Whats the best thing you ever used to clean leading?

Originally posted by james57:
I bought a Foul Out I when they first came out and was very happy with it. Then came the Foul Out II and I thought, hmmm. Then Foul Out III came out. By that time I was out of Foul Out lead removal liquid so I bought a new quart of Foul Out liquid. It would not work with my Foul Out I. Light would come on in about 5 minutes saying the barrel was clean but it was not. Tried several time changing the liquid in the bore, cleaning and re-cleaning the rod. Nothing worked. I sent a message to Outers on their web site and that was about 4 years ago and I still haven't heard one word from them. I may call them but I'm not optimistic about any help as a fellow on another forum having the same problem and contacted them by phone and their advice was to buy their new Foul Out III. They did not admit to changing formula or would not offer any remedy for his Foul Out I. I may call them and see what they say about this; I have not bought anything from Outer's since I had my problem and if a solution is not offered, I will never.

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Hmmm, that is not a very rousing account of Outers Customer Service.... I bought the III when it came out and it's still the current production. I know for a fact Outers says the chemicals are not compatible. I don't have any details as to why. Your troubles with the company notwithstanding, the equipment works great for me.

Last year I tried to acquire some mercury to clean the leading out of my cylinder throats. I asked our Fire Inspector if he knew where I could get hooked up. He told me about a large mercury reclamation and processing center in the city. I had never known it's there. I stopped by one day to ask if I could buy some and was promptly lectured and chastised about the grave consequences of handling mercury. No luck. A few weeks later we were told to keep an eye on the place because some of the employees (they actually hired criminals who were out on work release) were caught putting mercury into the boss's shoes. If mercury were half as dangerous as they claimed it to be, that dump would've been shut down years ago and that part of the city declared unfit for human habitation.

I'd still like to try it if I could get some.

Dave Sinko

Mercury like lead is hazardous if ingested. It causes neurological problems and is not excreted from the body so exposure is cumulative. Given the same precautions in handling as lead for casting, and the additional problem of it being liquid there should not be a great risk in its use. However, if you use it like Hoppes #9 for routine cleaning you will greatly increase your exposure.

For most of our lifetime mercury was used to make the silver amalgam to fill our dental cavities. Silver becomes suspended in the mercury which makes it flow. the amalgam was put into the teeth and upon sitting the mercury separated and was removed by pressure and vacuum. Mercury has a similar effect on gold and lead. Life time exposure from dental use was not seen as hazardous; however, most of the dental profession has moved to mercury free fillings.

IMHO, if you have some use it carefully and only when leading is severe. If you do not have any give kroil and Lewis lead removal system a try.

I have used for many years The Outers foul out first version, I think. I even made one using some old stuff around the house. Put it on a variable rheostat and let it go, actually had to slow it down but it worked.
If you shoot out the lead and get a clean bore[you think] put the gun on an Outers with lead removal solution, when finally clean switch to copper out then back to lead out.
Takes a while to get through the layers which have built up. Thats why I dont believe in shooting out lead!
Do it right with a Lewis lead remover.

For lots of leading a 50/50 mix of hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar in the barrel will remove leading chemically.

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Cheap and efficient. I take a plastic jag and a couple of patches and poke them in the end of the barrel to hold the solution in. Pour it in and let it sit for just a few minutes, take a wet, with the solution, patch and push out the black gunk. Oil well inside and out and, all, ALL of the leading is gone.

No elbow grease, no special tool, no "miracle" paste and all for about 10 cents.

The only reason I need it though is for my 9mm Sig. I cannot seem to get the fit/firmness right for it with lead bullets.

Proper fit=#1
Peroxide/Vinegar=#2

OCD1 said:

Where would one find Mercury these days?
I also remember playing with as a kid. Used to be in thermostats and some thermometers

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You can find a small drop of mercury in compact fluorescent light bulbs (I call them curly cue light bulbs). It's interesting that the incandescent light bulb which is now seen by many people (mostly liberal pu$$ies) as being a danger to the environment, has been replaced by a light bulb that now has a drop of mercury in every single one. Mercury is a poison but playing with a small amount of it will not hurt you at all. Like most metals such as lead and mercury, the body does a wonderful job of ridding your body of it. Most ingested or absorbed mercury passes through your body unabsorbed. Your body also rids itself of mercury by creating compounds of mercury that are a gas which are then released from your lungs and exhaled in the same manner as when you exhale carbon dioxide. (Trust me on this, I am a chemist). Most cases of mercury poisoning occurred in the past before the dangers where known and happened to people who were exposed to it everyday for years.

On a side note, most people wrongly believe you can get a lot of mercury from fish. Fish do have higher levels of mercury but the level is natural and is not caused by any contamination by humans. (An exception to this is the Minamata Bay disaster in Japan where chemical companies dumped 1000's of tons of mercury waste for several decades into the bay that people fished in. This may be where the so called fish/mercury danger originated from). Further more, fish have evolved a way to protect themselves from natural mercury levels by also absorbing selenium which has a countering effect to the toxicity of mercury. This protection is passed on to anyone who eats the fish.

As far as people using a hydrogen peroxide and vinegar solution, I would caution against this. While this will react with the lead and dissolve it, the peroxide will also react at the same time with the metal of the gun. Peroxide is an oxidizer and will react with almost all metals in the same way. The acetic acid in the vinegar will also do the same thing but to a lesser extent. Over time this will erode your barrel and cylinder which will actually increase the likelihood of leading. I would say that if you go this route, only do it sparingly.

For de-leading, I would recommend a non-chemical, non-destructive method such as a copper chore type brush as this will not scratch the bore or chambers since the copper is softer than the steel but yet will remove the lead since the copper is harder than the lead.

This is a resurrected thread! My last post in it was over a year ago! WOW! Do people really read them after they are that old?

Just cleaned a couple of firearms tonight. All lead shooting with these two and there was maybe 10 tiny flakes of lead total from both guns.

One was a Puma rifle in 45 Colt and the other a Ruger 45 Convertible with the 45 Colt cylinder in it.

I have driven lead bullets from both of these firearms at the top of the known 45 Colt data and have had some extreme velocity in both. A 240gr LSWC going 1500fps from the 5 1/2" barrel and upwards of 1900fps from the long gun!

Most of the bullets are lubed with a homemade concoction. 50% White Label Liquid Xlox and 50% Beeswax. They all were sized to .452" and shot extremely well.

I recently drove some 230gr LRN 45ACP bullets out of the handgun @ 1000fps so the residue from them + some of the hotter, heavier loads was in the same barrel. Three or four patches soaked with Ed's Red and one trip with a wire brush and it was as clean as a whistle.

Fit works!

Just take a old bronze brush and wrap 0000 steel wool around it and go to work with some bore cleaner. The lead will be on the wool when it is removed.

I have also used Mother's Mag Polish on the bore to polish it. Looks like chrome plated when done. You will be surprised how black the patches will be till you get it polished.

David Sinko said:

Last year I tried to acquire some mercury to clean the leading out of my cylinder throats. I asked our Fire Inspector if he knew where I could get hooked up. He told me about a large mercury reclamation and processing center in the city. I had never known it's there. I stopped by one day to ask if I could buy some and was promptly lectured and chastised about the grave consequences of handling mercury. No luck. A few weeks later we were told to keep an eye on the place because some of the employees (they actually hired criminals who were out on work release) were caught putting mercury into the boss's shoes. If mercury were half as dangerous as they claimed it to be, that dump would've been shut down years ago and that part of the city declared unfit for human habitation.

I'd still like to try it if I could get some.

Dave Sinko

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That reminds me that some years back, we had some local hoods who hijacked a whole truck loaded with mercury. A local businessman was involved somehow and he ended up in prison along with his cohorts for a seven year sentence. The mercury was recovered and was considered to be a very valuable cargo at the time.

duckloads said:

Copper chore boy wrapped around a bore brush with No. 9.

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+ a bunch.

Copper wool on a bore brush soaked in "The Dip", a thoroughly nasty concoction made of half hydrogen peroxide and half vinegar. You can leave a cast boolit in a dixie cup of the stuff and the next day there will be nothing but sludge in the bottom! I don't let it sit in the barrel for more than 10 minutes or so at a time and it will remove every trace of lead out of a barrel without hurting the rifling. One time I made up a bunch of 230 grain LRN loads for my 1911 with Bullseye thinking they'd be fine. Nope! Couldn't see the rifling after a magazine full they leaded so bad. I had already loaded them and was doing combat shooting at 10 yds or less and they worked fine for that so I shot prolly 200 of them. Took the barrel out and it looked like a smooth bore from chamber to muzzle. Lead was literally "dripping" off the crown. Took a glass full of The Dip and soaked the barrel for ~10 min. 1-2 minutes with a brass brush wrapped in copper wool had it clean as a whistle. The resulting liquid is NASTY stuff, don't just pour it down the drain

Deleading

I have to stand with pownal55, Frank237, Amici, Noah Zark, and chief38.
Lewis Lead Remover with Kroil or #9.

Larry

I, too, use the 50/50 mix of white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide in stainless guns. It works great.

But I've always heard it's a no-no in blued guns.

I started out with the Lewis Lead Remover and went to copper/bronze Chore Boy and the tight copper brush. Chore Boy works better and faster. If there is, and it can be, some leading left...the lead remover patches or a cut up lead remover cloth will do it.

I used to think shooting jacketed bullets to clean a leaded bore was okay. I don't think so now. In theory one could get a bulged bore, plated lead, or some other type of bore damage. In reality, is it proven? I have never read of it but why chance it with something as valuable as a firearm?

The Lewis Lead Remover is better at cleaning leading from the forcing cone though. I keep it, and Chore Boy, on hand.

Vinegar will definitely eat blueing.

Nothing works as well as the Outers Foul Out (OFO)...

I've used all other methods--then the OFO..in all cases teh OFO removed lead from the barrels thet had been "cleaned" by all other methods.

Howdy
Brass chore boy works well.... but a properly fitted cast bulet is the best preventative.

1) Mercury
2) Outer's Foul-Out
3) Chore Boy copper scrubber
4) Soak in Hoppe's No. 9, back when it still had nitrobenzene in it.

Don't like to use abrasives in my barrels.

Mercury

Find a Merck Index and look it up.
The main areas of concern (about 10 years ago, at least) are:
1) breathing mercury vapors while boiling to separate gold from the ore
2) organic mercury compounds, such as formed during blocking of hats and such.
I have had gold nuggets brought in that were covered in mercury and had to separate the mercury. No, you don't put gold nuggets in mercury, it is already a nugget.
Thermometers were considered a hazard not because of the mercury, which will pass through your system rather benignly, but the swallowing of the glass.
Almost everyone over the age of 30 or so has, or had, mercury amalgam fillings in their teeth. Never did show any hazard even with the "scare" in the '90s.
I vote for my Outer's Foul-Out. It is fast and thorough and is not abrasive. I want to keep my lands and grooves with nice sharp edges.

For those who endorse using mercury, based on that they've used it for years and it hasn't messed them up (yet), I can remember my mom driving around with toddler me standing up in the front seat. It never killed me then, but I wouldn't reccomend it today.

An over-sized (as in .45 cal for .44's, "used" .44 for .357 etc..) DRY brass brush & lots of patience & elbow grease.
After that, any decent solvent (or even some gun oils) will lift the last remains.