Removing lead from barrel

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kbm6893

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Is there a product that does it well? I've tried Hoppes regular, Hoppes gel, Remington Bore Shine, bore foam, but I can still see streaks of lead in there. I once owned a Lewis Lead remover, but the nub would always break off when I tried to push it through the barrel. Am I not letting it soak long enough? The patch comes through clean, but I can still see the streaks of lead, mainly right at the forcing cone. Somebody recommended wrapping some copper brillo around a regular brush. The only brillo I see has the soapy stuff on there.
 
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Copper solvent also works on lead-let it soak. (Shooter's Choice, Hoppes Copper, etc)
Chore Boy brass, just a bit wrapped around an old cleaning brush, takes out the residue.
 
kbm6893 said:
Is there a product that does it well? I've tried Hoppes regular, Hoppes gel, Remington Bore Shine, bore foam, but I can still see streaks of lead in there. I once owned a Lewis Lead remover, but the nub would always break off when I tried to push it through the barrel. Am I not letting it soak long enough? The patch comes through clean, but I can still see the streaks of lead, mainly right at the forcing cone. Somebody recommended wrapping some copper brillo around a regular brush. The only brillo I see has the soapy stuff on there.
Click to expand...

I have the Lewis lead remover and it works great. I don't understand your statement that you tried to push it through the barrel. I have always pulled it through the barrel. When the old screen starts to shread I just put a new one on.
 
kbm6803:

The reason your tip keeps breaking on the LLR is you state you are PUSHING the LLR through your barrel. That is wrong! You are supposed to PULL it through. The other thing is you are NOT supposed to do is wet the bronze screen. It is meant to be used DRY. I have used mine for 35 years many many times without the slightest bit of bending or damage, and it works wonderfully! I think that re-reading the instruction sheet that comes with the LLR might be an idea.

The second best method to the LLR is to use a Lead-A-Way cloth. That works well, but take a bit longer than the LLR does. For leading in the bbl, cyl. and forcing cone there is NOTHING better than the LLR (IMHO).

Regards,

Chief38
 
As stated by several others, the Lewis Lead Remover. I also let my M14 cylinder soak in Hoppes for several days to remove the buildup. Hoppes does a fabulous job if given the time to soak.
I've become very disappointed in Shooter Choice Lead Remover, which it really doesn't remove at all.
 
Another big advantage to the Lewis kit is that it's the only way to really get a revolver forcing cone clean.
The kit has an aluminum cone-shaped head that when wrapped with the brass screen cuts all lead, carbon, or copper bullet fouling off the cone leaving it totally clean.

Use the cone cleaner even with jacketed bullets to remove metal build up.
A common problem in the S&W "K" frame revolvers that had cracked forcing cones was the cones were badly fouled with copper bullet fouling.
This appears to have been a contributing factor in the cones cracking.

For chambers i still use bronze chamber brushes. They're faster then the Lewis for chamber cleaning.
 
Thanks. I had the Lewis years ago. I don't recall if I pushed or pulled, but I'm sure I followed the instructions. So I put the rod through the barrel front to back, put the tip on with the screen, and pull back out towards the front of the gun? ( for revolvers)
 
try Kroil let soak overnight paper towel pushed in
I found it works on the break on a 460 S&W the best. lead will brush off,
the foul out is good but hard to make work on the cone
 
I have used the Lewis Lead Remover for nearly 40 yrs. I have mounted the rod on a small metal plate, I place the rod thru the barrel, screw the tip onto the rod and stand on the plate and grasp my revolver by the grip and pull the LLR thru the barrel. Easier on the hand than the little t-grip rod on the LLR.
 
I have never used any solvent which is effective for softening and/or removing lead. The chemical reactions necessary to do this are not user or gun friendly. Mercury will amalgamate lead fouling but is highly regulated by law, highly toxic and fiendishly difficult to clean up if spilled.

The Lewis Lead Remover is the best tool out there for general purpose lead removal. The chore boy works well for the bore but when dealing with the revolver forcing cone, the LLR comes on big time.

The Foul Out will remove the toughest copper and lead fouling through reverse electroplating and is absolutely the best for extremely tough, fouled bores. The down side is that it isn't the most convenient thing to use, so I reserve it for only the worst cases.

As mentioned earlier, Kroil works pretty well on both lead and copper fouling but it is not a solvent. It is a superior penetrating oil which gets under the fouling and loosens it so that it can be brushed away with a bore brush.

;)

Bruce
 
Last edited:
kbm6893:

YUP, You got it. ALWAYS PULL it, even through the individual cylinders and you should be god to go.

Chief38
 
+1 for Chore Boy scub pads. Make sure you get the name brand as others are "copper clad" and can cause rust.
 
SMSgt said:
+1 for Chore Boy scub pads. Make sure you get the name brand as others are "copper clad" and can cause rust.
Click to expand...

It's worst then that.
A lot of the cheaper "copper" cleaners are copper plated stainless steel.
This stuff will absolutely destroy a gun barrel in short order.
 
I read somewhere, not sure where, that if you run a dry copper brush through the bore to roughen up the lead after shooting and then let it sit for a day or two, it helps the lead to oxidize. Then clean the bore with a lead removing solvent, as the oxidized lead is much easier to remove.

I reload and shoot jacketed bullets, but I am starting to reload lead for reduced loads for my daughter. I haven't tried this yet but am interested if anyone else has.

I haven't reloaded lead for a long time as my first attempts produced bad accuracy. I was shooting 158gr and 130gr LFP bullets out of a 586 and a 686. My daughter said she wanted a revolver(that would fit her hands) so I got her a model 10-5.

The old lead reloads I still had and some new ones that I just loaded with a different type bullet(158gr LSWHP) shoot fantastic through the Model 10-5. I had thought that I had crappy bullets, or that reloading lead required some type of special voodoo. Now I am happy that I kept those bullets and am looking for a older 38 of my very own.
 
I hate to bring this up this late in the thread, but most if not all
leading can be avoided by matching the bullet diameter to the chamber
throat diameter. The medium to hard alloys are useful here.
Dead soft lead might be needed for expansion but otherwise is
useless.
I have several 1980's 44's that have oversized cylinder throats.
Using oversized matching bullets eliminated leading almost completely.
I just run a patch or 2 with solvent to get rid of the carbon. Then
a dry brass brush for awhile in the bore. Another patch of solvent
and then maybe a couple with JB compound. It's clean. I have
never had streaking up the barrel, just some precipitation at the
cone. Polishing the barrel with JB helps too over the long run.

I shoot a lot of lead target loads and some husky ones as well
and have never had to clean more than the first inch of the barrel.
I must have in the past as I have some old used Lewis
parts but don't actually remember when I used them last (I'm
getting old).

Oregon Trail offers one of the widest ranges of bullet diameters
I know of. No affiliation, they don't even know me, etc.

I use their .431 44 bullets that actually measure .432. They
are enough larger that my Redding profile crimp sticks on them.
I am in the process of getting one .002' larger at the base.
Their seat/crimp die does work with these.

Increased accuracy and no leading. Time to break out that micrometer.

---
Nemo
 
caromrk said:
I read somewhere, not sure where, that if you run a dry copper brush through the bore to roughen up the lead after shooting and then let it sit for a day or two, it helps the lead to oxidize. Then clean the bore with a lead removing solvent, as the oxidized lead is much easier to remove.

I reload and shoot jacketed bullets, but I am starting to reload lead for reduced loads for my daughter. I haven't tried this yet but am interested if anyone else has.

I haven't reloaded lead for a long time as my first attempts produced bad accuracy. I was shooting 158gr and 130gr LFP bullets out of a 586 and a 686. My daughter said she wanted a revolver(that would fit her hands) so I got her a model 10-5.

The old lead reloads I still had and some new ones that I just loaded with a different type bullet(158gr LSWHP) shoot fantastic through the Model 10-5. I had thought that I had crappy bullets, or that reloading lead required some type of special voodoo. Now I am happy that I kept those bullets and am looking for a older 38 of my very own.
Click to expand...
If you're still looking for a fairly accurate, soft shooting load in 38 special, hard to beat a 105 grain truncated over 2.5 grains of Hodgdon Clays. I'm shooting them for the price of .22 LR and I can shoot thousands of them a weekend.

Sent from my SM-G900R4 using Tapatalk
 
kbm6893 said:
Thanks. I had the Lewis years ago. I don't recall if I pushed or pulled, but I'm sure I followed the instructions. So I put the rod through the barrel front to back, put the tip on with the screen, and pull back out towards the front of the gun? ( for revolvers)
Click to expand...

YES. And do NOT wet the bore as the LLR is meant to be used DRY. ALSO do NOT tighten the knurled nut fully. Leave it about 3/4 of a turn loose so the rubber can expand. The Forcing Cone tool will clean the lead from that area in 20 seconds like nothing else. EXCELLENT devise!
 
Strands of Chore Boy wrapped around a bore brush and you will see the lead just fall out of the barrel. I don't think I've ever had to use more than 10-15 strokes through to remove every sign of lead.

Stu
 
chief38 said:
YES. And do NOT wet the bore as the LLR is meant to be used DRY. ALSO do NOT tighten the knurled nut fully. Leave it about 3/4 of a turn loose so the rubber can expand. The Forcing Cone tool will clean the lead from that area in 20 seconds like nothing else. EXCELLENT devise!
Click to expand...

This is the key to using it. leave loose so it can be pulled easily through the barrel, then start tightening so it gets more difficult. It will get the lead out! ;)
 
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