DancesWithEmptyCasings
CGN Regular
- Location
- The Wet Coast
Other than elbow grease. I was thinking if a person used a empty lead pot to melt the lead from a disassembled barrel?
Getting the lead out with heat?
- Thread starter DancesWithEmptyCasings
- Start date
You will just end up warping that barrel. Now way to heat it evenly, other than to submerge it in molten lead.
I watched a fellow do this one time with a barrel from a pre WWII, Colt SA Army revolver.
He put a length of baling wire throught the barrel and twisted a loop on one end.
The lead and pot were "PRE HEATED" so that the lead was in a molten state, before submergence.
NOW one very important thing. The pot needs to be large enough and the molten lead deep enough to accept the barrel "LENGTHWISE" so it can be submerged from one end or the other, so it can descend in a straight up and down motion and kept that way.
This allows the heat to be transferred evenly, so warpage doesn't happen.
The barrel needs to be left in the molten lead for more than a few minutes, to allow everything in the bore to come loose enough to swab out with a good stainless bore brush. The carbon residue, trapped with the lead, can be resistant to the process.
The fellow I watched do this procedure only did it with barrels that were in poor shape internally and leaded up very easily.
That particular barrel didn't have any finish left on it before it was dipped. I don't know what would happen to dipped in lead blueing.
He left the barrel in the molten lead for at least 20 minutes, suspended from a steel rod, through the loop in the haywire.
When the barrel was removed, it was immediately clamped in a vice with aluminum jaws and a tight stainless brush was passed through from the breech end a few times.
The bore was back to original metal and the pits were very evident.
The barrel was then thrown into a ''cooling'' box, filled with non flammable insulation. It stayed there until the next morning.
The barrel was reinstalled on the revolver and then sent to an auction house for sale.
OP, just get some Wipe Out Lead Out and follow the instructions on the bottle (yeah, I know, you're a man and men don't read instructions)
There are also kits available with brass screen patches to scrape the lead out and not harm the bore.
I watched a fellow do this one time with a barrel from a pre WWII, Colt SA Army revolver.
He put a length of baling wire throught the barrel and twisted a loop on one end.
The lead and pot were "PRE HEATED" so that the lead was in a molten state, before submergence.
NOW one very important thing. The pot needs to be large enough and the molten lead deep enough to accept the barrel "LENGTHWISE" so it can be submerged from one end or the other, so it can descend in a straight up and down motion and kept that way.
This allows the heat to be transferred evenly, so warpage doesn't happen.
The barrel needs to be left in the molten lead for more than a few minutes, to allow everything in the bore to come loose enough to swab out with a good stainless bore brush. The carbon residue, trapped with the lead, can be resistant to the process.
The fellow I watched do this procedure only did it with barrels that were in poor shape internally and leaded up very easily.
That particular barrel didn't have any finish left on it before it was dipped. I don't know what would happen to dipped in lead blueing.
He left the barrel in the molten lead for at least 20 minutes, suspended from a steel rod, through the loop in the haywire.
When the barrel was removed, it was immediately clamped in a vice with aluminum jaws and a tight stainless brush was passed through from the breech end a few times.
The bore was back to original metal and the pits were very evident.
The barrel was then thrown into a ''cooling'' box, filled with non flammable insulation. It stayed there until the next morning.
The barrel was reinstalled on the revolver and then sent to an auction house for sale.
OP, just get some Wipe Out Lead Out and follow the instructions on the bottle (yeah, I know, you're a man and men don't read instructions)
There are also kits available with brass screen patches to scrape the lead out and not harm the bore.
I feel the same way and that's exactly what I use if Wipe Out Lead Out doesn't work.
I will even soak a bore in "Ed's Red" overnight before using the Lewis kit.
I was just reporting on a one off job I had watched several years ago. The fellow doing the job wouldn't have used a stainless brush for anything but a one time use.
I can see several reasons not to use heat to remove lead:
Worse yet, a simple visual inspection will not tell you temper was not affected.
All that said, it probably works, just like a hammer can kill a fly. It's a real "fringe" approach to use heat, and there's a reason for that, although just being different is enough reason for some.
I've used solvents, and the Lewis Lead Remover, but to my surprise a good soaking in "Kroil" seems to get lead and copper out as well as or better. The theory is that it "creeps" under the edges loosening it, but that's hearsay.
1. at the 625 F+ temp needed to melt the lead, you risk affecting the temper of the steel, not to mention the finish. If using a torch to reach that temp, you will reach temps much higher than that and unevenly;
2. quenching affects temper one way and allowing the heat to dissipate slowly in the air, in another way. Which to choose?; and
3. it's messy and potentially dangerous.
2. quenching affects temper one way and allowing the heat to dissipate slowly in the air, in another way. Which to choose?; and
3. it's messy and potentially dangerous.
Worse yet, a simple visual inspection will not tell you temper was not affected.
All that said, it probably works, just like a hammer can kill a fly. It's a real "fringe" approach to use heat, and there's a reason for that, although just being different is enough reason for some.
I've used solvents, and the Lewis Lead Remover, but to my surprise a good soaking in "Kroil" seems to get lead and copper out as well as or better. The theory is that it "creeps" under the edges loosening it, but that's hearsay.
Yes, the tempering range for steels is 400 to 700 degrees fahreinheit. For those unfamiliar tempering follows hardening in medium to high carbon steels. Hardening does just that to steel and tempering is used to " draw the stell back" as they used to say to a less hard and brittle state. All immaterial to my mind as barrels are not heat treated for hardness only actions are in general. Can't see the 600 degree heat hurting the barrel if applied by immersing the barrel in molten lead bath and allowing it to cool slowly. As long as barrel was hung vertically not horizontally. But lead removers would be a far easier route to me.
Back in the bad old days we used liquid mercury for this. Had to be careful with it, but it did work well. I think a Lewis lead remover or the brass scouring pads are a much safer way to do it. - dan
I talked our lab tech into giving me a small bottle of mercury probably 40 years ago, used it once …VERY CAREFULLY…. capped the bottle and never used it again. But it did an amazing job of removing the lead. Just a bit too treacherous to do on any regular basis.
Best to try some form of leading prevention. I see people powder coating lead bullets, not sure if this is an effective technique or not?
Exactly...ouch...ouch...scratch...scratch...Grove..pull...Grove..
Pull...NO..lol
Cheers
B
