Getting the lead out.

I usually find discussions of cleaning techniques as pretty dull conversation.  Black powder is water soluble.  Bullet lube is oil soluble.  Alternate soapy water and a solvent until everything is clean.  Simple, right?

I normally run 3 wet patches and one dry between each volley in competition.  This is about 10 rounds, though I just did 20 earlier today with no ill effects.  By the third patch the barrel feels smooth and all the "crust" has been removed.  When I get home, I run a number of wet and then some solvent such as Hoppes#9.  Again everything is smooth and clean.  I had heard of the horrors of lead accumulation, and bought some JB paste.  it seemed abrasive, which ooged me out a bit, but I tried it.  The patches certainly come out black, but I'm not sure they did much to the barrel.   Then one day, inspiration struck.

I had done my normal scrub out and was looking to do something "more".  I grabbed a can of what I call "contact cleaner" which is used to clean electrical points on old crusty motorcycles.  It is a powerful solvent.  The stuff I actually grabbed was "brake cleaner" to clean brake components, but I'm convinced they're the same thing and I use them interchangeably.  I'm pretty sure the stuff will take off varnish wood and maybe blue off steel, so be careful.  A little blast down the bore and a bit on a patch and give it a try.  The patch felt "crusty" in what had just been a smooth bore.  When I pulled it out - sparklies.  Like this:

These look a little dirtier than normal, but you get the idea.  Within 2 patches with brake cleaner the patches run smooth again and come out clean.  Be sure to oil well afterward.  The solvent takes all the protective oil off.  Also, I usually drop a patch in the chamber to absorb any dribble so the action doesn't get stripped of oils.

The stuff I've used is shown here:

The Shooters Choice in the middle claims to clean lead, but I don't find it does anything at all to anything.  Smokeless shooters may like it, but I'm not convinced they need to clean their guns at all.

Anyway, take it with a grain of salt, try it yourself, whatever, but I was surprised how much crud it drew out of a "clean" barrel.


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