Lead bullets

H

house

New member
I was wondering shooting lead ammo from 3d ammo, (alot of shooting may be 500 rounds)
hard my barrel? will i get alot of lead build up? i shoot alot and i need cheaper ammo prices and lead ammo is cheaper.
i will be shooting lead in my 45 colt,357mag revolver,9mm,and 357 sig in my sigpro.
Do i need to worry?
And also how do i get read of nasty lead build?
 
Get a Tornado Brush and some of that treated, abrasive cloth that is available from several different manufacturers. They will remove MOST of the lead. It will take hours of cleaning to remove every little bit of lead, which is unnecessary. As I write this, I look down the bore of my S&W model 64 and spy lead deposites throughout the bore after its second cleaning from four days ago at the range. If I want to shoot after I finish this post, I'll just load it up and go do it, and have nary a harmful side effect. The gun will still be more accurate than I am.

About 95% of the ammo I shoot is lead, that I have reloaded myself. I always have lead deposites in my guns. Just like most things, its harmfullness is a matter of degree. A little won't hurt. A large amount will cause problems.

3D uses very hard lead bullets and very light charges in the .357 magnum, which I have experience with. You probably won't notice any lead buildup. I'm certain you won't with the .45 LC, and I bet that what is true of their .357 loads is also true of their 9mm and .357 Sig.
 
Thanks for your info. ill go ahead and shoot it. I was wondering what is a good solvent to use to remove lead? I use hoppes #9 and to me that does not do the job.
 
3D Ammo is good stuff resonably priced. Lead is so much softer than barrel steel it will not be hard on your barrel.

Lead build up is a different story. It will wreck your accuracy for starters. If allowed to continue to build, it will cause an increase in pressure, even to the point of being dangerous.

I normally don't let any barrel go for more than 200 lead bullet rounds before giving it a good cleanning.

A few wet patches and a good fitting bore brush, usually is all that is needed. don't forget to give the solvent time to work.

If you barrels need a little more aggressive measures to get them clean, it's hard to beat a Lewis Lead Remover. It's quick, easy, inexpensive, and best of all... it works.

Good Luck...

Joe


------------------
Go NRA
 
hankrearden98: how do those tornado brushes compare to the regular bristle brushes? Most tornados that i have seen are all stainless which i will not use on my steel barrels. Does the tornado configuration clean very well?

Thanks
JD
 
what are the pros and cons of following up a session with lead bullets with a couple jacketed .44spl's or even jacketed .44 mag? I've done this with both my S&W 629 and Super Blackhawk with two results: far less lead in the bore and a lot more flash from the barrel/cylinder gap (this was quite awesome at dusk).

Should I stop using the jacketed bullets and go back to solvents and scrubbing to get the lead out?
 
Gentlemen, i have been doing some research on reloading and you may want to look at this sight. < precisionbullets.com/ > let me know what you think
 
Do NOT use Tornado brushes unless you really like wearing out your barrel prematurely! If you search here on TFL, you will find a long posting by Mr. Gale McMillan on the evils of steel or nylon brushes. I find a tight brass jag and some Lead Away patches will handle most lead buildup problems nicely.
 
My procedure for unleading my .45 1911's is the best I know of.
Go to your local grocery store and buy some
100%pure copper scouring pads.Snip off the bound ends on the pads.This should leave you
with a circle of copper mesh that you can unroll.Cut off a 2"x2"square,wrap it around an old worn brush.Now your ready to scrub the barrel.Your barrel should be lead free after about 15 strokes.
I learned about this trick from a Wilson Combat 1911 maintenance video.
 
I shoot a lot of lead bullets through .45s. My normal practice is 300 rounds through each of several guns. I use .50 caliber brass brushes to clean them, 100 strokes does the job with Shooters Choice bore cleaner. I personally don't think that Tornado brushes will do anything but harm your barrel.
 
How much leading you get & how quickly it accumulates is a function of the hardness of the lead in the bullets and the velocity with which you put it out the barrel. Something like 2% tin and 7% or 8% antimony should be good & hard. If you still can find linotype it's hard too. After 250 to 300 rounds shoot a mag of jacketed. It'll take most of the lead out with it. To clean any that's left, use Shooters' Choice Lead Remover. Dip a bronze bore brush in the jar of remover & give the bore a good soaking. Clean the rest of your gun & turn the barrel over once while cleaning so the solvent doesn't all collect in the bottom of the barrel. After the rest of the gun is cleaned, it should only take 6 to 10 brush strokes to get all the lead out.
 
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