Slug lead buildup in Shotgun barrell...

Lured In · 11-22-2002, 06:40 AM

I am letting a friend use my shotgun for the firearms restricted hunt here in SW WA. The other day we took it out to sight it in to see how rifled slugs shot out of the smooth barrell. After we got back, I went to clean it and it came squeaky clean with the exception of the first two inches just the other side of the chamber. My guess is that it is lead buildup from where the slug was compressed into the barrell. I tried brushing it furiously to no avail.

Do they make a lead remover for this type of situation? My concern is that the lead may grab the wads of my waterfowl loads and create a potentially dangerous situation.

Thoughts...? [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img]

11-22-2002, 07:01 AM

Use copper, saboted slugs.

Lured In · 11-22-2002, 07:07 AM

Keta...that is very insightful. Wish I had thought of that. :tongue: :grin:

Just in case you weren't kidding...sabot slugs don't shoot well out of a smooth bore shotgun.

Also not recommended by the manufacturer.

11-22-2002, 07:09 AM

Wern't kidding, didn't know. Do you know why they aren't recommended by the Mfgr.?

Dr Strangelove · 11-22-2002, 10:05 AM

The worst case of lead buildup I'd ever seen was on a used over/under I picked up that someone had used for lots of skeet. It had lead cake up bad, probably from short handloaded wads. I soaked swatches in Hoppes #9 and left them in affected areas of the barrel for two days. Then I used a swatch wrapped once around a stiff brass barrell brush to scour the area. The thickest residual was scraped out using the open end of the aluminum ramrod. good luck.

[ 11-22-2002, 11:21 AM: Message edited by: Dr Strangelove ]

fish forever · 11-22-2002, 12:29 PM

Three techniques - use with the normal solvents:
- They make a Steel Brush, looks like a cooking wisk. Very abrasive, but breaks up the worst lead and melted plastic fouling. I only use for severe cases.
- Wrap Steel wool (000 or 00) around a brass brush. This is good as also polishes the barrel to make future fouling less severe.
-A new tight fitting Brass brush always helps

dont know if i would use first or second on a chrome lined barrel though. Brass is OK as its not as hard as steel.

Lured In · 11-22-2002, 02:02 PM

Thanks for the feedback guys...FF I will give a new brush a shot and if that doesn't work I will try the soaking method.

Keta...sabots are best shot out of rifled barrells. Rifled slugs are designed to be shot out of smooth bore shotguns. The idea is that the slug compresses into the barrell and causes the rifleing(sp) on the slug to grip and offer some rotation to improve accuracy. If you shot a sabot slug in smooth bore the round would tumble shortly after exiting the barrell and greatly reduce accuracy.

KingFisher85 · 11-22-2002, 02:12 PM

Don't shoot sabots out of a smooth boar shotgun. If you got a modified choke tube, you will really f&&* up your shotgun barrel.
I shoot LOTS AND LOTS of slugs out of my smooth boars and my rifled shotguns. I know what you are talking about. You will have no problem. Before I had this rifled barrel shotgun, I would use my remington 1100 and would use it for deer hunting and duck hunting. shot probley 200 rounds out of federal slugs out of it in just the first year of shooting it. I also used it for trap shooting. never had a problem. Just clean your gun and all will be good.
Ya some people don't know but over here the hunting still open for bow, smoke sticks, and shotgun from now till the end of the year. That's why I never really did hunt till now.

nerta · 11-22-2002, 06:12 PM

[img]graemlins/idea.gif[/img] Lured In the best thing that I have tried for removing lead or copper fouling from shotgun or any other barrel is the Outers foul Out 2 if you are not familiar with this product I'll breifly explain it to you. It is an electrochemical bore cleaning system. You plug the breech end of the barrel, insert a metal rod into the barrel that has rubber bushings to keep the rod from contacting the barrel. Fill the barrel with the lead out solution furnished with the kit. Plug the contraption into the wall socket and wait.. With in a few hours depending on the extent of fouling, the lead will be transfered to the metal rod. Works great with lead and copper, each has its own solution. Just clean the metal rod with steel wool and it's ready to use again.. :grin:

KingFisher85 · 11-22-2002, 06:21 PM

Sounds like something that I would want to try on my old smoke stick? Would that be ok?

nerta · 11-22-2002, 07:05 PM

Kingfish I think it wuld work if you pulled the breech plug then followed the instructions on the box.. Might even try it with the plug in if you know that you could get all the residue out with the plug in. Always pull it later I guess. I have not tried it with a muzzle loader yet. :tongue:

Lured In · 11-22-2002, 07:09 PM

Here is the 411....

I checked around and the easiest thing I could find was a 'cloth' specifically for removing lead. Supposedly you rub it on and whammo, no more leading.

So I found a Hoppes version of this and bought a Hoppes Tornado brush too. Rubbed the area down with the cloth and cleaning rod and then hit it with the brush. Voila...no more lead. Thanks for all the feedback.

Nerta...that sounds really cool. What do they run? Where could I pick one up?