Get the Lead out of your bore

[rbertalotto]

Yesterday I took my Spencer in 44-40 to the range and shot 100 rounds through it. I'm not casting .429 bullets yet so I bought some cast bullets. They are a bit undersized so accuracy suffered and leading was an issue.

I got the gun home and ran dozens of patches of Shooters Choice, Kroil, Sweets, etc through the bore. All this did was make the lead look real shinny.

So I remembered the advise of Gun Turpentine and I had some. Took a nylon brush, wrapped it with a layer of paper towel and then a bit of "Chore Boy" copper pot scrubber fibers. Stuck it into the bottle of gum turpentine until the paper towel was saturated and ran it three times down the bore.

Amazing how much lead showed up on the Chore Boy and the barrel was sparkling clean.

Gum Turpentine is my new friend!

[rossim92]

will it get the lead out of my drawers?

[Blaine]

A 50/50 mix of hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar will eat up lead, too.

[Catshooter]

If you try the Chore Boy dry you might find that it is the ingredient for success. No solvent is needed for lead.


Cat

[QCI Winchesters]

I heard that corking up the barrel and pouring in some mercury, tipping it back and forth a few times, and dumping it, will get rid of the lead.

[Mescalero]

QCI,
dumping it out ........where?
Seems like extreme measures.

[Chuck 100 yd]

The Murcury will stick to the lead and just STAY in the bore. Bad Idea!!
I agree with Catshooter , The ChoreBoy dry works just fine.

[QCI Winchesters]

QCI,
dumping it out ........where?
Seems like extreme measures.

Down the kitchen sink drain, obviously! A little lead and mercury never harmed anything..... much...

[GoatGuy]

Will you guys please come to agreement and consensus with the appropriate method of easily removing lead from the bore. Yeahhh, (pulling out what little hair I have left)
See my other posts relating to opinions and advice about info from internet sites. Of course leverguns.com is the exception.

[Chuck 100 yd]

All of those methods do remove some lead from bores with the possible exception of Mercury that does stick to lead,copper,silver and such so any that is not stuck to the lead would just come out leaving the lead stuck to the bore along with (now) a coating of Mercury.
The ChorBoy wrapped around a bore brush is the one I have used for many years. It does work well.
Be sure to get real ChorBoy COPPER cleaning pads, not the copper plated steel ones often found. Scratch it with your knife blade and if silver colored inside leave it and keep looking. Rip some off of a pad and wrap it around a used bore brush. Make it a tight fit. Used dry you will see the lead coming out and landing on the table. Follow with a dry,tight fitting patch/jag combination to check for more lead.if clean,it will feel clean. Lube and you are done.

[QCI Winchesters]

The mercury thing came out of several old, old books. It must have worked, they say the mercury amalgamated with the lead, removing it from the steel. Never tried it, though, don't like keeping mercury around! I have used fine steel wool soaked in Hoppe's #9 with good success. Also used the wire gauze that they put on Lee-Enfield pull-throughs, it works fairly well. In really badly abused rifles I have even used the Hoppe's stainless steel brushes. My most used method it to plug the chamber, and put a piece of tubing over the muzzle, about three inches long. I fill the bore with Hoppe's #9 and let it sit for a week. Amazing what that pulls out of a bore!

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

The mercury thing came out of several old, old books. It must have worked, they say the mercury amalgamated with the lead, removing it from the steel. Never tried it, though, don't like keeping mercury around! I have used fine steel wool soaked in Hoppe's #9 with good success. Also used the wire gauze that they put on Lee-Enfield pull-throughs, it works fairly well. In really badly abused rifles I have even used the Hoppe's stainless steel brushes. My most used method it to plug the chamber, and put a piece of tubing over the muzzle, about three inches long. I fill the bore with Hoppe's #9 and let it sit for a week. Amazing what that pulls out of a bore!

Mercury does work, but you will need enough to fill the bore. Once you have it filled where you can see the mercury at first it will be shiny but as it leeches the lead out there will be a grey dust on it. That's the lead coming to the top. I have done it and still have the mercury.

But, it's not safe to use and the core-boy method works better/faster/easier. I actually use bronze wool available for from marine supply stores. Some of the coreboys are copper washed steel and can be harsh on the bore. I just wrap some on an old brush so that it's tight in the bore. As for solvent with it. I've used it dry, with hoppes or outers, and just WD 40. Didn't seem to make any different other than the wet ones work better than just dry.

[Machado]

A 50/50 mix of hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar will eat up lead, too.

Blaine, what concentration hydrogen peroxide? I find it available from 10% to 40%.
Thank you.
Antonio

[AJMD429]

See my other posts relating to opinions and advice about info from internet sites. Of course leverguns.com is the exception.

. . . well. . . yeah. . . !

[JB]

I heard that corking up the barrel and pouring in some mercury, tipping it back and forth a few times, and dumping it, will get rid of the lead.

It works. Years ago I used mercury to remove lead from revolver barrels. I don't remember any problems with mercury sticking in my barrels. I mostly avoid lead bullets now days, but when I do I abrasive pastes since their much safer to use than mercury.

[Don McDowell]

Much simpler just to use a cotton flannel patch wet with turpentine pushed thru the bore on a jag.
Best to leave the abrasives like Choreboy etc to the wifes kitchen sink where it don't matter if she scratches up the frying pan...

[piller]

I had an old .22 that started throwing bullets in a twelve inch wide pattern at 50 feet. I tried Ed's Red, and with a little elbow grease, I started getting thin strips of lead out of the bore. I kept at it by brushing, then running a wet patch and letting it sit for several hours, and doing this over several days. That rifle is back to shooting accurately.

CONTENTS: Ed's Red Bore Cleaner

1 part Dexron II, IIe or III ATF, GM Spec. D-20265 or later.

1 part Kerosene - deodorized, K1

1 part Aliphatic Mineral Spirits, Fed. Spec. TT-T-2981F, CAS
#64741-49-9, or may substitute "Stoddard Solvent", CAS #8052-41-3, or
equivalent, (aka "Varsol")

1 part Acetone, CAS #67-64-1.

(Optional up to 1 lb. of Lanolin, Anhydrous, USP per gallon, OK to
substitute Lanolin, Modified, Topical Lubricant, from the drug store)

MIXING INSTRUCTIONS FOR "ER" BORE CLEANER:

Mix outdoors, in good ventilation. Use a clean 1 gallon metal,
chemical-resistant, heavy gage PET or PVC plastic container. NFPA
approved plastic gasoline storage containers are also OK. Do NOT use
HDPE, which is permeable, because the acetone will eventually evaporate.
The acetone in ER will also attack HDPE, causing the container to
collapse, making a heck of a mess!
Caution, this recipe was found on the internet.
I am still using my first batch, and I used a cheap new 1 gallon gas can to mix it in, then transferred it to some mason jars that I had. It does make a lot.

[Don McDowell]

Puregum spirits of turpentine, about 9 bucks a pint, don't have to mix, stays in the can it came in so it's well labeled and will not lead to confusion later.

[Blaine]

A 50/50 mix of hydrogen peroxide and white vinegar will eat up lead, too.

Blaine, what concentration hydrogen peroxide? I find it available from 10% to 40%.
Thank you.
Antonio

I don't know (and I happen to be out of it right now) I just get the brown bottle at the drug store...