Removing lead from 870 smooth bore

[SPE]

After shooting a few boxes of bird shot to break in my gun, I noticed that I have what appear to be 2-3" streaks of lead buildup / fouling at the end of my barrel.

Should I bother removing it? If so, how?

Lead remover solvent?

[sideshowhr]

have you tried cleaning it with a rod yet (brush, mop, ...) ?

i'd say hoppes 9 and a wire brush should do the trick.

[Gisray]

Use the brush and then wrap it with Chore Boy copper scouring pad and go thru the barrel a few more times.

When I shoot slugs I clean it like this afterwords and get a ton more lead out.

[SPE]

have you tried cleaning it with a rod yet (brush, mop, ...) ?

i'd say hoppes 9 and a wire brush should do the trick.

I tried hoppes 9 and a smaller (pistol) wire brush to see if it would come off, but it seems to just lightly scratch the lead and make it shiny, like a nice polish.

I was just at Turners and saw a bottle of "Shooters Choice" solvent which claims to remove lead and plastic wad residue, but the stuff sounds thermonuclear, so if there is a non-cancer-causing option, I'm willing to try it first.

[Argonaut]

I have never heard of such a thing with bird shot. It does not contact the barrel. Slugs could do it but Bird shot is in a plastic shot cup.

[ysr_racer]

Yep, it's plastic not lead. Don't worry about it.

[mswanson223]

how about steel wool on a dowel?

[Ballistic043]

.... like using copper brush on a brass rod. except more abrasive.. not sure if i would do it. although it would probably work

[BigDogatPlay]

A quick brushing, some solvent and a mop should get whatever you are seeing out of there. Pretty much all commercial bird shot loads are in a plastic, multi-fingered wad. Very little chance of the pellets coming into contact with the barrel.

[The Cable Guy]

I have never heard of such a thing with bird shot. It does not contact the barrel. Slugs could do it but Bird shot is in a plastic shot cup.

I don't know about you, but I've seen plenty of shot cups that don't surround the entire load. They're more of a wad than anything. I am sure that lead definitely touches the barrel, since I'm sure plastic doesn't come out metallic on a dirty patch.

Edit: After some hindsight, I realized that I more often than not run some buck, or slugs along with some birdshot, which would account for lead deposits in my barrel, disregard above post.

[SPE]

I have never heard of such a thing with bird shot. It does not contact the barrel. Slugs could do it but Bird shot is in a plastic shot cup.

Well, let me clarify then. I have previously shot some slugs, but I didn't notice the streaks after that day.

And I forgot to mention that when I shot the 50 bird shot recently, I did shoot 5 (or was it 10?) shells of 00 buckshot.

In any case, it's silver, scratches, and is shiny, so I'm pretty sure it's lead.

[aippi]

go to Home Depot and get a 36" 7/16th hard wood dowl and some 000 steel wool. Stretch about half a pad of steel wool over the end of the dowl and tape the bottom off. It will look like a Q-tip. Put this in your drill and run it through your barrel dry. You don't need anything else.

You now have a cleaning and polishing tool that will last a long time as you only have to change the steel wool when it gets worn. Use it each time you clean the barrel. You can even make a shorter one and use a full pad and polish your chamber and mag tube with it.

You can go to www.aiptactical.com and in the drop down box under "Customer Service" find the how to video "tube Extention Kit" and half way through that video you will see what the tool looks like.

[RaymondMillbrae]

Check out this video.

CLICK HERE

In Christ: Raymond

[mjsweims]

I tried hoppes 9 and a smaller (pistol) wire brush to see if it would come off, but it seems to just lightly scratch the lead and make it shiny, like a nice polish.

I was just at Turners and saw a bottle of "Shooters Choice" solvent which claims to remove lead and plastic wad residue, but the stuff sounds thermonuclear, so if there is a non-cancer-causing option, I'm willing to try it first.

I've used the Shooter's Choice Clean Bore with good results. Use a tornado brush instead of the standard bronze one.

[SPE]

go to Home Depot and get a 36" 7/16th hard wood dowl and some 000 steel wool. Stretch about half a pad of steel wool over the end of the dowl and tape the bottom off. It will look like a Q-tip. Put this in your drill and run it through your barrel dry. You don't need anything else.

You now have a cleaning and polishing tool that will last a long time as you only have to change the steel wool when it gets worn. Use it each time you clean the barrel. You can even make a shorter one and use a full pad and polish your chamber and mag tube with it.

You can go to www.aiptactical.com and in the drop down box under "Customer Service" find the how to video "tube Extention Kit" and half way through that video you will see what the tool looks like.

Thanks JD! It's one of your babies, a Tactical I.

I've seen your other posts with this recommendation for polishing the chamber as well, so I'll make a trip to home depot this weekend.