running a pistol so hot it keyholes

Can-down said:
Maybe I missed this, but did it shoot fine again once the barrel cooled?
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Not for mine, it needed a cleaning first. Best I could tell, the flake of lead was big enough that it stopped the bullet from spinning or something. The largest flake I pulled out was almost 1cm squared in area.
 
Unagi604 said:
Not for mine, it needed a cleaning first. Best I could tell, the flake of lead was big enough that it stopped the bullet from spinning or something. The largest flake I pulled out was almost 1cm squared in area.
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The H&R 999 required a good soaking in hoppes and a few passes with a brass brush to get it out and it was a solid chunk of lead. Almost like I had installed a smooth bore sleeve for the 22 haha.
 
what is a good solvent for lead? Mark III, even when pulled apart, is still pretty much one piece and I'm not sure I want to leave the trigger soaking in Hoppe's No. 9 solvent.

I thought I had some KG Industries lead solvent, turns out they don't make one, I just have several that dissolve copper. what do you recommend I use?

thanks everyone! :)
 
Brush wrapped in copper strands from a copper pot scrubber. You are scrapping the lead out and it will take some man power... ;)

Lead is not really affected by chemical cleaning agents.

Unless you happen to have some mercury on hand...
 
Was about to type LEADING as loud as I can, but everyone beat me to it :) Might as well post it anyway, keep the thread at the top and promote leading awareness....
 
150 rounds of .22LR over several minutes? Pfft. Was the barrel even uncomfortably hot to the touch? I'm guessing not.

Mr. Friendly said:
Mark III, even when pulled apart, is still pretty much one piece and I'm not sure I want to leave the trigger soaking in Hoppe's No. 9 solvent.
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Unless Ruger changed the design of their .22 pistols for the Mk III a lot more than I think they did, the barrel is designed to pop off the receiver for cleaning.

Removing leading is more about mechanical scrubbing than it is dissolution. This is because lead is more noble than steel, and virtually anything that would attack lead is going to absolutely destroy steel.

The cast bullet guys recommend Chore Boy household scrubbing pads, in combination with some liquid to flush the flakes away, such as Kroil or Hoppes No. 9.
 
BattleRife said:
The cast bullet guys recommend Chore Boy household scrubbing pads, in combination with some liquid to flush the flakes away, such as Kroil or Hoppes No. 9.
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forgive what may be an obvious answer to some but is not to me; how do you scrub lead out of the bore of a pistol with a scrubbing pad? tear off lil strips and stick it on a jag?

I guess that's plausible. thanks for the clarification though.
 
Mr. Friendly said:
forgive what may be an obvious answer to some but is not to me; how do you scrub lead out of the bore of a pistol with a scrubbing pad? tear off lil strips and stick it on a jag?

I guess that's plausible. thanks for the clarification though.
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Brush wrapped in copper strands from a copper pot scrubber. You are scrapping the lead out and it will take some man power...

Lead is not really affected by chemical cleaning agents.

Unless you happen to have some mercury on hand...
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A jag's a bit too tight but a brush would do it.
 
tjhaile said:
Remington Thunderbolt and Target are the only .22LR ammo types I have seen that will foul a bore with lead to the point where bullets keyhole.

Generally speaking, Remington does not make very good .22 ammo.
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Not a huge fan of thunderbolt, but i have 10's of thousands of rounds of Remington 22 target thru my High Standard, M-41, GSG, 617, 19 and a few others, and have yet to ever have it lead a barrel. I generally find it shoots better then T22, and not much worse then pricier ammo. There's a reason most high end target 22 is lubed lead...it's more accurate, and at target velocities doesn't lead in a good barrel
 
This is why you should bring a few different firearms to the range to shoot...after a mag or two let the gun cool and shoot a different one.
A hot magnum with lots of powder will heat a barrel up faster, but as this thread shows, even a .22 can get hot enough to melt the lead
bullets as they're fired and clog the barrel. When this happens the rifling is gone and the bullets don't spin, causing the keyholing. A trick
that quite a few folks use is to keep a few bore snakes in plastic bags under ice in a cooler. When you've shot one gun a bit and the barrel is
starting to get hot, open the action and run the appropriate ice cold bore snake into the barrel, and let it sit there. The snake will cool off the
barrel a lot faster and let you shoot that gun sooner. When you go to shoot it again, put the snake back in it's Ziploc and back under ice.
 
Cocked&Locked said:
Not a huge fan of thunderbolt, but i have 10's of thousands of rounds of Remington 22 target thru my High Standard, M-41, GSG, 617, 19 and a few others, and have yet to ever have it lead a barrel. I generally find it shoots better then T22, and not much worse then pricier ammo. There's a reason most high end target 22 is lubed lead...it's more accurate, and at target velocities doesn't lead in a good barrel
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I guess it just goes to show that every .22 is a law unto itself. Most of the other un-plated .22 ammo (including the cheap stuff) that I have tried has only left negligible lead fouling in the bore.


pisces-guy said:
This is why you should bring a few different firearms to the range to shoot...after a mag or two let the gun cool and shoot a different one.
A hot magnum with lots of powder will heat a barrel up faster, but as this thread shows, even a .22 can get hot enough to melt the lead
bullets as they're fired and clog the barrel. When this happens the rifling is gone and the bullets don't spin, causing the keyholing. A trick
that quite a few folks use is to keep a few bore snakes in plastic bags under ice in a cooler. When you've shot one gun a bit and the barrel is
starting to get hot, open the action and run the appropriate ice cold bore snake into the barrel, and let it sit there. The snake will cool off the
barrel a lot faster and let you shoot that gun sooner. When you go to shoot it again, put the snake back in it's Ziploc and back under ice.
Click to expand...

No, this thread shows what happens when you shoot Remington Thunderbolts. I find it very difficult to believe that it is possible to overheat a .22 rimfire bore. In my experience, a hot .22 barrel is moderately warm to the touch; not so hot that it can burn your fingers, as is easily possible with a centrefire rifle.
 
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Had one box out of a brick of thunderbolts lead up a kadet pretty bad a few years ago and it wasn't from fast shooting. Must have been a bad lot, because another shooter at the club had the same thing happen.
 
pisces-guy said:
...as this thread shows, even a .22 can get hot enough to melt the lead
bullets as they're fired and clog the barrel.
Click to expand...

This thread shows no such thing. There is zero evidence that the speed of shooting or temperature had any influence on the leading, and in fact I find the very theory to be without credibility.
 
For lead removal from any handgun bore that I am shooting cast/lead bullets in, I prefer to use the Outers Foul Out system with the lead solution.
Note that this will not remove any powder fouling and the bore needs to be oil free first. I normally run a patch with some alcohol on it down first before using the foul out.

This also saves a lot of effort in removing copper fouling from rifles shooting jacketed bullets using the copper solution.

CD
 
bulk packs are not very good quality, thunderbolts are know to mess up barrels. i will not buy 22lr ammo where the projectile moves left and right, wiggle one and youll know if you have good ammo or crap.
 
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