Henry Rifle Forums

Rifletom wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 29, 2020 1:29 pm

Whenever you need info on handloading, you'll have a lot of help here.

Yes, it's great to have that resource here. probably the only reason I will consider it.
When I return home from the cabin, I need to see how my small shop could be re-arranged to accommodate equipment and supplies.
At any rate, I know it would be a tight squeeze.

By all means. Take up handloading and your man cave might end up being one big cluster mess too.

fully realizing that many folks use and enjoy shooting cast bullets, the work involved in removing a heavy lead buildup in the barrel of one of our family's Ruger 357 GP100's convinced me to stop shooting cast bullets .... we literally have thousands of cast 44's and 357's on hand that will never see the light of day .... at times the jacketed bullets we fire will leave copper type fouling in one of our barrels .... for us, removing it is much easier than removing lead

I would think that if you are having that much trouble when shooting cast bullets, then something isn't quite right. I have an old model Colt Trooper .357 that I have been shooting my own cast bullets in since 1969 and just a regular quick cleaning takes care of it. I have shot these bullets with a stiff charge of Unique in military .38 cases and .357 cases using Unique and also 2400 powder.

In SASS,I shot a lot of cast bullets out of my 38/357 pistols, a lot and all they ever required was a good cleaning ,the same as you would do with any other loading of jacket bullets. Of course, shooting cast 38 specials out of a 357 mag. cylinder usually causes some leading in that area which by using Chor Boy wrapped around a bore brush will easily remove it. There are a lot of lead removing solutions out on the market, some good, some not so good. We find that in copper removers too. Some good, some not so good. Kroil does work pretty good and I have a mix of that with Hoppe's in a 50/50 solution. Montana Extreme Cowboy Blend does quite well for helping to remove lead. Wipe Out's Lead Out does a very good job. Shooter's Choice lead remover was kind of disappointing. JB bore cleaning compound on a patch and wrapped around a bore brush and with a little Kroil added is a very quick solution to removing lead. Finding a system that works is rewarding and often times not any harder to remove then copper, though with copper fouling's, I have found nothing better then the foam cleaners. Wow, do they work.

TR, a lot of very good suggestions there. I also use the Kroil/Hoppes #9 50/50 mix. Have for some time now . For most needs, that seems to do the job well. Works good on cleaning wad crud from shotgun chokes also.

Will keep those in mind TR. Ordering some Chor Boy scrubbers now just to have handy

JayZuv wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:05 pm

Will keep those in mind TR. Ordering some Chor Boy scrubbers now just to have handy

Make sure they are the true "Copper" all the way through and not the copper coated steel scrubbers. "Bronze Wool" also works well.

Ive used Kroil for years and like it alot. One other thing you can do if you are using cast bullets to reload is take the cylinder on the gun you are shooting and see if the bullet of choice will pass freely thru the throat. If it wont go thru you are going to have leading issues.

BigAl52 wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 02, 2020 11:18 am

Ive used Kroil for years and like it a lot. One other thing you can do if you are using cast bullets to reload is take the cylinder on the gun you are shooting and see if the bullet of choice will pass freely thru the throat. If it wont go thru you are going to have leading issues.

Kroil is a penetrating oil. Supposedly, if you let it soak in the bore, it gets under the lead and helps to lift it for easier removal. Mixing 50/50 with Hoppe's, I am not sure that it does anything special but I do it anyhow.