Lead vapor???

[BillBro]

I bought the 586 because I remember seeing one at 13 years old and just thinking it was the coolest looking gun Id ever seen. It took me 43years to get my own and I hate shooting it. I hate shooting it because I tend to shoot cast boolits and wont change apparently but when I shoot it the front of the cylinder is silver with what looks like lead bapor deposited on it. It has the perfect circles around the chambers thats quite distinct and then between those is the silver/grey "film" look and I cant get rid of either.
Being rather obsessive about cleaning my revolvers this just aggravates me to no end. Do any of you guys know how to remove this or do I just have to freakin have to get my brain over this? I dont mind at all having to work to remove it, its not that. I want it gone without removing the blue from the front of the cylinder. Cant use lead away cloth on a blued gun.
Petty I know.

 

[Yendor 1]

You get boolit bapor on the front of your cylinder, you have broblems. lol

Nice gun. I love 5/686s. Shoot a few jacket bUllets before you put that nice old Smith away. Get over your OCD self.

You really should post pictures.

 

[gunbarrel]

Lead starts vaporizing at 752 deg F. That happens like when you melt lead to make your own bullets. If you are indeed vaporizing that much lead, you should be using a HEPA respirator when you are shooting, or you are going to end up like the Mad Hatter.

Others will chime in, but I think what you have is melted lead deposit from shooting soft lead bullets. Of course, small TRACES of lead gas are released when that happens. That's why you shoot shoot in a range that it's well ventilated.

Lead removing techniques that won't hurt the gun's blueing are available, but you need to evaluate why you are getting so much lead build-up with that ammo; like not adding enough antimony to harden the lead.

 

[71vette]

ETA - after rereading it could be lead. Are you casting your own? Are they very soft?

Also, I’m a big fan of coated hard cast versus lubed lead. Basically eliminates leading in the barrel as well as keeping the smoke from the lube away.

I honestly don’t shoot many jacketed bullets through my revolvers. 99% of my reloads are the aforementioned hard cast coated.

Also, here’s my 4” 586 ND with a few extras at the range:

 

[gunbarrel]

P.S. I love my 586 also!!

 

[Warren Sear]

The "lead vapor point" (its boiling point) is 3180°F. There is no way any sane bullet caster or shooter is going to be achieving this kind of temperature. I iffing hate internet BS.

The hazard of melting lead, besides burns, are due to the miscellaneous material such as rubber, oil, plastic, paint, glue, etc, and other foreign material that is mixed in with scrap lead. You can safely hold your head over a clean molten pot of lead for 50 years and never inhale any lead vapor, as long as you keep it under 3180°F.

 

[rwsmith]

Has anybody tried this....

I don't mind cleaning guns, but the front of the cylinder can be TOUGH to clean. Would putting a thin coat of grease on the cylinder before shooting it make it easier to clean afterward?

What I do now is use a compound for cleaning burned stuff off of copper cooking wear. I have a 686 so it doesn't harm the finish but I suppose it would be rough on bluing. I think I'd try the 'grease before shooting' idea.


Oh, BTW. I shoot coated bullets so I don't get lead deposits, but I think the grease idea would help there as well.

 

[robertrwalsh]

It would probably make it easier to clean but I would think it would be messy. The front of the cylinder does get hot when you shoot. Then you would have grease all over. I would GUESS you would be swapping one mess for another.

 

[s&wchad]

A small piece of this will remove fouling from the front of the cylinder...

This also works and won't harm the stainless. Don't use it on a blued gun...

 

[ACORN]

The "lead vapor point" (its boiling point) is 3180°F. There is no way any sane bullet caster or shooter is going to be achieve this kind of temperature. I iffing hate internet BS.

The hazard of melting lead, besides burns, are due to the miscellaneous material such as rubber, oil, plastic, paint, glue, etc, and other foreign material that is mixed in with scrap lead. You can safely hold your head over a clean molten pot of lead for 50 years and never inhale any lead vapor, as long as you keep it under 3180°F.

This!!!!!!
Just like water melts a 33 degrees but boils at 212.
Boiling point is much higher than melting point.
I believe the NRA did a study on increased lead levels from casting and found no appreciable difference in lead levels as long as good safety measures, like washing hands before eating, were followed.

 

[stansdds]

You might want to consider buying some of those hy-tek coated cast lead bullets for reloading. The powder coating acts much like a jacket and prevents leading and since there is no bullet lube required, there is no vaporized bullet lube to be deposited on your revolver.

 

[rosewood]

The "lead vapor point" (its boiling point) is 3180°F. There is no way any sane bullet caster or shooter is going to be achieve this kind of temperature. I iffing hate internet BS.

The hazard of melting lead, besides burns, are due to the miscellaneous material such as rubber, oil, plastic, paint, glue, etc, and other foreign material that is mixed in with scrap lead. You can safely hold your head over a clean molten pot of lead for 50 years and never inhale any lead vapor, as long as you keep it under 3180°F.

Exactly. If lead was vaporizing, all of the jacketed bullets that have exposed base would have the same problem. Dang near all "FMJ" bullets have exposed lead on the base. Even the 55 grain FMJ boat tail used in the .223/5.56 cartridge. FMJ not to be confused with plated bullets which are completely covered.

The smoke from cast boolits is the lube burning off and sometimes gun powder burning.

Rosewood

 

[gwpercle]

I scrub it off with a combunation of Ed's Red Bore Solvent , J-B Bore Cleaning paste (or any mild abrasive cleaning paste) on a wad of 0000 steel wool ... give a good scrubbing .
What metal that is Heat Colored by the fired rounds ...
I learned to Love !
The heat coloring is deep in the metal ... Not on the surfacer and does not come off . Think of it as heat bluing or a revolver Tattoo !
Gary

 

[Warren Sear]

Keep steel wool and all abrasives away from a blued finish, if you value the gun at all.

 

[The Norseman]

Rings of Power

Good question to ask before you ruin something.

A lot of good advice here also. You came to the
right place.

My suggestion; when confronted with “Revolver
Front Cylinder Dis-color Rings” by new Enthusiasts
is, just wipe the front off with Oil or safe for bluing
solvent. To try to scrub the Rings off may damage
or scratch up the cylinder.

Also I tell new Enthusiasts more damage is done
worrying how clean the Gun is, using improper
tools, and O.C.D. cleaning.

The Best to you and your Endeavors.

 

[IAM Rand]

Powder coat your Boooooooolits.

 

[ACORN]

Try bronze wool or a Chore Boy brand scrubber. Chore Boy is pure copper. Some of the cheaper brands are copper plated steel. Check them with a magnet.

 

[Warren Sear]

Clean the front of the cylinder with solvent and a nylon tooth brush. What doesn't come off should be left alone.

There has been a lot of very bad advice given in this thread.

 

[rockquarry]

Clean the front of the cylinder with solvent and a nylon tooth brush. What doesn't come off should be left alone.

There has been a lot of very bad advice given in this thread.

Yes, best advice.

Hurts nothing and will do the same next time you shoot it. I also use a toothbrush with solvent on the cylinder face. That will remove any loose particles, etc. The remaining stain is left alone. No need to obsess.

 

[BillBro]

Ill just post up a few pics tomorrow a d yall cant analize from there. Its the o ly way I know how to describe the effect, don't know and Im not saying thats whats happening and most likely isnt it appears. Does nobody else ever get any lead outside of the bore or chamber? Anywhere? On a blued revolver?
It doesnt shave bullets that I've ever felt and nobody beside me has ever grabbed their eye or screened their face and I hardly get any leading in the bore and chambers at all, even after a few hundred rounds, theyre just about all I shoot anymore actually, especially in revolvers.

 

[Mark Pilcher]

I'll bet heavy coin it's powder fouling and nothing to worry about.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Shooting lead bullets (cast or swaged) in a revolver will frequently result in some transfer onto the cylinder face, breech end of the barrel, forcing cone, and surrounding frame area. I think the most likely cause is the heat of the powder discharge melting a small bit of the bullet base which then transfers (under pressure from the expanding powder gases) onto surrounding surfaces.

Cleaning those deposits away requires only a stiff-bristle bronze brush. I keep my old worn bore brushes (various sizes depending on caliber) and use those to scrub away the "lead wash" transfer. Best done dry, no solvent or other liquid to lubricate the surfaces and allowing the bronze bristles to cut through the soft lead.

Of course, hand washing is required immediately after every cleaning exercise.

For many years American center-fire cartridge primers used lead styphnate in the percussive mixture, which contributes to airborne lead residue, especially in enclosed spaces (indoor ranges). Range backstops of steel plate can also cause airborne particles from fracturing of the bullets on impact. Users of indoor range facilities should always be aware of potential airborne lead, which can be problematic with lengthy exposures. Positive ventilation is an important consideration for indoor shooting ranges, and good personal hygiene is the best practice.

I've been casting my own bullets for 52 years and I regularly shoot at a good well-ventilated indoor range. No problems to report and my blood lab work shows no concerns.

Bullet casting metal alloys typically contain lead, tin, antimony, and trace amounts of other heavy metals such as cyanide. Lots of things are dangerous to health if people are stupid, careless, or lazy.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Keep steel wool and all abrasives away from a blued finish, if you value the gun at all.

I must disagree. Firearms are made of hardened steel which is considerably harder than any bronze, copper, lead alloy, or steel wool fibers. Bluing is not applied to the surface, it is an oxidation process within the steel surface itself and cannot be abraded away except by sufficient abrasion to remove the steel surface.

Bronze bristle brushes and cleaning pads such as the Chore Boy copper cloth cannot damage a blued steel firearm finish. You may rub your fingerprints off before the steel even knows you are there.

Steel wool is regularly available in various grades from fairly coarse to very fine (0000-grade is extremely fine), and the fibers themselves are much softer than any firearms-grade steel alloys. You can polish the blued finish of your firearms for days on end using 0000 steel wool with no worries at all, but it will easily remove surface corrosion, leading deposits, or copper fouling from bullet jacket material.

I was introduced to 0000-grade steel wool during a few weeks casual assignment at the Fort Benning, Georgia post armory doing regular maintenance on thousands of firearms of US, Allied, and Soviet bloc origins and firing ammunition with corrosive priming and/or steel jacketed bullets that required very harsh cleaning methods in routine maintenance. Commie machineguns might go out for a day of familiarization training and firing hundreds of rounds of garbage ammo, then be cleaned and prepped for the next day's training, no problems at all.

 

[chief38]

I normally use my CLP and a nylon toothbrush to clean the lead on the cylinder face. It removes enough lead that it never builds up and never causes any issues. I don't bother cleaning the lead rings off 100% because they will be back again next week. If you are going to turn a revolver into a safe queen and want it pristine, the Lead-away cloths or a white pencil eraser works great as well. Just do not do this routinely on blued guns as it will eventually remove the bluing too.

 

[tom2]

I often use a plastic handled brass bristle brush from the hardware store to clean lead off, combined with bore solvent application. This is mostly on stainless guns though. I used to have one of those yellow cloths that someone else posted and those seem to be good at removing lead too. For blued guns where you might fear wearing the finish off. But I have not had a fine brass bristle brush do damage yet. The amount of lead may..may also be determined by how hot the loads are, the bullet lube used and the hardness factor. I find lead in bores a bigger PITA than the cylinder face.

 

[barkbark]

I am a shooter, not a collector. Not that there is anything wrong with collecting, in fact I would love to have an unfired example of all of my shooters!


It's a tool, not a jewel. Shoot it. Clean it when needed for function, not for beauty. Then shoot it some more!

 

[38SPL HV]

If it is an older 586 (not today’s version which bluing is prone to damage from ammoniated solvents)…I would get some Otis bronze brushes…moisten with Hoppes 9 and scrub away… it goes away fairly quickly particularly, if you let the Hoppes 9 stay on it overnight.

Hoppes Elite Gun cleaner is good also and seems to work as fast by just going at it after your range session.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

A small piece of this will remove fouling from the front of the cylinder...

This also works and won't harm the stainless. Don't use it on a blued gun...

I've used NEVER_DULL for over 25 years. Makes knife blades look new and shiny. Burn rings on cylinders mean nothing to me.....Scrub and hour to get them off and next time you pull the trigger they are back. So a non issue to me.........Never-Dull is good stuff. Especially on stainless steel.

 

[Greyman50]

Try Hoppes #9 and a small soft brass brush. May have to remover cylinder to get it all. I use a soft stainless cup brush on a Dremil to clean front of stainless cylinders. Go slow and gently work around cylinder face.

 

[6string]

Don’t worry about it. It’s part of the game. It gets to a certain built up point, then that’s it. It doesn’t keep accumulating, nor does it cause any damage to the gun.
So, why waste the time removing it?
It’ll just come back next trip to the range.

But, take that with a “grain of salt”. I like the scent of Alox bullet lube and the smokey soot from burned Unique or Bullseye on my guns and brass, too.

Please tell me you don’t polish the exhaust pipe on your car, do you?