Hello All, I was cleaning a stainless revolver that I borrowed from my father. He is horrible at cleaning, and rarely does! The revolver shot fine and was accurate, but when cleaning it afterward, I noticed some shiny aluminum looking bits coming off on my patches. when shining a light in the bore, it seems like there is some nasty looking build-up near the bore, just where the rifling starts. At least I hope it is just build-up! Is there any chance that the interior of this barrel could be somehow shedding bits of metal, from years of neglect? are the shiny bits of metal just lead build up? I have never seen build up do this...but then again, i have never neglected my weapons like this!
I think you might be correct. My dad's ammo choices are cheap and cheapest, and I think he probably fired it with mostly unjacketed ammo. I scrubbed with regular gun solvent and a brass brush, but will have to get some specific "lead away" type solvent and soak it for awhile. I was just worried that there was some sort of deterioration of the barrel!
If there is a lead buildup and it's been there for some time, there could be rust and even barrel pitting under the lead deposit. In any event the leading needs to come out. There are various methods to accomplish that.
Lead Free Wipe Away works well for standard levels of buildup. Maybe try soaking just the barrel with Kroil. My dad sucks at gun cleaning too. When I visit him I clean the 239 I gave him because he never does.
I don't think there is any question that the Lewis system is the best solution on the market. It is very effective and used properly, won't hurt the bore. Don
I hear ya. I gave my dad my prized S&W 66 snubbie, and one time I asked him if I could borrow it. I almost died when I saw the surface rust on it!! I took it home and put the clean to it, and now I check up on it every so often!! As far as the lead build-up, I think i was over reacting after a long day at the range, and not used to seeing weapons reach that stage of neglect. (I am ex-infantry, and am meticulous about my weapons) I will get some lead away cloths, and cut one up and stuff it in the barrel for a day, then scrub again. it is only near where the rifling starts, nearest the bore. thanks for all the replies!
do tell... can you please expound upon this Lewis sytem? I could google it, but it's more fun to stay on this forum!
Choreboy Copper Scrub Pad----- cut a little off,wrap around cleaning brush and scrub barrel. Removes any lead.
The Lewis system is a set of circular copper mesh "screens" that are fastened to a rubber stopper like item. You attach the screen and stopper rig to a cleaning rod and draw or push it through the bore. The mesh screen, being much softer than the barrel does nothing to it but will quickly remove leading. I have seen it pull lots of lead flakes out of bores. Nice product. Don
Thank you. As i said earlier, I am so meticulous about my own firearms that I never needed to use any special cleaning solvents. I just use gun oil/solvent, field strip and clean. wipe down and reassemble: ready to go. I will try this. upon closer inspection of my leading problem... I think it will come out without too much fuss. (with a proper cleaning solvent/system) i am just not used to such neglect!! I love my Dad, but jeez..
While it sounds the cleaning was a little lax, barrel leading is not a product of not cleaning. Some of it is just a product of shooting leatd. I get both great economy and accuracy by shooting lead in my 38's and 45 acp and 45 Colt.
Lead build-up is a real ***** to clean off. One thing that makes it hard to clean is the lead shines just like a clean barrel does and that makes it hard to tell if you got all the lead out and the barrel is shining because its clean or if its lead shinning. I used a stainless steel brush called the Tornado made by Hoppes and that does a good job of removing the lead but you dont want to over use it because it can cut into the metal of the barrel. One time when I first started reloading ammo I used virgin lead to reload 357 Mag. and it not only gummed the barrel up but also got in the sear area somehow. Lead bullets are nasty and thats why I pay a little more and use copper dipped or a bullet with a jacket. Takes all the fun of shooting out when you know you have to go home and scrub the barrel like hell to get all the lead out.
Years ago I think I read about some sort of electronic system for removing lead. Seems like you'd plug the barrel, pour some 'juice' down the barrel, and put a device in the other end of the barrel. Then plug it in and let it do it's thing. Supposedly it didn't hurt the barrel at all. Am I just dreaming, or was there really such a thing? Or maybe it was a copper fouling remover? I can't remember now. By the way, the Lewis tool is good. I used to use it when I cast and reloaded a lot of my own lead bullets. I do know real soft lead bullets will really foul things up. Many years ago I remember shooting some big name ammo makers lead 'target loads' for a 357 once. After a box or two of them, my barrel was really leaded badly. Took me forever to clean it.
That along with Hoppe's #9 is what I use on my shotgun after a day of shooting slugs. It works great. I've never heard of them scratching the barrel though??
I can give that one a thumbs up as well. I had one of the early S&W .500 Mags. It leaded heavily and the Outers would pull out nasty looking clumps of lead. Sold that one but got a couple later that don't lead like the first one. The down side is that there is a lot more preparation than with the Lewis and when the .500s came out, Lewis didn't make "screens" for the .50 cal. Don
