Examples of excessive leading?

[cjskalka]

I just shot my first 100 hard cast pistol rounds through my xd9. Up until now it had seen around 600 of my fmj reloads. I took out the barrel to inspect the leading and can see about 2 thin strips of lead fraying out from the rifling. I have seen pictures on the web of what "leading" looks like but does anyone have pictures of what "excessive/dangerous leading" looks like? How many lead rounds have you fired before getting some of these lead strips? Accuracy was the same from the 1st to last round so I'm thinking I'm ok with the leading but just wanted to be sure. I wish I could post a picture of MY barrel but I tried for 15 minutes to get the focus right on the damn camera but wasn't able to get very telling pictures. Thanks for your input -Chris

[juelz919]

i havent quite shot 1000's but i have shot hundreds and never gotten any leading like that..
usually i barely get any leading at all

[SLO_Ryan]

If you want to get pictures, try getting farther away and cropping the picture to a smaller size. Most people try to get too close. Most cameras are better at zooming than focusing at really close distances.

I'm also interested in seeing pictures of dangerous leading.

[cjskalka]

Thanks for the photo tip, here are the results...



I should also note, the leading after 10 rounds looked like this as well (pictured is leading after 100 rounds). I think the lead is just being shot out by the succeeding rounds because it didn't appear to get any worse with more rounds down the pipe. -Chris

[Inkman]

WOW!!!!!!!!

Hoping some of the more "expert" reloader/shooters of lead opine on this. I've been shooting nothing but lead thru my 1911s and have gone thousands of rds w/o cleaning and never seen that. Occasionally during cleaning i get a very small sliver of lead out, but nothing even remotely like that. What say all ye? P.S. i'm using a lewis lead remover when cleaning the barrels with sometime use of lead cleaning rag/patches inside of stock and aftermarket barrels. All .45 1911s.

Al

[bootcamp]

I get leading from the lead bullets I purchased from wideners. .452 lrn for .45acp. Leading was bad enough that the lead left in the barrel made the rifling and lead flush that you could almost see NO rifling in the first 1/3 of the barrel. I was told to load hotter as I was at the baseline. I did not want to deal with it at all because getting the lead out was a chore. All I shoot now is FMJ. I am gladly spending the extra cash to not have to deal with leading at all. I'm still under what I would pay for factory ammo and my stuff shoots more accurately than factory.

[Sheldon]

If that is as bad as it leads up, I think you're ok. Do keep tabs on it and make sure it doesn't get so bad that the gooves start to fill up. As that point approaches you'll start to see the bullets keyholing due to a lack of spin on the bullets as the bullets skid out the barrel without properly engaging the lands and grooves.

[maschronic]

i have been told that after shooting lead bullets, some some FMJ thru it to clean out the lead deposits. again, this isn't something i have tried before, but i have been told by a good source.

[Mstnpete]

Try using Molly coated bullets. Made by Bear Creek. It doesn't foul at all.

[five.five-six]

I had some copper in a 1911... there are many products that work, I used birchwood casey bore scrubber and POOF! all gone

[Beelzy]

Did you make the bullets or did you buy them??

They look a little on the soft side, or they are being "driven" a little too fast. IMO

[Bug Splat]

i have been told that after shooting lead bullets, some some FMJ thru it to clean out the lead deposits. again, this isn't something i have tried before, but i have been told by a good source.

No, bad idea. Never shoot FMJ rounds to clean out lead. The pressure from the leading could build up around the FMJ and Kaboom your pistol. If you shoot lead always clean it out before switching to FMJ rounds. You can however shoot FMJ then switch to lead.

[cjskalka]

These are purchased bullets from cheycast. The charge I'm using is 3.6 grains of titegroup which is the starting load for a 125 gr LCN off hodgdons website. I realize this is a faster burning powder but as long as the leading doesn't degrade accuracy or pose a safety hazard I'm willing to spend more time cleanng.

[juelz919]

that is extreme..
all i shoot is lead and i have never have leading like that..
In the .357 We've shot hundreds of rounds without cleaning and it isn't like that..
What is the estimated pressure/FPS and do you know if they are hardened? Do they have any lube on them?

[cjskalka]

They are hardcast, fps for this load is 1000 based on hodgdon's data and they are lubed.