Home Forums Hunting & Shooting BPCR Getting the lead out

Guys,

My first trip to the Raton BPCR matches was a very enjoyable experience but it would certainly have been better had I turned in a respectable showing. Although not at the bottom of the score board, my 2-day scope silhouette score of 53 was way below the leaders. Certainly the very tough wind conditions & dry hot temps were a factor. It was by far the toughest shooting conditions I’ve experienced. But the major problem affecting my score was fouling out both days due to bore leading. I tried both blow tubing and wiping with little success. To be fair, I was having similar problems at recent local matches prior to Raton & thought I had solved the problem. So I’m changing to a different bullet design and load combination. But this thread is not about the cause of the bore leading. Having a good bit of recent experience removing lead from the bore, I thought I’d offer some comments. None are new but may help someone with similar problems.

One can’t determine if leading is a problem by running a few patches down the bore with typical black powder cleaning solvents. I’ve cleaned the bore after a relay until the patches came out white with no obvious residue, only to find out later the bore was heavily leaded. And looking down the bore will not give an indication. BTW, a few lead flakes on the patch are typical and are not necessarily an indication of a leaded bore. When a tight patch comes out with slivers of lead then you likely have a lead fouling issue. As has been discussed and pointed out here in previous threads, very tight patches using turpentine as the solvent is one of the best techniques in removing bore lead. But a couple of turpentine patches will not be sufficient if the bore is heavily leaded.

A good stout cleaning rod and very tight patches are required – so tight that they squeal when forced through the bore. In fact, a rubber mallet may be required to drive the rod & turpentine wetted patch through. Or, not having a mallet handy, insert the patched cleaning rod in the chamber and use the ground and the weight of the rifle to drive the rod through the bore.

Finally, depending on how bad the bore is leaded, it may take many tight turpentine patches and several minutes to get all the lead out. After the last Raton scope silhouette match approximately 20 minutes of cleaning was necessary before the lead slivers quit showing up. Using patches cut from lead cleaning cloth will work but will take forever to remove thick lead. And the lead cleaning patches will not indicated when the bore is clean as they will always come out black, even in a clean bore. Another method is to use JB Bore Paste, a bronze brush and large cotton patches to scrub the bore. The patch is layered over the brush and saturated with JB. It will take many patches and lots of JB to remove heavy lead deposits.

If you’re fortunate to have a Hawkeye Bore Scope and an “experienced eye”, it will identify bore leading. But the absolute sure fire technique is to use an electrochemical bore cleaner, not only to identify leading but to remove the lead and serve as a check to determine the effectiveness of other lead removal techniques. When not at the range or match, I use the discontinued Outers Foul Out II Electrochemical Bore Cleaner to guarantee all lead is removed. It has proven to me that during a match tight turpentine patches are the way to go to get the lead out.

No doubt others have differing opinions and techniques on removing bore lead.

Wayne

My BPCR (45-90 Win High Wall) for some reason does not lead very much. My brother's bought at the same time with close to the same serial numbers leaded badly, with exact same loads.

Some say that using Kroil on a patch on the last cleaning patch will reduce leading considerably.

Your methods of moving lead sounds very sound to me.

Bugger,

There are many things that can result in bore leading when using cast bullet such as the quantity or type of lube, bullet design, bullet-to-bore fit, type & thickness & fit of over powder wads, pre-shot bore preparation, wiping solutions, blow tubing techniques, etc., etc.

Removing lead is one thing. Figuring out what's causing the leading in the 1st place can be a much bigger and very elusive problem.

Wayne

I wasn't arguing with you. I was saying what you had to say was good and tried methods.

I also added some information. I hope me adding information wasn't offensive.

Bugger,

I did not read your comments as being argumentative, but as you intended. My last comments were ment to suggest that there may be other factors that resulted in leading in your brothers rifle but not yours.

Wayne

I would be interested in knowing what bullet you were shooting, diameter, alloy, etc.?

I've heard just the opposite on Kroil. Great for cleaning but for sure not the last thing one wants to put down the barrel.

The bullet I've been using is the BACO JIM409400M4 Money Bullet (http://www.buffaloarms.com/Cast_Bullet_Molds_it-160172.aspx?CAT=4156) with 16:1 alloyto minimize nose slump. The 1st 3 driving bands are reduced. The back 3 driving bands & base band is 0.409"

The bullet I'm going to is my wet patching Money Bullet design for the Browning. BACO has it listed as the JIM410410M3 (http://www.buffaloarms.com/Cast_Bullet_Molds_it-1212399.aspx?CAT=4156). The 1st nose driving band is reduced to 0.400". The rest of the driving bands & base band are 0.410". I will be using 16:1 alloy to minimize the possibility of nose slump.

BTW, I don't know that the JIM409400M4 is the cause of the bore leading problem. But it does not fit as well in the Browning as I'd like and due to the freebore must be extended much more than I prefer out of the case to contact the leade.

Wayne

Would UBC help prevent leading?

That is some bad leading there...I haven't had any leading issues for decades, but unless the barrel is pitted, if there's that much leading something is wrong.

Pounding patches would drive me nuts. I use different methods to remove leading quickly, but I just hate leading so I would try to figure out the problem and fix it rather than figure out creative means to try to remove it later.

But there are only a few things that will cause leading that bad. I would look at alloy, too small a diameter or a different lube. Paper wrap or powder coat keeps things clean if it's legal for your matches.