The best way to remove hard lead fouling is Mercury.
It is quick and easy, but it carries with it some risk.
You you can follow some simple safety instructions, it can be done very easily.
You need to make sure that at no time the Mercury can come in contact you any part of your body, and you work over a porcine or glass it will work just fine.
Use duct tape to cover the end of the barrel, pour a small amount into the other end, cover that end with duct tape. Now with heavy rubber gloves (Ones made for cleaning solvent) hold the tape in place, and shake the barrel to get the Mercury around to 1 minute. Then remove the tape off one end and pour it back into the container.
Be sure to do this in an open air area and do wear a filter mask.
The lead will be gone, now clean the barrel normally.
lastly, all the tape and cleaning patches will need to be placed into a heavy freezer bag and turned in to your local waste disposal as toxic waste.
You are greatly over-exaggerating the hazards of Mercury! You obviously don't know how pervasive Mercury is. It is contained in position sensitive switches, "silent" light switches, fluorescent light tubes, and thermostats. All of these are found in the home.
The only thing I will give you is it is probably wise to wear some form of gloves, but typical surgical gloves and disposable "Nitrile" gloves are more than adequate. Why do you recommend a mask? Mercury does not give off fumes at normal temperatures.
Now, how is Mercury used? our suggestion of shaking the barrel with the Mercury in it is ridiculous! Use a new, clean, bronze bore brush to clean and abrade the surface of the leading and expose clean, bare metal. Pour a 1/2 teaspoon of Mercury into the barrel after sealing one end, duct tape does work well. While sealing off both ends of the barrel simply tip it back and forth a few times to coat the leading with Mercury. Pour it off back into the container then let the barrel sit for several minutes to an hour or so, giving the time for the Mercury to amalgamate the Lead. Then, this is important(!) using a cleaning jag or loop with a tight patch simply
push the patch through the bore, which will take the amalgamated Lead with it.
DO NOT use a bore brush! If you do, when the bristles spring out of the barrel they will spray droplets of Mercury all over the place! The Mercury will also amalgamate with the Copper in the Bronze and destroy the brush in short order!
If you wear Gold jewelry you must be very careful to not expose it to the Mercury. It has to
touch the Gold, but it will damage the Gold!
Finally,
"....all the tape and cleaning patches will need to be placed into a heavy freezer bag and turned in to your local waste disposal as toxic waste." Get serious! There will be little more Mercury residue that what is contained in a fluorescent light tube! And a large portion of that will be Lead! Do you take these to a toxic waste disposal site, or just throw them away in the garbage? We both know the answer to this!
Do you know what is in the Silver Amalgam fillings in your teeth????
You are propagating the MYTH about the toxicity of Mercury, stop it! This is the same "Chicken Little" attitude that has allowed the liberals to demonize Lead, Ozone, Mercury, Radon, until many of the public are scared to death of the environment we have lived in for millenia!
