1911 barrel leading- what to do?

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cracked butt

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I've been shooting cast lead in my 1911 all summer, and haven't deleaded the barrel yet. There appears to be a thin strip along one edge of each land in the barrel- it doesn't appear to be excessive yet.

I've heard of people shooting the lead out with a jacketed bullet, but I'm very leary of this idea seeing how thin the barrel is on the gun.

Is it safe to shoot with jacketed bullets without deleading first or will I need to actually strip the gun and scrub it out with copper wool?

(I'm lazy)
 
Is it safe to shoot with jacketed bullets without deleading first or will I need to actually strip the gun and scrub it out with copper wool?
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Don't "shoot out" the lead with jacketed bullets. The jacketed bullet may remove some lead, but it will also firmly press the rest into the tiny little pores, scratches, machining marks and other irregularities in the bore.

The Choir Boy copper mesh pot scrubber wrapped around a bore brush will pull out the lead, otherwise you can get a Hoppe's (Lewis) Lead Remover and that will pull out the lead.

If you are just seeing small streaks of lead against one side of the lands after shooting a lot of lead I would say that you don't really have a leading problem. This is pretty much normal, but when you see a lot of leading after just a few rounds you have a leading problem.
 
>> I've been shooting cast lead in my 1911 all summer, and haven't deleaded the barrel yet. <<

Maybe ... just maybe ... this is part of your problem. If you clean out the lead before it builds up ... well ... then it doesn't build up. Shooting a jacketed bullet over leading probably won't effect the barrel unless the lead buildup is truly serious - but it will make cleaning the copper-over-lead mess a lot harder to get out.

Maybe after each summer you should simply throw the barrel away and get a new one. This is an easy answer, but not an inexpensive one. :scrutiny: :D
 
Maybe after each summer you should simply throw the barrel away and get a new one.
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Ok, sounds like a good idea. I'll PM you my adress and you can send me one, I'll pay the shipping.:p

This is an easy answer, but not an inexpensive one.
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Oops, I'll take that back. I got all excited before I read far enough ahead:eek:
 
Chore Boy pad, unwrap it and roll it into a bore brush, plenty of solvent and a couple dozen strokes and the barrel should be lead free.
 
Lead

If it's stubborn...and really hard alloy can be...you can heat the barrel in an oven for about 30 minutes prior to cleaning it. Don't get it too hot...just to the point that it's a little too hot to hold bare-handed.

I know this one character who sticks his barrels in his dipper pot and turns the heat to smelting temp and melts it...pushes a tight-fitting plug of burlap sack through the bore, chamber to muzzle. Seems a bit extreme, but so far, it doen't appear to have hurt anything. Caution: Use welder's gloves to handle the barrel if you take this approach.:what:
 
Tuner - I haven't tried it. but I would think that some of your slury on a tight patch would make short work of the leading. The trick, if there is one, is to be sure the patch is tight. Otherwise it will only burnish the top of the lands. Same problem with some brushes and copper wool - they don't really get into the corners of the grooves. Using a good lead-desolving solvent and letting is sit for at least a few hours will help.
 
Slurry

Howdy Fuff,

The slurry won't, but straight J&B Bore Cleaner does a pretty good job if the patch is tight and made of a rough material like an old terrycloth towel.
Takes mucho elbow grease though...

A lead removal cloth, wrapped around an old bore brush also does a good job.
 
If you scrub out the worst of the lead with a chore boy, then JB the traces, you will eventually polish the bore enough that leading will stop or be greatly reduced.
 
Reduced Leading

Jim brought up a good point. I've got a couple of early 1991-A1s that I've shot a whole slew of lead through. They barely pick up any leading any more because they've become well smoothed through use.

Just as FYI point...Leading isn't caused by friction. It occurs when the hot
gasses cut past the sides of the bullet, or melt the lead at the base and deposit in the bore. Since lead and tin alloy is an effective solder, it basically welds itself to the barrel, and gets into every irregularity in the bore. Add antimony to harden the alloy, and you have a very hard, tough solder. Many people mistakenly believe that the harder the bullet is, the less leading will occur...but if the bullet is too hard to upset and seal the
bore, it can and does lead worse than one that's just hard enough.

I regularly shoot lead bullets through a .357 magnum revolver at 1350 FPS
that are cast from the same alloy that I use for .45 ACP. The .45s lead and the revolver doesn't. The difference is that the pressures in the revolver loads cause the bullet to seal the bore and prevent gas cutting down the sides. The revolver barrel only gets a light lead "wash" and cleans up easily with just a few strokes of a wet brush and dry patches.
 
I leaded up a megastar so bad once (well, it took a while I presume) that our first thought was that the barrel had gone bad, and there was no rifling left. Then I noticed the crack, and after picking at it realized it had leaded up from leade to muzzle.

I was much younger back then. No idea how many rounds caused it.

I just spent a hour in front of my friend's shop/garage with a bronze bore brush and hoppes. It worked. No miracles, just time.
 
Shooting jacketed bullets after shooting lead bullets is about as controversial as whether Ford or Chevy trucks are better.

I know lifelong experts will brand me a heretic, but I've been following lead bullets with jacketed bullets for years. I've yet to see a single problem with this.

However, now I shoot either jacketed or copper plated bullets, exclusively.

BTW, Lewis lead remover is pretty good in most circumstances.
 
I've shot a lot of lead bullets over the years, shot a 38 with swaged wadcutters in competition, swaged bullets are soft and really leave a lot of lead in the bore. I used the Lewis Lead Remover for years to remove the lead from the revolver and from my 45 auto with lead bullets, that was before I heard about and tried the Chore Boy tip, the Lewis Lead Remover has been collecting dust for several years now.

The copper Chore Boy works far better than anything else I have ever tried, the Lewis Lead Remover would get the lead with a lot of work, I am pleased to report the Chore Boy takes the Chore out of lead removal, it works fast and easy, much faster than the Lewis Lead Remover!

I learned about the copper Chore Boy in a book by custom pistol builder Wilson, it works great!
 
I've just been shooting bullets cast from straight wheelweights lubed with liquid alox. the leading isn't very bad at all, its just sort of a dark shadow on one edge of each of the lands.

I guess what I was more looking for was whetehr or not its safe to shoot jacketed bullets in a lead fouled barrel in a 1911.

I've heard concerns about shooting lead in Glocks followed by jacketed bullets because of the different style of rifling, but I'm not sure if that analogy carries over to cut rifling or hammer forged barrels.
 
I guess what I was more looking for was whetehr or not its safe to shoot jacketed bullets in a lead fouled barrel in a 1911.
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Like I said, cracked, I've been doing that for years, and have yet to see any ill effects. I've even asked gunsmiths and have yet to hear that it's bad.

In fact, if the truth be known, more barrels are ruined from harsh cleaning techniques than shooting.
 
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