Lead bullets-cleaning nightmare??

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Dave3006

New member
I am looking to shoot cast lead bullets in my new 1894P. However, people tell me that they are a real pain to deal with in terms of cleaning. Do you have to do anything different when you use a lead vs. a copper FMJ bullet in terms of cleaning?

Thanks.
 
i play cowboy with a rossi 92 44Mag but i only shoot 44 spec loads in it.....your answer lies in how fast do you plan to shoot the cast bullets....if you keep the velocity down you won't experience much problem in cleaning.....i have a Lewis lead remover i run through mine occasionally just to see if much lead is accumulating--so far no problem to speak of...PS--also make sure you get good cast bullets...To answer your question about cleaning all i do is run patches with hoppes on them until they come out pretty clean (I'm not a prefectionist). the faster i get through cleaning the faster i can load more shells......Dick
 
Get recommendations from friends who load cast bullets.

You're looking for bullets that are as hard as possible.

Hard-cast bullets don't create nearly the mess as softer bullets.

The harder the bullet, the faster you can drive it, as well.
 
The answer to cast lead fouling is simple:
Shooter's Choice Lead Remover.
It works.
Buy it.

I have used it in weapons so fouled that the rifling was no longer apparent, and it cleaned them out in a jiffy. Wear rubber gloves
when handling lead and cleaning it out.
Lead poisoning makes you stupid.
 
The best lead removal method I have found is the combination of a nylon bore brush and copper mesh pot scrubbing pads. Cut a piece off the pot scrubber and wrap it around the brush. Before using any solvent, run the brush/mesh combo through the bore. Use enough pot scrubber to get a very tight fit. After you've got the majority out using this method, a standard bronze bore rush and Shooter's Choice Lead Remover should get the rest.
 
Dave, you should not have a problem with leading if you cast hard, and use a gas check design, with gas checks. I cast a 170 grain Lyman GC (linotype) for my 30-06 and drive it around 2300 FPS with no leading at all.
I also shoot a 50 grain Lyman (also linotype) in my 22-250 at 2000 FPS with the same results. Some powder fouling and a little melted lube around the muzzle but Hoppes takes care of that very nicely. To be perfectly honest the rifles are easier to clean than if they had been fired with FMJ's. The powder fouling and lube cleans much easier than copper fouling.
 
Lead bullets.

I have been shooting cast bullets out of several different rifles and handguns for years and have finnally come across a solution to the leading problem. I bought a dozen sticks of Moly lube from Midway and tried it straight , but found it to be to soft to handle so now I melt down 1 stick of moly lube and 2 sticks of alox NRA type lube in a container. Mix well when melted and pour that mix into my luber sizer. NO MORE LEADING AT ALL. works on any caliber I have tried. :D Happiness now reigns at Povery Flats.
 
Dave,

Check out the Foul Out system from Outers. It uses an electro- chemical process to "pull" the lead and/or copper from the barrel of your gun. Gets it good as new. Wouldn't be a good choice if you were wanting to clean guns after every few shot strings, but if your just looking to clean them after your session it would be the way to go.
 
I was talking with a shooter at the range about this topic last Sunday. He said that the Marlin microgroove rifling really sucks to clean after shooting lead, but yields excellent accuracy with jacketed bullets. Still, it is cheap...
 
Try paper patching, if you want a really time consuming project. :)

Some former coworkers at NRA tried it back in the mid-1970s, and were getting standard jacketed velocities out of paper patched lead bullets in .300 Win. Mag.

Shocked me, too.
 
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