Will I hurt anything running Birchwood Casey lead remover cloths down my bore?

[The Wiry Irishman]

I saw some of the Birchwood Casey lead removal cloths today for cheap and remembering a recent thread about their effectiveness in removing cylinder face fouling, I picked them up. Would running a piece of one these cloths through my bore on a jag be a safe, quicker alternative to removing leading from my .44 than soaking in Ballistol for a couple hours and running a brass brush though?

 

[rcmodel]

No.

Those lead remover cloths work great for removing stains and such from stainless steel revolvers.

They cannot be used on blued guns or the bluing will be removed.

They are just about worthless for removing heavy leading from the bore. Might be O.K. for very light leading, but it's not that hard to clean anyway with normal cleaning products.

A bronze bore brush, or a Lewis Lead Remover tool are best for heavy leading.

Bottom line is, it won't hurt to try it, but there are better ways to do it.

rc

 

[The Wiry Irishman]

Thanks again for your help rcmodel!

 

[fourdollarbill]

I tried the lead removal cloth and cut it into little patch's to use on a barb. It worked pretty well in my 40SW, 357 mag barrels but I used the whole thing on two gun bores. It works well for me. But I think a bronze brush and some Hoppes Elite used after every shoot works best.

 

[GP100man]

choreboy pot scrubbers wrapped around an old brush ,wet the bore with ya favorite cleaner & a few swipes , lead be gone!!!


GP100man

 

[Master Blaster]

Figure out why you have leading and correct the condition.

Are the bullets too hard or too soft?
Are they improperly sized?
Improperly or insufficiently lubbed?
Wrong propellent?
Driven too fast for the type of bullet?

What is the caliber and load you are using?

Try some lee liquid Alox on your .44 bullets. (I shake about 100 in a peanut butter jar with a squirt of Alox).

Try Trail Boss powder if you are shooting target loads under 1000 fps.

Since switching from Unique to Hodgdon Trailboss propellant, and using a light coat Lee liquid Alox on my cast bullets, all of my lead fouling issues have disappeared!!

 

[lloveless]

1+ Master Blaster. Johnson's Paste wax is an inexpensive substitution for the Lee Alox. 1 Teaspoon/100 bullets in a plastic jar left in the sun 15-30 minutes then tumbled to coat. Place on a piece of foil/paper to dry and then use.
ll

 

[Master Blaster]

To get out the lead that is currently in the gun:

I have found that hoppes elite cleaner, which used to be sold as Mpro-7 and a new quality bore brush, will take out lead better than anything I have tried in over 20 years of shooting and cleaning guns (you name it I have tried it) except paracetic acid which can damage the steel.
Best of all its non toxic and has no nasty fumes.

 

[MCgunner]

Lead will build up in the bore over time with cast bullets unless you fire a few jacketed bullets now and then. That's the easiest way to clean out the bore. I had neglected my .45ACP barrel for a while, not bothering to do that or check for leading. It was unusually inaccurate the other day and when I got home and took it apart and inspected the bore, there were huge strips of lead in there. I scrubbed it all out in about 45 minutes with a brush, bore cleaner, and some vinegar (weak acid, reacts to form lead acetate). I thought about the Chore Boy thing, but didn't try it. I thought it might be a little too abrasive. I don't worry about vinegar. Now, don't to tossing muratic down your barrel, but vinegar ain't gonna hurt stainless steel, though it will NOT be good for bluing. I wouldn't use it on a blued gun. Be sure and clean it out, though, after the lead is gone.

After a range session, fire a few jacketed bullets. You won't have a normal lead problem if you do so. If it's leading up after a few rounds, you ain't doing something right with the bullet casting or are pushing them too hard.

 

[Steve C]

I've used patches cut from the lead whipe cloths and it does a pretty fair job of removing lead. Its better for final clean up if you have really bad leading. Best to have a tight fit over a jag. If you don't think you have any leading in a Glock polygonal barrel after shooting hard cast just run one through and you'll see pieces of it on the cloth.