Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Cleaning after hardcast lead

Been shooting hardcast in my G40 (KKM barrel). Any specific cleaning methods to removing lead deposits?

I run a magazine full of jacketed bullets through my gun last. The jacketed bullets are loaded with CFE Pistol. Cleaning is easy after that.

Kroil

Kroil works great on suppressors, too. But, don't leave them soak in it too long. It'll turn them a purple hue. Ask me why I know..

Kroil, a toothbrush, and a copper brush work well.

Chore Boy copper pads OR coarse bronze wool. Wrap around an old bore brush. Very effective and fast.

Yea - dont. Barrels "season" after a few round of properly fitting hardcast. Now if you are getting flame cutting in the first inch then you can remove it.

This is what I used to do as well. (With powder coating now, there is no leading to clean out.) No need for any solvents or oils, just a few passes with a brush as SherrifJoe described gets it done.

I shoot some plated or FMJ if possible prior to scrubbing out lead.

I used Kroil for years, because that's what everybody said to use. Then I watched some YouTuber's video where he tests lead the removal capabilities of several gun cleaning products. I'm sure his testing methods weren't flawless, but...good ol' Hoppe's 9 scored near the top of his test! Since I use Hoppe's 9 for my normal, everyday gun cleaning, I recently decided to give it a whirl again in my 1911 .45 ACP.

I typically start by using a soaked patch and a jag. I fold over a corner of the patch to increase friction which scrubs out more lead. After a few patches, I inspect for remaining lead. I typically only get serious lead build-up in the first inch of the barrel. I've had good luck using a .45 cal brush with bronze bristles to remove that.

In my experience, Kroil has no discernible advantage over Hoppe's--both work well. I don't know if it makes any difference, but I typically fire fewer than 100 rounds of cast lead prior to cleaning it all out. Sometimes I might shoot as many as 200 rounds before cleaning but that's about it Also, FWIW, I have never heard anything negative about the "Chore Boy method." I've just not tried it myself--we don't have Chore Boy pads in our stores around here.

Good luck! If you discover an effective method, be sure to share it!

Soak in Hoppes and scrub with brush. Swab clean.

If lead is building up excessively cleaning solutions shouldn't be what you look at. Something's askew.

Copy that.

Circular "tornado" brush followed by a fine bristle brush; there shouldn't be any hunks in there in the first place.

Some of you guys would be amazed at the results of a chore boy wrapped brush compared to what you're suggesting here.

Also, firing jacketed bullets in a lead fouled barrel has more tendency to iron the lead into the steel. IME that'll make it more prone to leading in the future, and more difficult to remove the last bit of lead. Note that the scraping action of a gas check on cast bullets is a bit different, as those have a fairly sharp leading edge for scraping rather than the rounded ogive of most jacketed bullets.

Get real.

Just powder coat the barrel....

Seriously, if you continuously have accumulative leading, that you can see and reduces accuracy on target you don't know what the [bleep] you're doing and should probably paint your bullets or shoot jacketed ones.

You're still going to have fouling (usually harder and more complicated to remove), but at least it won't be lead of any kind....

I don’t think that a lot of people know what leading is. A hard cast that is not undersized and properly lubed doesn’t “lead”, unless the bore is extremely rough. Trace of lead is not a problem and should not be considered as “leading”. Traces of copper jacket material in isn’t considered a problem and neither is traces of hard castlead” and become a problem.

“iron the lead into the steel”. I’d like to hear more about this amazing phenomenon, exactly how does the lead get “ironed” into the steel?

And I thought I had heard it all............

Somebody buy this [bleep] a drink and a lap dance.

It was your idea.

What was my idea?