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I only occasionally shoot my Stainless Steel Marlin 1894 and then with lead bullets. As a result I rarely clean the barrel, but had a pang of conscience and set to cleaning it this morning. I have accumulated various cleaners over the years including, CR2, Sweets, Wipeout, KG to name just a few. Which one to use? Reading all the labels all say they dissolve copper deposits and remove powder residue. None mention anything about removing/dissolving lead. So my question is what should I use to clean a rifle that shoots mostly lead bullets?

Firstly you shouldn't be getting any leading, properly fitting bullets of soft alloy will not lead.

So if you are getting leading then your are using an inappropriate bullet/alloy/lube for your gun.

There are no proprietary chemicals that will "dissolve" lead anymore, mercury is good but it is another thing we cannot be trusted with nowadays.

I use turpentine to remove lead from the misused guns that I get in occasionally, soak the barrel in turps then push through a jag with a tight fitting patch and the lead will come away from the barrel, the turpentine works as a creeping oil and gets 'tween the lead and the barrel.

If you have proper fitting bullets of a soft enough alloy then all that a lead shooting gun needs is a pull through with a damp patch of Ed's Red following by a dry patch and then a second Ed's Red patch. The gun is pulled through with a dry patch before using again.

Sometimes if there has been severe gas cutting on an improperly fitting bullet the lead could be "plated" onto the barrel, if this is the case then a mechanical abrasive will need to be used to wear away the lead, like Motty's paste or valve lapping compound rubbed onto a tight patch, I like to wrap the patch round a 0.35" calibre bristle brush for .303 calibre rifles.

We just squeeze the trigger to get rid of lead from our barrel...

dromia wrote:Firstly you shouldn't be getting any leading, properly fitting bullets of soft alloy will not lead.

So if you are getting leading then your are using an inappropriate bullet/alloy/lube for your gun.

There are no proprietary chemicals that will "dissolve" lead anymore, mercury is good but it is another thing we cannot be trusted with nowadays.

I use turpentine to remove lead from the misused guns that I get in occasionally, soak the barrel in turps then push through a jag with a tight fitting patch and the lead will come away from the barrel, the turpentine works as a creeping oil and gets 'tween the lead and the barrel.

If you have proper fitting bullets of a soft enough alloy then all that a lead shooting gun needs is a pull through with a damp patch of Ed's Red following by a dry patch and then a second Ed's Red patch. The gun is pulled through with a dry patch before using again.

Sometimes if there has been severe gas cutting on an improperly fitting bullet the lead could be "plated" onto the barrel, if this is the case then a mechanical abrasive will need to be used to wear away the lead, like Motty's paste or valve lapping compound rubbed onto a tight patch, I like to wrap the patch round a 0.35" calibre bristle brush for .303 calibre rifles.

Thanks Dromia. There was no sign of lead in the barrel, but I thought it time to give it a clean. In the end I used some 'Mil 6 Barrel Foam' which says it loosens lead. There was certainly some powder residue and just for good measure I put a wire brush through a couple of times and patched out. After half a dozen patches they came through clean. I use 'GM Hard Cast Bullets' which I presume are fine?

As you are not getting any leading and their accuracy is what you want then yes they are fine.

Personally I wouldn't put any "Hard Cast" bullet through any of my guns but that is me, so long as it is working for you then if it isn't broken why fix it?

dromia wrote:As you are not getting any leading and their accuracy is what you want then yes they are fine.

Personally I wouldn't put any "Hard Cast" bullet through any of my guns but that is me, so long as it is working for you then if it isn't broken why fix it?

As I am sure you realise I am no expert when it comes to lead bullets. I am sure the meaning is in the name but what is the difference between 'Hard Cast' and what you would choose to use; what problem will they cause? These bullets are clearly a lead alloy and to my uninformed mind not particularly hard. I am interested to learn more.

Commercial cast bullet manufacturers use hard antimony bearing alloys so that their bullets will be less prone to damage in low cost packaging i.e hoyed in a cardboard box.

They then try and sell this as a "feature" of their product.

With hard alloys bullet fit is even more crucial as there is less or at most cast bullet velocities no obturation to help take up any misfit, also hard bullets are brittle and prone to cracking especially when entering the rifling thus allowing gas into and through the bullet causing leading with the release of alloy fragments.

Lead bullets are totally different from jacketed and as such require a different mind set to their application.

dromia wrote:Commercial cast bullet manufacturers use hard antimony bearing alloys so that their bullets will be less prone to damage in low cost packaging i.e hoyed in a cardboard box.

They then try and sell this as a "feature" of their product.

With hard alloys bullet fit is even more crucial as there is less or at most cast bullet velocities no obturation to help take up any misfit, also hard bullets are brittle and prone to cracking especially when entering the rifling thus allowing gas into and through the bullet causing leading with the release of alloy fragments.

Lead bullets are totally different from jacketed and as such require a different mind set to their application.

OK, thanks, that puts it into perspective - I had no idea - but does this mean I have to slug the barrel before deciding on a lead bullet or will any suitable .357 diam. soft alloy bullet do as this is a virtually new rifle with no wear? Any suggestions as to where I should be looking? The present bullets seem to shoot OK but as I say I have not used this rifle enough to appreciate its capabilities so happy to explore given a direction.

Always best to slug the barrel of any firearm you have, it helps you understand the gun better.

The bullets you are using sound to be performing without leading in the loads you are using so as long as you are getting accuracy then stick with them.

Unless you are keen to get into the arcane world of Pb projectiles.

Thanks Dromia. I think I'll stick with the Hard Cast lead bullets - I still have a few hundred of them and they don't seem to be causing any problems. Seems like I may need another lifetime to learn all about lead. I also have a couple of thousand FMJ bullets in .357 so maybe that's the way I'll go. Thanks again for the clarification.