Revolver accuracy

Ganderite

Ganderite

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I recently reported here that I was having accuracy issues with my S&W M19. Two of the cylinders were shooting out of the group. One high right and one low right.

In the course of examining the gun I found more lead than I liked to see in the barrel and then found lead build up in the front end of the chambers. I cleaned the chambers by chucking a 38 bronze brush in my electric drill and scrubbing them clean.

Last night the group shrank from the 8 ring to the bull.
I had also cleaned a Ruger101 in 38 Spl and it too shot a lot better and about 2” higher.

So, it seems I have to clean more often.

I think I will load a bucket of plated bullets in each caliber so I can shot some at the end of each session, to blast out the lead.
 
You can also cut a piece from a copper scouring pad and wrap it around a brush so that you have a good tight fit. It is amazing how easily this removes most lead deposits. JB Bore Cleaning Compound provides a nice final polish after that.
 
plated bullets aren't going to help but they will add copper fouling and hide the lead under it. Just scrub the lead out, it's easy if you don't wait 1000 rounds between scrubbing. If your getting heavy leading, either your alloy is too hard, or your pushing it way too fast. A good bullet with a heavy copper gas check might do a better job of scraping....but nothing beats a lewis lead remover.
 
gnmontey said:
What prey tell is a "lewis lead remover"?
Click to expand...

It's a mechanical de-leader that uses a fine bronze mesh on a rubber plug that is pulled through the barrel. Low-tech but it works, and no chemicals to smell up the basement. The brand is now owned by Brownell's.

See ...brownells.com/.aspx/pid=21587/Product/LEWIS_LEAD_REMOVER

:) Stuart
 
FWIW
Clean that bore and cyl. throats with brass or copper kitchen pads from the grocery store. Just wrap them around an undersized brz bore brush and do a bunch of passes. Dry.
I use only mag brass for ass. loads. No sense in letting the bullet (no matter how hard it is) mash against the throat cone of the cyl. from 38brass and expect it to fly straight for any dist. beyond 25m.
Ive seen alot of years of guns that group like yours, thinking it was the irregular throats or something. Not the case in my world, no matter how much I miked the throat diam.'s looking for irregularities. I now only test my DA's "from the bench" with a solid pad under the forearms, gun free in the hands. My chest, and better yet, the sides of the chest against the bench. Elbows on a soft pad for the heavies.
Dwayner
 
I use a little bigger than .357" stainless brush for the chambers (I have a stainless revolver) but keep a normal size bronze one for the barrel with Hoppes #9 but since I clean it after each visit to the range, it might be less fouled than yours
 
Letting a little Hoppes or other cleaning solvent sit in the barrel for a few minutes will let it soak in between the lead buildup and the barrel and make for easier and more complete removal of the lead. At least this is the case with my new NAA The Earl mini revolver. Something about their barrel rifling loves to shave the lead from the .22's I'm shooting from it. And I found that letting some Hoppes #9 sit in there for a couple of minutes while I'm cleaning the cylinders makes the lead buildup much easier to remove.

What ammo are you using? In my reading about shooting lead bullets there's some interesting and what appears to be highly unintuitive reasoning behind lead buildup. It relates to gas flow past the bullet as well as pressures. Apparently a HARDER lead can cause lead fouling because it doesn't obdurate sufficiently to form to the rifling. In such cases a softer lead will actually seal better and leave less buildup. So from what I've read softer cast lead bullets are better for lighter to moderate .38Spl and the hardcast is only good for stronger .38Spl and milder .357Mag. And along with that you want to stick with heavier bullets for lead so the velocity stays a little lower. Too fast a barrel velocity can smear lead off onto the steel of the barrel as well. Or it may well be that the bullet lube being used isn't the best for that load.

But when all of this is tuned in you SHOULD be able to shoot hundreds of rounds at a time without a serious lead buildup.
 
If you are getting leading from an alloy that is too hard, your bullets are undersized. Leading is more commonly caused by gas cuttting than from lead being stripped from the bullet.

Correctly sized hard cast bullets with good lube can be driven just as fast as jacketed bullets in any magnum revolver, if not faster, with minimal leading.
 
Agree with what above posters have said about lead bullets.

I'd like to add that Alox tumble lubed bullets have proven to prevent leading as well. This is my experience with regular single grooved bullets molds (40calS&W LeeFlatPoint), or the Lee Micro-groove Tumble-Lube designs. I use two light coats on either type of bullet groove design and the Alox works exceptionally well.
 
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