Bob, all I can tell you is that in my guns the 147 gr bullets gave me less leading that the 125 gr bullets from the same caster and the alloy he used seemed to be harder than the swaged Speer bullets that I have tried. As you probably already know 9mm's are more prone to leading than 45's or 38 Spls due to it's higher operating pressure.
Too much lead fouling in 9mm barrel
- Thread starter Ironsight
- Start date
Silverback
Swaged bullets will always be softer than cast due to the fact the swaging process is aided by softer lead alloy. You have to compare apples to apples. Cast bullets from the same caster will be the same hardness regardless of the weight of the bullet. Softer bullets will often lead less than harder ones due to the lack of obturation of the base of the bullet with hard bullets. Leading in barrels is most often caused by gas cutting due to either to hard a bullet, the base of the bullet fails to expand (obturates) and seals the the bore, a rough barrel, or undersized bullets. It would be rare indeed for lead shearing to take place, particularly in pistol applications.
In shooting lead bullets shooters often confuse this issue thinking harder is better. In pistol applications this is often not the case and this is also true in some rifle applications.
Commercial casters use hard lubes because they often ship their bullets loose and soft lubed bullets can get real messy when shipped bulk. The hard lube is not near as effective as soft lube in pistol cartridges and this tends to lead to leading as the hard lube just doesn't get consumed in the short barrels used in handguns.
Casting is part of the fun of shooting for me and can be a huge advantage when developing loads for playing the games. Being retired now I have the time to keep up with my shooting.
I hope this helps you understand what you are up against with lead bullets.
Use the chor boy method to clean your guns after shooting lead bullets. Easy way to get lead out of the barrel and gives you more options when it comes to bullet choice.
Take Care
Bob
Swaged bullets will always be softer than cast due to the fact the swaging process is aided by softer lead alloy. You have to compare apples to apples. Cast bullets from the same caster will be the same hardness regardless of the weight of the bullet. Softer bullets will often lead less than harder ones due to the lack of obturation of the base of the bullet with hard bullets. Leading in barrels is most often caused by gas cutting due to either to hard a bullet, the base of the bullet fails to expand (obturates) and seals the the bore, a rough barrel, or undersized bullets. It would be rare indeed for lead shearing to take place, particularly in pistol applications.
In shooting lead bullets shooters often confuse this issue thinking harder is better. In pistol applications this is often not the case and this is also true in some rifle applications.
Commercial casters use hard lubes because they often ship their bullets loose and soft lubed bullets can get real messy when shipped bulk. The hard lube is not near as effective as soft lube in pistol cartridges and this tends to lead to leading as the hard lube just doesn't get consumed in the short barrels used in handguns.
Casting is part of the fun of shooting for me and can be a huge advantage when developing loads for playing the games. Being retired now I have the time to keep up with my shooting.
I hope this helps you understand what you are up against with lead bullets.
Use the chor boy method to clean your guns after shooting lead bullets. Easy way to get lead out of the barrel and gives you more options when it comes to bullet choice.
Take Care
Bob
Bob, if you go back to the initial post by Ironsight he was complaining about the Speer swaged bullets so my comparison is valid, there are no apples here, also the two weights of bullets were the same alloy and the heavier one barely leaded at all so I am not sure what your point is there. The caster chose and bought his alloy specifically for pistol bullets by the ton (which doesn't look like much lead) from a supplier in Winnipeg so his alloy was always the same.
- Location
- Southeastern Michigan
Late to the fray, that's me. I have the sad duty to inform you that Ruger P89s like Sigs and Glocks do not like lead bullets. All three lead up in a hurry. The answer is scrub the hell out of the barrel or use jacketed bullets. I opt for the later solution. Regards, Richard
My p226 will shoot lead, but it's picky. I've had fine accuracy and little to no leading with hard cast 145gr LRN's. On the other hand after a few hundred hard cast 125gr LRN's accuracy goes to hell and bullets start to keyhole at 5 yards.
I've never used a scrubber, I've found 50/50 peroxide & vinegar works great to melt lead out. Wear gloves!
We all know the theory behind the not to shoot jacketed after lead. I think all that are saying it is ok have lots of experience without problems.
You would need to have a LOT of leading for that over-pressure. Certainly one average day at the range shouldn't plug your barrel enough to cause harm. This is of course not knowing how many rounds you usually shoot or how bad the fouling actually is.
With lead bullets a lot of that crud is actually lube. A quick swipe with Varsol will disolve the lube and you can see how much lead there acutally is.
Simple solution for the No-FMJ club rule... buy some plated bullets since you already reload. They clean out a bore almost as fast as FMJ's.
Raks
What brand of 124 gr lead bullets were you using. Keyholing is usually a sign of bullets sized to small for the bore. I did some up at .355 once and they keyholed like you descibe. I now size all my 9MM bullets .357 and problem went away. The only gun I get leading in now is my new M&P and I attribute that to a rough barrel and it seems to be getting better.
Take Care
Bob
What brand of 124 gr lead bullets were you using. Keyholing is usually a sign of bullets sized to small for the bore. I did some up at .355 once and they keyholed like you descibe. I now size all my 9MM bullets .357 and problem went away. The only gun I get leading in now is my new M&P and I attribute that to a rough barrel and it seems to be getting better.
Take Care
Bob
