My 19-3 is leaded up bad...help!

[ColColt]

If it's truly leading and not lube from the bullet or powder residue, try the usual solvent on a patch followed by a brass brush., If that doesn't do it, take some Chore boy strands and wrap in several times around the brush and run it through the bore. It's made of copper so it won't harm the barrel but will pull the lead out and is cheap compared to the Lewis Lead Remover. You can find it nearly anywhere from the grocery store to Wal-Mart.

Chore Boy - Products

 

[jimmyj]

I brought my two sons shooting today and they did great. They each filled playing cards with six holes at ten yards, and also made soda cans dance around. They loved the Combat Magnum. We had a blast...that's what it's all about. The ammo was my handloaded .38 special dewc in front of 3.4 grs of tightgroup. Then, after 50 shots of this, we fired 18 shots of .357 magnum. They were Western Super X 158 gr lubaloy. The box also said nickel plated case, inside lubricated. The bullets have a copper color to them but do look jacketed. This box of shells was from 1968.

I got home and sat down to clean it and that is when I saw lead sprayed around the rim of the muzzle and the bore hopelessly fouled.

The reloads have never fouled my bore before, so I suspect it was the .357 factory loads.

2 questions...

1. Are these old factory rounds known to cause this?
2. What is a good way to clean the bore without harming the gun?
Thanks,
bigmoose

I well remember the W-W 158gr. lubaloy .357 ammo from the 1960s.
Those rounds would lead a bore "Big Time". This is likely your "Leading Problem".
Back in "The Day" bullet loops were popular for officers to carry extra ammo on the gun belts along with "Dump Pouches". The W-W ammo with the copper coated lead bullets looked "Awesome" in the bullet loops rather then the regular LRN ammo.

 

[JM4151]

Lead Removing from bbls

There are 3 ways to go for removing lead from a bbl. The first is to buy a lead removing cloth. Cut it into patch size pieces, that are on the tight side. Use a slotted cleaning rod to run these patches thru the bore, until all lead is gone. Be careful not to get it on blued or nkl finishs. If you do wipe it off, right away with something like a dry clean rag and wd 40. Wipe all oil off nkl finish guns!
Hoppie's is making a solvent that they call lead removing. Use that as per their directions, along with a wire brush until the lead is gone. Completely remove the solvent from the outside parts, especially nkl. Read directions first!
The last way is to plug one end of the bbl and put mercury in the bbl. You can obtain mercury from an old therometer or a mercury switch. Let it sit for several hours, and the lead will be gone. This method is not recommended, because mercury can cause health problems.

 

[JKBullets]

Shooting jacketed bullets following lead bullets in an attempt to clean out the bore is a mistake. Lead fouling attracts copper fouling and vice versa. If you are having leading problems, go with a hard cast lead bullet with slower burning powders.