crkckr
Well-Known Member
I know people always find this hard to believe but even a bronze brush can scratch a stainless barrel. Note however, this was a custom, hand lapped barrel, not your average factory barrel. I also have a good quality Olympic scope that shows finer detail than most scopes in use today. Unfortunately I don't have a camera adaptor for it. So is a Lewis going to ruin your barrel? Nope. Is it the best thing to use? In a pistol barrel, probably, unless the Birchwood Casey lead remover cloth works as well as I've been told it does (plus I don't know how it works! If it's a heavy abrasive, then no!). Personally I stick with JB Bore cleaner but as long as there's no obvious damage to the bore, use whatever works because lead is hard to get out of a barrel. The absolute best? Outers Foul Out... but it can be messy and involved. But oh boy, does it ever get the lead out!
Neither Buffalo Bore nor Underwood uses gas checks on their heavy 10mm lead bullets. Underwood uses polymer coating and BB has a plain base. The poly bullets definitely will not lead while the plain base BB *might.* Then again, how many do you expect to shoot? I'm guessing not enough to lead your barrel very badly!
Hoppe"s has definitely changed their formula and the new one just doesn't have the same smell as the old one (I have the remains of a gallon I bought 30 years ago or more!). New stuff seems to work the same but I use #9 as a powder fouling remover only, then use other chemicals to remove copper or carbon. As far as I am aware, the only way to remove lead is to scrub the $&!]! out of your barrel! I have tried many products that say the remove lead but in the end, you always end up scrubbing the crap out! Hoppe's #9 will eventually get copper fouling out but never completely and most of the popular copper removers (Sweets 7.62, Wipe Out, Barnes CR-10, Montana Extreme Copper Killer and others) work much better. Even Hoppe's Elite, while it works well, is slow.
One warning about Hoppe's (and apparently any solvent with ammonia in it) is, *do not* use it in conjunction with any clorinated solvent, such as triclorithane 111. It can literally eat pits into a steel barrel. Don't ask me how I know, just take my word for it!
Leading in your barrel (mostly) comes from the powder charge melting the edges of the bullet base into a mist, that then settles in your barrel. The next round flattens it out and, if left alone, can literally build up into lumps! The softer the lead and the hotter the load, the faster and worse it gets. If you have a rough barrel, it can also literally scrape lead into the tiny voids in the metal. Leading can be such a devilish thing to deal with! Certainly no fun. I am a huge advocate of the polymer coatings now and avoid using bare, lubed lead bulllets as much as possible these days. I might even sell all my moulds and casting equipment! Shooting jacketed rounds after shooting does not, contrary to popular belief, "blow" the lead out of your barrel but flattens and smooths it out over a wider area, which probably makes it easier to remove. Use your head, don't shoot hot jacketed loads in your lumpy-with-lead barrel! It *will* cause a pressure spike that *could* damage your barrel or even destroy your gun! Shooting jacketed over minor leading will make it seem to disappear but it really doesn't. It just turns it into a gray streak next to your lands! Scrub it, Grasshopper, it's the only way I know. I'm soon to try the Lead Away cloth so my opinions may change!
Holosuns... my favorite Chinese company to rag on these days. Yet I still buy them because I think they are the best value for the money I can get. I have either 3 or 4 507T's and have had zero problems with them. One on a Glock 26, 21, 29 and 40, so 5 actually because I have one on my HD AR, too but it's a C. So far I haven't even lost zero when changing batteries (one still must confirm zero, however!). I like the shake awake thingy which really makes for long battery life (I still change them every year on my carry guns). I also like the circle-dot reticle, especially when transitioning from irons to the RDS. What's not to like? If they can survive Aaron Cowan's (Sage Dynamics on u tube) "testing" (torture is more like it!) they have to be good! It seems the Holosun's are right up there Delta Point and the RMS for about half the price! I really like that part! I also like stuff that works the way it's advertised to work!
Cheers,
crkckr
Neither Buffalo Bore nor Underwood uses gas checks on their heavy 10mm lead bullets. Underwood uses polymer coating and BB has a plain base. The poly bullets definitely will not lead while the plain base BB *might.* Then again, how many do you expect to shoot? I'm guessing not enough to lead your barrel very badly!
Hoppe"s has definitely changed their formula and the new one just doesn't have the same smell as the old one (I have the remains of a gallon I bought 30 years ago or more!). New stuff seems to work the same but I use #9 as a powder fouling remover only, then use other chemicals to remove copper or carbon. As far as I am aware, the only way to remove lead is to scrub the $&!]! out of your barrel! I have tried many products that say the remove lead but in the end, you always end up scrubbing the crap out! Hoppe's #9 will eventually get copper fouling out but never completely and most of the popular copper removers (Sweets 7.62, Wipe Out, Barnes CR-10, Montana Extreme Copper Killer and others) work much better. Even Hoppe's Elite, while it works well, is slow.
One warning about Hoppe's (and apparently any solvent with ammonia in it) is, *do not* use it in conjunction with any clorinated solvent, such as triclorithane 111. It can literally eat pits into a steel barrel. Don't ask me how I know, just take my word for it!
Leading in your barrel (mostly) comes from the powder charge melting the edges of the bullet base into a mist, that then settles in your barrel. The next round flattens it out and, if left alone, can literally build up into lumps! The softer the lead and the hotter the load, the faster and worse it gets. If you have a rough barrel, it can also literally scrape lead into the tiny voids in the metal. Leading can be such a devilish thing to deal with! Certainly no fun. I am a huge advocate of the polymer coatings now and avoid using bare, lubed lead bulllets as much as possible these days. I might even sell all my moulds and casting equipment! Shooting jacketed rounds after shooting does not, contrary to popular belief, "blow" the lead out of your barrel but flattens and smooths it out over a wider area, which probably makes it easier to remove. Use your head, don't shoot hot jacketed loads in your lumpy-with-lead barrel! It *will* cause a pressure spike that *could* damage your barrel or even destroy your gun! Shooting jacketed over minor leading will make it seem to disappear but it really doesn't. It just turns it into a gray streak next to your lands! Scrub it, Grasshopper, it's the only way I know. I'm soon to try the Lead Away cloth so my opinions may change!
Holosuns... my favorite Chinese company to rag on these days. Yet I still buy them because I think they are the best value for the money I can get. I have either 3 or 4 507T's and have had zero problems with them. One on a Glock 26, 21, 29 and 40, so 5 actually because I have one on my HD AR, too but it's a C. So far I haven't even lost zero when changing batteries (one still must confirm zero, however!). I like the shake awake thingy which really makes for long battery life (I still change them every year on my carry guns). I also like the circle-dot reticle, especially when transitioning from irons to the RDS. What's not to like? If they can survive Aaron Cowan's (Sage Dynamics on u tube) "testing" (torture is more like it!) they have to be good! It seems the Holosun's are right up there Delta Point and the RMS for about half the price! I really like that part! I also like stuff that works the way it's advertised to work!
Cheers,
crkckr
