Removing leading by electrolysis

[Varel]

Recently I removed leading out of my uberti single action .357 using electrolysis.
I was surprised by the effectivnes. I saw a video of it on u tube and wanted to try it myself. Since my local gun shop was out of lead remover and my ballistol was not softening it ...
I use: a wax ear plug, a cell phone charger 5 volts output, vinegar, water and a stainles steel rod, and the rubbers of a couple 1cc syringes .
Vinegar and water 50/50 in the plugged barrel. Positive on the frame and negative on the rod. The rubbers on the rod to ensure there is no contact between the barrel and the rod.
Since its cheap, easy and effective I was wondering what's the catch?

 

[BruceM]

The catch is that vinegar is a BIG no-no for guns with a blued finish. At one time Outer's made a kit called the "Foul-Out" which could be used to remove severe fouling; both lead and copper via reverse electroplating. Worked great and you'd be surprised how much crud you could actually remove from a "clean" bore.

Bruce

 

[Selfin Megellco]

What about baking soda or Arm & Hammer washing soda as a replacement for the vinegar?

 

[Selfin Megellco]

And what about Stainless guns, will the vinegar damage the gun beyond repair?

 

[JDBoardman]

You don't need50/50 vinegar or washing soda either. All that is needed is just enough vinegar (or for copper, ammonia) to make the water a conductive solution. The electrolysis proceeds as a reverse electroplating, and deposits the fouling on the rod as elemental lead or copper. I used it on a S&W 1917 that I( thought had a ruined barrel. It removed enough lead to show the rifling, and when retreated for copper, left me with a shootable (yes it was still pitted) barrel. You need to be cautious about spilling vinegar solution on blued surfaces - it will strip blueing very quickly.

The process should be done with a low voltage (ca. 5 volts) and a low amperage ( no more than 100 milliamps ). Be patient, expect to spend several hours and several changes of fluid. And when the process slows down, remove the rod and wipe off the deposits and then put it back in.

John

 

[Selfin Megellco]

What about stainless, will it damage stainless?

 

[Selfin Megellco]

And what about Hoppe's Bore cleaner?, Is it conductive enough to be used?

 

[Varel]

What I read about solutions with baking soda or washing soda is that they are being used for removing rust from an object by elektrolysis. I think the polarity is different then.
I don't know if it works in the same way as the vinegar for removing lead from the barrel. If the added ingrediënt in the water is just to make it conductive it should, but the solutions seem to be different for different objectives. I don't know the physics/chemistry as to how and why different solutions are needed.

 

[Varel]

If the set-up is good and you are careful not to spill and you anticipate for solution bubling up from the barrel there shouldn't be a problem with stainless on the outside . But spilling is easy and I haven't tried vinegar on stainles to see what is does inside or outside the barrel.

 

[Varel]

You don't need50/50 vinegar or washing soda either. All that is needed is just enough vinegar (or for copper, ammonia) to make the water a conductive solution. The electrolysis proceeds as a reverse electroplating, and deposits the fouling on the rod as elemental lead or copper. I used it on a S&W 1917 that I( thought had a ruined barrel. It removed enough lead to show the rifling, and when retreated for copper, left me with a shootable (yes it was still pitted) barrel. You need to be cautious about spilling vinegar solution on blued surfaces - it will strip blueing very quickly.

The process should be done with a low voltage (ca. 5 volts) and a low amperage ( no more than 100 milliamps ). Be patient, expect to spend several hours and several changes of fluid. And when the process slows down, remove the rod and wipe off the deposits and then put it back in.

John

I did a 1917 as wel:
Here are some pictures (note: the red wire on the rod in this case is connected to the negative and the blue to the positive).
The lead on the screwdriver i used as the stainles steel rod is the build up after two minutes.

 

[Inusuit]

I have the Outers Foul Out unit. It worked great when I was shooting lots of lead SWCs in IPSC. Had a friend who insisted lead could be removed from his 1911 by shooting a couple of FMJs. The Foul Out proved him wrong. I believe it's still available from Midway. Not cheap, but I'd trust it over anything I rigged up on my own. Others are probably smarter than I am and able to effectively build their own device.

 

[Satoken]

If leading is that bad, you need to study harder the art of cast bullets. I almost exclusively shoot cast bullets and almost never clean the boar and I shoot a lot of 44s and 500s.

 

[Rule3]

I have the Outers Foul Out unit. It worked great when I was shooting lots of lead SWCs in IPSC. Had a friend who insisted lead could be removed from his 1911 by shooting a couple of FMJs. The Foul Out proved him wrong. I believe it's still available from Midway. Not cheap, but I'd trust it over anything I rigged up on my own. Others are probably smarter than I am and able to effectively build their own device.

They do not make it anymore. It still shows on Midway as discontinued. Must be a reason it did not "catch on"

Heck I have enough "electrolysis" on my outboard engines in salt water Aluminum alloys and salt water do not mix well. Have sacrificial zincs to get eaten up first.

(not my boat)

 

[cowboy4evr]

When a barrel is badly leaded , don't just blame the cast bullets . Figure out why ? There is a " procedure " necessary to shooting cast w/o leading a barrel badly . I shoot from " mild to wild " , no gas checks and don't lead up my barrels badly . I don't feel that if I take out a few specks of lead that the barrel is leaded . It's when I have strips 1" long , then I have a problem and need to address . I still say that a piece of pure ' Chore Boy " wrapped around an old bore brush does a very effective job of removing lead . I don't / won't use harsh chemicals to clean a barrel .

 

[Rule3]

When a barrel is badly leaded , don't just blame the cast bullets . Figure out why ? There is a " procedure " necessary to shooting cast w/o leading a barrel badly . I shoot from " mild to wild " , no gas checks and don't lead up my barrels badly . I don't feel that if I take out a few specks of lead that the barrel is leaded . It's when I have strips 1" long , then I have a problem and need to address . I still say that a piece of pure ' Chore Boy " wrapped around an old bore brush does a very effective job of removing lead . I don't / won't use harsh chemicals to clean a barrel .

And there you have it. As has been discussed many times, the correct size of bullet along with correct BHN will pretty much eliminate leading. If one has a leading issue then something is wrong.

Actually there are really no gun cleaning chemicals that will "dissolve" lead (despite the claims of all the snake oils out there.) Yes, there is an acid one can mix up but that is extreme, Manual "elbow" grease with a brush, Chore Boy Lewis lead remover works the best. I bet a lot of folks do not relace their bore brush often enough.

Same with copper fouling, only 2 or 3 solvents actually work well.

 

[Maddog 521]

I've used Electrolysis to clean cast iron cookware with great success. I never thought about putting a gun barrel in the tank. I used a plastic barrel with a stainless dryer tub and washing soda. It does work great for that application.

 

[hdwhit]

Varel wrote:
...I was wondering what's the catch?

You just primed your gun to rust.

As described, you set up a tank to electroplate the lead from your barrel to the stainless steel rod. But when you set up an electrical gradient to move the lead from clinging to the surface of the barrel to now clinging to the surface of the stainless steel rod, what replaced the electron "holes" on the surface of the barrel that had previously been occupied by the lead?

 

[MichiganScott]

If I can't brush it out I will just use my Lewis Lead Remover.

 

[Johnrh]

Run something like Butch's Boreshine or any other solvent and let it sit a few minutes. Wrap a brush with COPPER ChoreBoy and run it through until until clean. Won't take very long. Usually a dozen or so passes. Repeat if needed. Don't use the copper coated steel ChoreBoy. Advantage to the Lewes Lead Remover is the finer copper mesh but I don't use mine anymore.

Only gun for me that leads is my 40 M&P and XD. Never did get that solved in spite of sizing to .402. Just something about those 40's. Only shoot my own cast bullets in my pistols. With free lead it only cost me about $4 a 100.

 

[Skeet 028]

For lead removal I use mercury..no I don't play in it..don't heat it etc etc. It really isn't dangerous to use. It actually does a vey good job. I also have a Foul out and it works very well on copper. I used the lead remover on the foul out on a couple of shotguns... and have never had a rusted or pitted bore from any of the chemicals. I had so much lead in the choke area of 2 Win M-12 Pigeon grades that they shot full choke patterns out of a skeet bore 12 and a 20. Foul out took it right out.