Cleaning Lead Fouling

polskadude

polskadude

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I have a G17 pistol and I've started reloading. Went to the range today and fired off over a dozen different loads with various bullet styles. Near 300 rounds.

I got home and began to clean it using the provided cleaning kit. After 30 min of scrubbing, I noticed that the barrel was still full of fouling. I mounted the provided plastic brush on my drill press and covered it in Hoppe's No. 9 Solvent. Ran that through both ends a couple times and it got a lot more of the lead out, but its still dirty. Used about 30 patches, some covered in solvent, some dry.

So now the questions.

Should I stick to Jacketed and pay the extra few cents?
Should I buy an aftermarket Barrel that doesn’t have the polygonal rifling?
Should I buy a metal wire brush or is the provided plastic one sufficient?
Is the metal brush okay to use in the drill press?
Is any cleaning brush okay to use in a drill press?
Is Hoppe's No.9 Solvent good enough?

Any ideas?
 
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Plug the chamber and fill the barrel with a 50/50 mixture of hydrogen peroxide and vinegar. Don't leave any longer then about 5 minutes. Works for me.....
 
Do not use any form of steel wool, bad advice!

Wrap a few strands of 100% copper chor boy around an old cleaning brush and a few strokes will clean out the barrel quickly with little effort. DON'T USE STEEL on a steel barrel.

Take Care

Bob
 
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wade said:
take some 4-0 steel wool and cleaning solvent on a bronze brush and take it out it will not hurt the barrel , i have used this for years ,, wade
Click to expand...
Steel wool can create small scratches/irregularities in the bore that make the gun foul even more than before. It can also mess up the crown. Ditto for Scotch-Brite.
 
polskadude said:
I have a G17 pistol and I've started reloading. Went to the range today and fired off over a dozen different loads with various bullet styles. Near 300 rounds.

I got home and began to clean it using the provided cleaning kit. After 30 min of scrubbing, I noticed that the barrel was still full of fouling. I mounted the provided plastic brush on my drill press and covered it in Hoppe's No. 9 Solvent. Ran that through both ends a couple times and it got a lot more of the lead out, but its still dirty. Used about 30 patches, some covered in solvent, some dry.

So now the questions.

Should I stick to Jacketed and pay the extra few cents?
Should I buy an aftermarket Barrel that doesn’t have the polygonal rifling?
Should I buy a metal wire brush or is the provided plastic one sufficient?
Is the metal brush okay to use in the drill press?
Is any cleaning brush okay to use in a drill press?
Is Hoppe's No.9 Solvent good enough?

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Are you sure it's lead fouling, not carbon fouling? The latter is usually much more difficult to remove completely, yet its self-limiting and not a safety hazard.
 
I dont know if it is lead or carbon. Last time i cleaned the barrel it was spotless inside. This was the first time I used lead in the gun, and now its all fouled up. Each time i cleaned it more came off, and now there is just a tiny bit left. Thanks for the tips guys, I'll try them out soon
 
I have the same question - how drill press was supposed to help? And Sythetic brushes are a bit too soft, I almost never use them. Another question is how did you manage to get so much fouling in just 300 rounds? I fired about 1500 rounds since I started loading for my 1911, every time I clean it barrel is just lightly fouled and cleans out nicely. I wonder if this is a function of bullets quality? Alloy or lubricants? I am not too knowledgeable in this regard and do not want to run into same leading issue.
 
I never ended up cleaning the rest of the fouling out. Instead I went to the range and shot about 100 FMJ's out. Got home, looked in the barrel and it was clean! The FMJ's cleaned the lead fouling out.

Now i'll just always fire a few FMJ's after i'm done shooting lead.
 
outers cleaner

I have never had good luck lead out of a 9 unless I cast them myself and make them a little harder. Also never got the accuracy with lead as good as jacketed. To remove lead I would never use steel wool but have used copper scrub brushes with success, but have bought an outers electronic bore cleaner , you get 2 different solvents one for lead and one for copper this work excellent with nowear to your rifling and only cost alittle over $100
 
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