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Any tricks to reducing leading from soft lead bullets?

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  • Enochwel

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    Non-jacketed soft lead.

    I'm thinking to coat bore of the barrel with lubricant but wonder if the heat and pressure would eliminate the coating after the first shot. Though evaporation is a function of both heat and time. I would think the pressure alone would negate the effort. Any ideas? Any novel ideas I can have for free?

    I do clean my revolver after use, but just like cooking, I'm sure it gets a seasoning no matter how much I clean it (in that sense; could a minimal soft lead deposit be a good thing? I know the official answer is no [pits etc]..., but I'm talking about the leftovers after the wire brush)
    Guns International
     
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    Rottweiler

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    Just about anything you could coat the bore with would be gone after the first shot or two. A harder lead alloy will lead less. Slowing the bullet speed a little also works. Maybe a different bullet lube, harder or softer than your current one. Then there's the hot new idea of powder coating the bullets.
     

    Pawpaw40

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    Make sure your velocities are on the low side. Slug your barrel, and make sure the bullets are sized .001-.002" larger than the bore. You can also use gas checks. From what I understand undersizing bullets is the greatest contributor to barrel leading. I have also read that powder coating allows for higher velocities without leading.
     

    robocop10mm

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    What Pawpaw said. .356-.357 bullets in a .38/.357 revolver can cause some serious leading issues. .358-.359 is better. I size mine to .358 and have ZERO leading issues regardless of the velocity or alloy
     

    vmax

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    lower velocity.
    Do you have an idea what the FPS is now?
     

    Recoil45

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    Powder selection is also important. A hot burning powder like Titegroup can contribute to the issue. But the biggest issue is undersized bullets as others have mentioned.
     

    Andy

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    Softness isn't the issue - size is, as the fellers have said. Slug your bore so you know what size it is, then size your bullets 1-2 thou' bigger. If you don't get a good seal, you get gas blow-by which melts the lead on the side of the bullet and causes those streaks in your bore.
     

    jtyler

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    I've been trying the powder coating and it seems to work in my limited experience. As a bonus you get pretty bullets
     

    ROGER4314

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    I agree with keeping the velocities as low as possible. On .45 acp/1911, reduce the velocity and cut about 14 turn off of a recoil spring. Replace it with a full length spring when you shoot hardball.

    Flash
     

    ROGER4314

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    The selection of bullet lube has an effect on barrel leading. If you have a lubrisizer, the lube can be replaced by running them through the sizing die and getting a fresh dose of lube.

    Bullets can also be heat treated by heating them up and quenching them in water.

    Either way, the job is a mess. The easiest way to fix a chronic leading problem is to change brands or types of bullets that you use. Gas checked, hard cast, jacketed or even coated bullets like the Ranier brand may work better for you.

    Flash
     

    Brojon

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    Actually I've found Frog Lube properly applied inside the barrel can prevent leading.
    I do it to all my pistols and rifles now.
    But you need to also pay attention to the other advice such as slug your barrel and size the bullets 1-2 thou over.
    Bullets that are too hard won't obturate and the gas cutting will lead the barrel like crazy.
    Ineffective lube will cause leading.
    Then there's powder coating.
     

    Andy

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    What BubbaJon means by obturation, in case you didn't know, is the plastic deformation or expansion (thickness-wise) that a bullet can undergo under pressure. Think of it like squishing a gummybear between your fingers; it shortens but expands - and this happens to lead bullets, too. Softer bullets obturate or swell more easily, making a better seal (therefore less leading from gas blow-by that I mentioned earlier) - but if a bullet is too hard, it doesn't obturate nearly as much and can result in leading.

    Bullet lube does play a role, sure, but not so much from its lubricating effects as from its ability to form a tight gas-seal against the burning gases. Too liquid and it runs away - too hard and it doesn't liquify enough.

    Either way, if you're going to buy bullets from a store, know what suits your firearm's bore first - slug your bore so you know what sized bullets to buy.
     
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    HandgunHTR

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    One more thing to mention is that you said this would be for a revolver. So, don't just slug the barrel, but also slug your chambers to figure what the exit diameter of each of those as well.

    Additionally, if you are shooting an older Ruger, they were notorious for having a restricted forcing cone (area where the bullet enters the barrel) due to the torque placed on the barrel when it was threaded into the frame. This cause a constriction at that point, which would size the bullets down and then the barrel would open back up so that the now undersized bullet would travel down the rest of the barrel. This caused a good bit of leading just after that constriction, regardless of the initial sizing of the bullet.
     
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