polish, if you're so inclined.

Hoppe's #9 and the Choreboy will take you about 5 minutes, done and done. No toxic waste to deal with, and your pistol is ready to go quickly. Plus, for the cost of one Choreboy, you have enough matterial to clean your firearms for quite some time.

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Kroil, chore boy copper pad, elbow grease. Lead will come out.

I ran into the same leading with my SR22 also. I just soaked it for half and hour in a heavy dose of Hoppes #9 then used the wire brush on it several times then back with a pad until it came out clean. Not as much work as it sounds really.

I've used Sweet's bore cleaner and it removes lead very easily, but you can't leave it in the bore for more than 15-30 minutes at a time, or it could pit it. It contains ammonia, so use in a well ventilated room.

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There's part of the piece of lead. Went back and forth with a copper brush head so much with some clp and let some Barnes cl 10 sit for a little and that big chunk came flying out. Ready for the range tomorrow. Picked up a 325 round pack of federals. Thanks guys

Here's after. Couldn't remember which was a better picture

Gunny, peroxide and vinegar are not toxic when mixed, in fact you can even drink it if you like really bad tasting liquids. Yeah, the Lead Oxide produced is toxic but so is the lead contained in the barrel or a Chore Boy used to clean the lead out of said barrel. It doesn't matter what is used to clean lead out of a barrel, any materials produced should be considered toxic and handled in a responsible manner.

My concern with the Chore Boy method is that you are attempting to jam a rather considerable amount of material into a very small diameter and that may result in a Chore Boy pad and bore brush totally jammed in the barrel. Better to let a bit of chemistry made the job a bit easier. As for how long to soak the barrel, this solution is mildly acidic so I wouldn't use a soak longer than 1 hour with a steel barrel and with stainless steel I would limit the soak to 3 hours maximum. I would also fully rinse the barrel when finished and then apply a coating of Motor oil to inhibit the formation of any rusting. Note, you'll want to patch the barrel dry before any new range session.

scooter123,
After re-reading your earlier post, I see where I was in error. As for the Choreboy, you only use a short section of a single strand wrapped around an old bore brush. It doesn't take much. Either way, looks like the OP has enough options to get his firearm up and running.

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Will the plastic ones work

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The best I have ever used on my guns is Birchwood Casey Lead Remover and Polishing Cloth. I have used about everything else I could find, but to me, this is the best. I hope it helps you.

A bronze bore brush does not have the same mechanical scraping action that a snug fitting bore mop has with a few strands of bronze wool or Chore Boy. With the latter, you are essentially using a "soft chisel" to scrape the lead off the surface of the barrel and the snugness of the mop has no "give" the way a bronze brush does inside the barrel.



Being that the bronze/copper is harder than the lead but softer than the steel in the barrel, the strand beats the lead, but loses to the rifling so the lead comes off, but the rifling does not get damaged.





I've since washed the mops and now use Hoppes No.9 to get the soot out before "mopping" the barrel. They stay cleaner longer.

I am aware of that, I only asked since the OP didn't say anything about using one. I always go the easy route first, the step up to more aggressive cleaning. I have always been able to get the lead out of my 22 barrels using a bore brush and a cleaning jag. I have not yet needed to go the Chore Boy route, but it has always been a potential option for me. The jag helps tremendously by the way.

I have always just used Hoppes. It has never failed to get my gun clean.

Then I guess you've never had REAL leading in your barrel.

I for one will never shoot Thunderbolts again. I had a bunch of them I bought when I couldn't find anything else. They screwed up two of my guns within a month of each other, the first a Ruger Mark II in which a squib round somehow left a whole chunk of a bullet lodged in the barrel, the second my brand-new-to-me pre-18, which got such bad leading within 50 rounds that it started key-holing. I was panicked! I tried to give away my remaining 300+ rounds of the stuff on the Maryland Shooters website, and it was a long time before a taker came forward.

Vinegar/peroxide mix creates lead acetate (lead sugar), not lead oxide.
The Romans used lead acetate as a sweetener.
You could too, if you don't mind that whole nervous system damage thing.

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I guess not then rsrocket. You would guess sometime between now and 1986 between plinking and competing, we would have run into that, but no. We used to only use lead bullets for years too. I have never failed to have my barrel mirror finish clean. Don't know what I am doing right, but I think I will keep it up.

Good for you AGoyette. I personally have never experienced leading in any of my 22's either and I did shoot a box of 500 Thunderbolts through 3 different rifles once without problems.

When you experiment with cast bullets in centerfire rifles and handguns, leading is a definite possibility once in a while. But just like a squib, while its best to prevent it, dealing with it can be easy enough not to be afraid of it.

To the OP, it sounds like your bore size may be bigger than the typical 22. Have you ever experienced leading before?

I don't shoot .22 much, but when I do, I always get a leading problem in my P22 (must be the crummy ammo). I've used one of these LEWIS LEAD REMOVER | Brownells on my centerfire pistols for over 30 years, I just wish they made a .22 version.

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