Shooting FMJ after lead?

[LSP972]

Lewis Lead remover anyone.

Indeed. And once I discovered that gadget, life became a lot easier.

But remember that my "drilling days" were as a basic student who was handling revolvers for the first time. Between my dad and the army, I had been weaned on semi-auto pistols. Our instruction at the Academy was little more than "This is a revolver; the bullets come out of this end. There's targets and ammo; go forth and do well." They darn sure said zip about how to clean a revolver; properly or otherwise. So we managed as best we could.

The BEST way to remove stubborn leading is with mercury; which dissolves lead in a blink. Of course, the hazards of that are legion, not to mention the stuff is difficult to obtain (and CONtain). But it sure works…

Anyway, this discussion is why I mainly stick to jacketed bullets for my limited revolver shooting these days. Its just easier all-around.

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[Chuck Haggard]

Well, we did. And we managed to not ruin any revolvers.

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Not sayin you did. I never needed to resort to one.

[Robinson]

Lewis Lead remover anyone.

That's what I used when I was shooting a lot of lead bullets. I always thought it was pretty easy to use and did a good job.

Nowadays I usually shoot jacketed ammo for practice even though I carry lead in my revolvers. I've sorta been thinking about trying to find a good jacketed alternative to 158gr LSWCHP+P that shoots to the same point of aim.

[MGW]

Tested my new 442 Pro yesterday. 130gr WWB and Winchester PDX1 +P shot very close to point of aim for me yesterday out to 50 yards. Well, at 50 yards it was point of 10" plate one out of every five shots or so anyway.

Didn't bring any lead to compare.

[jetfire]

Serious question. How about a bronze brush? I used to use one in an electric drill in a gp100 based on guns store advice before I got nervous about it.

Beats me if it ever did any harm or not - were my revo's charge holes that rough looking before I started doing that? Who knows, it's a Ruger, but it sure was easier to clean that way.

I've used bronze brushes with no issues before, but a nylon one makes me feel better about myself.

[LSP972]

If you've got a bad "wadcutter ring" (discussed in post #11), you'll be there until the cows come home using a nylon brush.

Anything softer than the cylinder steel will be fine; and you can get pretty ignorant on a stainless cylinder, because they don't mar easily.

But you REALLY gotta avoid getting stray bristles inside the center section of the cylinder.

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[okie john]

Once upon a time, I had David Clements build me a couple of 5-shot Ruger Bisleys in 45 Colt. They'd run a 350-grain SWC at an honest 1,400 fps, with no shortage of fouling until I got my bullet alloy worked out. The best way to get rid of it was to use a Chore Boy pot scrubber (http://www.midlandhardware.com/28256...w#.U8yBBIBdX8g). Basically, its a big roll of loose cooper mesh with a heavy-duty staple on each end. Cut the staples off with a pair of game shears and it will unroll like a big gauze bandage. Cut off enough to wrap two or three times around a Glock nylon brush and get after the lead. Four or five passes through the bore will remove all but the most stubborn fouling, and one Chore Boy has enough mesh to last for years.

That said, it's better to avoid getting the fouling in the first place. If you're handloading lead bullets then the biggest part of it is making sure that you have the right bullet diameter and that your chamber throats are the right diameter. Gas checks are a big help if you're casting your own. From there, you have to match your alloy with velocity/pressure. Taylor throating can also be a big help, but it's a pretty extreme measure.


Okie John

[jetfire]

I just use the drill because I'm lazy. I don't shoot enough lead to make a real difference.

[LSP972]

I've used that ChoreBoy stuff a few times on bores that got crudded up with "plated" bullet residue (long streaks that would not come out via conventional means; I suspect those bullets were under-sized and skidding across the lands). But the stuff I used was silver in color, and looked like shavings from a lathe cut.

Same procedure though... wrap a quantity around a bore brush and get after it.

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[Alpha Sierra]

Another one here who uses a drill, short aluminum rod, and a bronze brush to power scrub both the chambers and the barrel of my revolvers. So long as one is careful to keep the rod from touching the bore, all will be well. And even slight accidental contact is of no concern due to the relative hardness of the barrel steel compared to the rod.