Led in barrel

popcanhunter

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Did maybe 300 shots, 30 at a time, in my pietta

Pulled a bore snake through and there was a bunch of led in the wire brush part

WTF?
 
Did maybe 300 shots, 30 at a time, in my pietta

Pulled a bore snake through and there was a bunch of led in the wire brush part

WTF?

That's what is known as a leaded barrel. I recommend using plated bullets in your rifle and not straight lead bullets. You will see drastically less buildup and not have to clean as often.
 
How fast were you dumping the ammo?

If it's non jacketed ammo, the barrel can get pretty warm even after a dozen rounds, if you're cycling it quickly. The lead will get progressively softer with each round as it travels through the barrel, increasing the amount rubbed off.

Not super shocking if you went through 300 rounds, mag dumping each time.
 
It can cause an overpressure condition if left to build up over thousands of rounds, but most likely would make your accuracy horrible first, like minute of moose kinda large. And im also with him, "LEAD"
 
My favourite .22's need a bit 'o' lead in the barrel for best performance. 25 or so down the bore, and my groups tighten up a bit. Not usually an issue with degrading accuracy until I'm at the "thousands of rounds" mark. Mileage will vary depending on the ammo, and gem in question.

I have seen more damage done to .22 bores by cleaning them than through normal use.
 
now hang on there- we don't know if this isn't a BLACK POWDER firearm- all he said was pieta- that's a whole lot of rifles and pistols of both faiths- you don't want to be firing plateds or jacketed in black powder firearms- soft lead only and no alloy stuff either- a good rod and one of those LEAD REMOVAL KITS will take care of the problem- if you are using pure lead, and you're still getting lead problems, lower your powder charges a bit- pietas are not known for their ability to take 'heavy ' loads - or change to a harder bullet- I use the plains manufacturing out of gull lake sask, and they're good up to 1400 fps
 
now hang on there- we don't know if this isn't a BLACK POWDER firearm- all he said was pieta- that's a whole lot of rifles and pistols of both faiths- you don't want to be firing plateds or jacketed in black powder firearms- soft lead only and no alloy stuff either- a good rod and one of those LEAD REMOVAL KITS will take care of the problem- if you are using pure lead, and you're still getting lead problems, lower your powder charges a bit- pietas are not known for their ability to take 'heavy ' loads - or change to a harder bullet- I use the plains manufacturing out of gull lake sask, and they're good up to 1400 fps

Does this still apply for rimfire?
 
no, it's for c/f only- but I don't believe you can get a r/f going fast enough to cause any sweat- unless you're using minimags or some hyper vel round.
 
Ya, the gun was hot, that's for sure. Could this led buildup have blocked a bullet?

That would have to be a metric crapton of lead in the barrel. Usually, it will reach a sort of equilibrium first, where each new round is scraping out as much as it's depositing. Your accuracy will fall off a cliff at some point.

If you're doing mag dumps, switch to copper plated, and make sure you clean after use anyway. You can also build up copper fouling, just not nearly as quickly, and it's easier to keep on top of.
 
now hang on there- we don't know if this isn't a BLACK POWDER firearm- all he said was pieta- that's a whole lot of rifles and pistols of both faiths- you don't want to be firing plateds or jacketed in black powder firearms- soft lead only and no alloy stuff either- a good rod and one of those LEAD REMOVAL KITS will take care of the problem- if you are using pure lead, and you're still getting lead problems, lower your powder charges a bit- pietas are not known for their ability to take 'heavy ' loads - or change to a harder bullet- I use the plains manufacturing out of gull lake sask, and they're good up to 1400 fps

Ok, great info. Irrelevant to this discussion but interesting none-the-less. This is the rimfire forum, not the black powder forum.
 
no, it's for c/f only- but I don't believe you can get a r/f going fast enough to cause any sweat- unless you're using minimags or some hyper vel round.

Didnt you see the sons of guns episode with the am180? I had a am180 drum conversion.
275 rounds ad fast as I could pull the trigger.
Trust me; a rimfire can get hot.
 
I came here to find out about LEDs in a barrel. You mean lead.

Not trying to be a douche. I was mislead.

Hmmmm, can't tell if joke, or typo...

On topic. I've had it happen in my handgun, it eventually caused the bullets to keyhole when there was enough build up.
 
How fast were you dumping the ammo?

If it's non jacketed ammo, the barrel can get pretty warm even after a dozen rounds, if you're cycling it quickly. The lead will get progressively softer with each round as it travels through the barrel, increasing the amount rubbed off.

Not super shocking if you went through 300 rounds, mag dumping each time.

there is not jacketed ammo in .22lr also I thought someone got a led stuck in their barrel lol
 
I've had two cases of brand new rimfire guns which leaded up badly when new. But with some rounds down the bore and after al couple of cleanings the barrels "broke in" or "burnished out" or whatever they do and I stopped getting the leading. Both guns can now shoot many hundreds of rounds with no buildup.

In both cases there was so much lead built up the first time around that a bore brush would not pass through. I had to accept that the brush was ruined and tap the cleaning rod through with a hammer.. In both cases slabs of rounded lead came out in sheets and strips that had impressions of the rifling on the outer faces of the segments. And in both cases I could have made a 36 gn bullet from all the lead.

Also in both cases the accuracy went from OK to WTH! ! ! ! in only a half dozen shots. When it goes bad and the lead starts to stick it happens quickly.

In both cases there was a much lesser build up a second time then nothing. Clean other than the usual little bit of black powder fouling.

So all in all I figure it can occur with a new gun.

Oddly enough in both cases they were rimfire handguns. But there's no reason why the same thing can't occur with a rifle.
 
Ha I also was mislead... I was going to chime in about an old gunsmith from these parts used to use a lumin nock dropped down the bore to see better. "Old eyes and small bores don't work well" was what he said when I quipped that it was a genious idea. Any who back to the original question.
 
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