I need to get a lead remover, shoot a lot of lead plain lead handloads,and getting the cyl throats clean on .357 after lots of .38 is a pain, not to mention forcing cone..thought I'd try a hoppe lead kit instead of Lewis lead remover..any thoughts on this? I cant find Hoppes in .357 or .22....did they discontinue them? any ideas?
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Thoughts on lead remover
- Thread starter Babysitr
- Start date
Choreboy wrapped around an old bore brush.
Bib
Well-known member
This!...but if you get something other than Chore Boy use a magnet to see if it is plated steel. I bought a pack of off-brand scrubbers that said 100% copper but were attracted to a magnet
Use a worn our copper cleaning brush and wrap some strands of Chore Boy around it...works like a champ. I've had it bring out whole slivers of lead.
LoboGunLeather
US Veteran
Choreboy on a worn bore brush works well. 50 years ago in the Army I spent several weeks on casual assignment in the post armory at Fort Benning, Georgia. We serviced small arms and crew-served weapons from just about everywhere (western and commie-bloc) used for training purposes, which means a lot of firing by a lot of people.
For heavily fouled bores and chambers we used 0000-grade (the finest grade) steel wool wrapped around old bore brushes, worked dry (no solvent) to cut through heavy metal fouling and powder fouling, followed by normal cleaning with solvents, brushes, and patches.
Since then I have used the same procedure on my firearms, including a 1976-vintage Model 19 revolver that served me for several seasons of competition shooting (thousands of rounds of cast lead bullets every year). Chambers, forcing cone, and bore are still as new condition. Absolutely no damage whatsoever. All the steel wool does is cut through the deposits to remove them, and the steel wool is far softer than the steels used in firearms manufacture, so it cannot scratch or mar the firearm at all.
During my years shooting in the Service Rifle category I have fired thousands of rounds of surplus jacketed ammo through my M1 rifles, Springfield rifles, and a SA M1A National Match rifle. Metal fouling from the jacket materials (typically copper, brass, nickel) can be a serious challenge. Again, a worn bore brush tightly wrapped with 0000-steel wool will make short work of the cleaning job.
I have purchased antique firearms with bores that looked like corroded sewer pipes, and cleaned them up quickly and easily with the same treatment.
Worst case of leading I ever saw in a revolver was a .357 S&W Model 27. Wouldn't chamber a round of ammo. Cylinder would not rotate because of leading on the cylinder face and barrel breach face. You could barely tell that the bore had any rifling at all. About 20 minutes with a bore brush and 0000-steel wool, followed by normal cleaning, the piece operated like brand new, and everything presented as functionally perfect.
I have a small roll of 0000-steel wool in my gun cleaning kit. I think I purchased it about 40 years ago, maybe spent $1.99 or so, and I'm sure it will last the rest of my life.
YMMV
Yes, Chore Boy wrapped around a bore brush removes lead (and bluing) as fast as anything but I've rarely needed to resort to it.
For .22 revolver forcing cones I use a short stub of a pencil. A pencil sharpener creates the cone shape. I wrap a thin tuft of fine bronze wool around the cone and rotate it in the forcing cone by hand. A groove or two down the cone parallel to the bore to grips the wool.
Cleaning guns is similar to sharpening knives in that there are a half dozen different ways to accomplish the same goal.
For .22 revolver forcing cones I use a short stub of a pencil. A pencil sharpener creates the cone shape. I wrap a thin tuft of fine bronze wool around the cone and rotate it in the forcing cone by hand. A groove or two down the cone parallel to the bore to grips the wool.
Cleaning guns is similar to sharpening knives in that there are a half dozen different ways to accomplish the same goal.
kthom
Well-known member
The all copper Chore Boy type pads material works well. If I were going to use wool, I'd buy some copper wool as fine as you can get from Amazon. Guaranteed not to do any damage when used by hand in your steel barrel. I haven't tried the copper wool in a leaded barrel, but I have used the all copper Chore Boy. I'll bet the copper wool will be Ok too. Just make sure this stuff is all copper, not attracted at all to a magnet is the test!
