Getting the lead out... Home brew style!

[SandRoad]

I will not use chemical lead removers, and avoid abrasives as much as possible.

What I have found to be very effective in removing lead from bores is Kroil which is a penetrating oil. Apply generously, let sit, and then simply push through a tight cotton swab - slivers of lead come out. It appears to penetrate underneath the lead and create a slippery path on which it can ride. That's speculation, but the method works.

That's exactly what the penetrating oils do.

One thing to note it that it only works on lead deposited at velocities of less than around 2000 fps (maybe 2200 fps, I don't remember exactly). Below that velocity, lead is deposited, you could say, mechanically by abrasion. Above that velocity the lead becomes bonded with the steel at a more molecular level, so the solvents can't get between the lead and the steel.

Of course lots of variables.

 

[Cleftwynd]

Canuck44, great reply! We tend to over think solutions to simple problems, sometimes there isn't even a problem.