Leading in shotgun barrel.

[DirtyLaundry]

I recently pulled an old shotgun (Ithica M37)out of the closet and took it shooting that I hadn't shot or even looked at it in at least 5+ years. Well, it turns out I put it away dirty so I decided to clean it before I took it shooting.

Disassembled and took the barrel out and noticed heavy leading all down the barrel. Guess I had put a lot of rounds of lead shot down the tube last time I had it out. I spent literally about two hours bore brushing the snot out of the barrel to get the leading out, I almost thought the bore was trashed it as so bad but got down the shiny steel on the muzzle end and slowly uncovered a smooth bore for most of the length. Problem is there are still intermittent spots of leading down the length of it and what could either be leading or a chewed up barrel (or both) in the throat.

I got it 'good nuff' and took it shooting. Brought it back and cleaned it again. I cannot for the life of me get these last bits of leading out. Just past the chamber there is about a 1" strip of dull then its shiny for the rest of the length except for about 5-7 different little spots of remaining lead that I could probably get out if I spent about 5 more hours on it.

Anyone have any quick tips on getting stubborn leading out? Do you think the dull strip is throat erosion and the barrel getting chewed up?

[hangman7]

The dull area could be the forcing cone area. One method to remove lead is to take steel or copper wool on a dowel and chuck it in a drill. If you slit the dowel it will hold the pad pretty well.

[greybeard]

Well I am not sure leading is a big problem in shotguns unless your 12 gauge is a 16 gauge because of lead, They do sell lead removing solvents or cloths or you can useor something like JB bore paste.

[Bt Doctur]

It`s a Roto-Forged barrel, would not even worry about it.Just shoot it.

[EXTREMEOPS1]

+1 on the dowel and steel wool method

The dull area could be the forcing cone area. One method to remove lead is to take steel or copper wool on a dowel and chuck it in a drill. If you slit the dowel it will hold the pad pretty well.

I use Hardwood dowel and 00 steel wool on my shotgun and it's a quick easy method to clean it all out.

[prc77]

plastic from the wads??

[r3dn3ck]

I'm doubting it's lead. Leading of a shotgun barrel would require that you're not using modern ammo where the lead shot is encased in plastic wadding but instead using old paper hulls with cardpaper wadding which is coming apart inside the bore and letting hot gasses at the shot. If the wadding stays intact beyond the muzzle then it would still not lead a barrel. Leading is caused by melting from exposure to high temperature gasses, not by dragging lead down a pipe.

If you're leading in a shotgun barrel you've got other problems or you're shooting rifled slugs.

[ysr_racer]

plastic from the wads??

That's what I was thinking. Unless you're shooting slugs, the lead shouldn't be touching the barrel.

[greybeard]

Plastic, one reason, I use Shooter choice on shotguns removes plastic fast.

[RayPDA]

+1 on shooters choice - good stuff