Lewis Lead Remover

[JEBar]

update :

since May my last post about using the Lewis Lead Remover, we've fired thousands of lead bullets (collectively) in our Henry 45-70, 44 Mag, and 357 Mag rifles .... we've had zero issues with lead residue collecting on the barrel walls of the 45-70 or 44 Mag .... no clue why but the same can't be said for the 357 .... in tx gunrunner's post above he showed a picture of lead in a Lone Wolf 40 cal barrel, as best as I can tell, that's similar to what has been found in our 357 .... the Lewis Lead Remover took care of it with ease .... it has become a valued item in our cleaning kit

[Rugerfanboy]

I have Lewis lead remover for all of my pistol's (revolvers and semi-autos). I mainly have them cause it's nothing for me to shoot 500 rounds in a few hours. My pistols gets really dirty and the Lewis lead remover helps me clean my firearms barrels in less time. I have two match guns that I shoot allot of ammo threw the both of them. To the point, I've decided to start shooting cast boolits for the both of them. I'm done buying boolits, so I started casting my own boolits and powder coating them. Wax lube will dirty up a barrel just as bad and sometimes it's a real pain to get the barrel clean.

[tx gunrunner]

update :

tx gunrunner's ... post above he showed a picture of lead in a Lone Wolf 40 cal barrel, as best as I can tell, that's similar to what has been found in our 357 ....

That was not lead in that pic . That is after shooting 400 rounds in that barrel after shooting it in 2 different guns my Glock 27 and 23C . I could have wiped that burn grease and trash out of that barrel with 1 dry patch only . My SA revolvers are the same way , but I spent a lot of time on cleaning the forcing cone . .

[JEBar]

as best I could tell from using a bore light to look down our Henry 357, the location of the residue on the barrel wall looked similar to that in your picture .... it was right at the start of the barrel with the remainder of the barrel looking shiny .... after pulling a regular metal brush through it a couple of times and a couple of cleaner soaked patches, the area looked better but I could still see that something was still there .... when I used the Lewis tool, it did pull some small flakes out with it .... looking back down the barrel, as best I could tell, the barrel was clear .... I've dug out our Chrony and plan to run some of our reloads through it .... it will be interesting to see how the actual muzzle velocity compares to the specs given in our manual

[PT7]

JEBar,

In your May 8th post from this thread, you included this picture:

lewis lead remover.jpg

And in the following opening post you wrote: ".... we didn't need to order the more expensive kit that comes with a Handle .... due to the amount of force needed to pull the lead remover through a barrel, an aluminum rod will not work .... "

I'd like to find out some info on the cable in this picture: what is it made of, what is it called, and where can you buy one? After taking out PUMP this week, I really had a challenging cleaning session with that 20-ga barrel. So I'd like to get the Lewis Lead Remover. But since I only have a regular cleaning rod, need to find out what works best.

And if it works well on my shotgun barrel, I'd consider getting one in .357 Magnum for my two handguns, too.

Thanks for your help on this.
Have a great day.

based on the recommendation of a friend, who is a member of this forum, I just ordered Lewis Lead Remover kits from Brownells for 44/45 caliber and 38 caliber rifles/pistols .... I'd never heard of this system before but he has been using it for many years and says it is the best he has seen .... in this link ===> http://www.brownells.com/gun-cleaning-c ... 20823.aspx can be found a video shows demonstrating how it works .... we didn't need to order the more expensive kit that comes with a Handle .... due to the amount of force needed to pull the lead remover through a barrel, an aluminum rod will not work .... the brass patches are said to last a very long time .... with most of the bullets we will be firing through our Henry 44 and 45-70 being lead, it makes sense to have such a cleaning system on hand

[JEBar]

it came as part of an Otis Elite Cleaning Kit ===> https://www.amazon.com/Otis-Elite-Clean ... eaning+kit <=== they are called Otis Technology Memory-Flex Cleaning Cables .... they come in various lengths and can be brought separately .... the black handle was purchased at Bass Pro

[tx gunrunner]

I shot these 44-40 guns in Cowboy action shooting for 16 yrs and over 80,000 rds shot in them and has NEVER had any leading in the barrel and has never had a brush down the barrels . Only the forcing see a brush . I never shoot jacket bullet in my lead bullet shooters . The 7.5 barrel is my jacket bullet shooter and my hunting gun . SOLD the 44-40 and got new guns in 38 special and they don't lead either .
CLICK ON PIC TO CLEAR IT UP

[JEBar]

I've never shot a Cowboy Action course but I have seen one .... that certainly doesn't make me any degree of an authority on course details .... my impression was most ranges are fairly short .... the rifle section of the one I visited looked to be out to about 40 yards and the longest range for pistols was about 15 yards .... with our rifles, we usually start at 50 yards and most of our shooting is in the 75 to 125 yard range .... with our pistols we shoot out to 50 yards or more .... as best I can remember the Cowboy Action course targets, for both pistol and rifles, looked to be close to 2' square, the targets we shoot have X-rings ..... in our 44 Henry and Redhawk I've found that bullets with HSM Cowboy Action muzzle velocities are fine at close range but have a larger rainbow trajectory than I'm happy with at the longer ranges we shoot .... for that reason we load our paper punchers to higher muzzle velocities and in doing so we do have some lead build up .... thankfully, its easy to remove

[Rugerfanboy]

I shot these 44-40 guns in Cowboy action shooting for 16 yrs and over 80,000 rds shot in them and has NEVER had any leading in the barrel and has never had a brush down the barrels . Only the forcing see a brush . I never shoot jacket bullet in my lead bullet shooters . The 7.5 barrel is my jacket bullet shooter and my hunting gun . SOLD the 44-40 and got new guns in 38 special and they don't lead either .
CLICK ON PIC TO CLEAR IT UP

How did you clean the lube and powder residue from the barrel since you never ran a brush down the barrel in 80,000 rounds...??? Everybody knows that if you shoot lead bullets, your gonna have to clean the lube residue out of the barrel from time to time and then there's the powder residue. I'm clearly not following you here. 80,000 rounds of shooting lead with lube grooves and the barrel never seen a bore brush....??? Do tell your secret here...!!! Trail Boss does shoot clean, but it still has powder residue left behind....as we all know CAS use's it allot. How did you get the powder residue out of the barrel in 80,000 rounds....??? Trail Boss burns clean....but you still have to deal with some powder residue from the powder burning. There is not a powder known to man that's doesn't leave zero trace of powder residue....not even Trail Boss. Trail Boss is the #1 powder for CAS.

Also, are you bullet caster...??? Anybody that shoots lead bullets knows that you have to size the lead bullet to the gun. One size bullet doesn't fit all without some form of leading in your case of the 38 Special.

Yes, I do understand gas checks....I use them myself. Gas checks will clean the barrel of lead. But over time, you have to use a bore solvent to clean from using gas checks.

80,000 rounds and you've never ran a brush down the barrel and then you shooting a 38 Special that never leads as well. Please do educate me and the readers here on this subject. We all would like to learn how your doing this. Making a blanket statement like that should yield us readers some form of understanding on how your doing what you do best. Not picking on you, just would like to learn more about this subject.

[tx gunrunner]

Rugerfanboy
" How did you clean the lube and powder residue from the barrel since you never ran a brush down the barrel in 80,000 rounds...??? "

Jacket bullets and lead bullets should never be shot in the same gun because lead sticks to copper fouling . Lead bullets will smooth the bore out and the more you shoot it the smoother it get . It take about 1000 + bullets to smooth bore out . A brush put scratch in bore and a place for lead and copper to cling too .

I run wet patches of kroil bore cleaner in bore and let the kroil do the work for over 20 yrs and no brushing needed . This works for me .. read the 212 reviews on Kroil and how it works . The book below is the best and will tell you the do's and don't of lead shooting and everything you will need about to know about cast bullets . You can't find one I will sell mine for $75 shipped .

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/13221 ... ng-solvent

[CT_Shooter]

I run wet patches of kroil bore cleaner in bore and let the kroil do the work for over 20 yrs and no brushing needed. This works for me.

You are a Henry Rifle Forums' Firearms Advisor, TGR. Thanks for telling us about this. I just read the reviews for Kroil and I was impressed by it's general usefulness -- the "oil that creeps".

A lubricating and penetrating oil that flows into the tiniest of crevices, lifts away lead and copper jacket fouling, frees up super-tight barrels, loosens frozen screws and bolts. Dissolves dried grease and oil, displaces water, without harming metal. Works great for getting underneath and loosening built-up carbon, copper and lead fouling in shotgun, rifle and pistol barrels.

[tx gunrunner]

I've never shot a Cowboy Action course but I have seen one .... that certainly doesn' Action muzzle velocities are fine at close range but have a larger rainbow trajectory than I'm happy with at the longer ranges we shoot .... for that reason we load our paper punchers to higher muzzle velocities and in doing so we do have some lead build up .... thankfully, its easy to remove

I've been cast bullets since 1968 . I'm a gunsmith and made my own bullet molds [ below ] and guns for long range bench and offhand cast shooting cast bullets below . Here is a sample of the stuff I made . . I walls of trophy shooting cast bullets too . Paper patch bullet , jacket and gas check bullet are not legal in a lot my long range cast shooting matches . The 40-60 Maynard I shot from 100 to 600 yd matches .

[JEBar]

that's an impressive rig and you clearly handle it extremely well .... prior to buying our Henry rifles, I never fired lead bullets .... in fact, I've still only fired lead bullets in our Henry 357, 44 Mag, and 45-70 along with our Ruger Redhawk 44 Mag .... in all of our other rifles and pistols, we've always fired jacketed bullets and I don't see that changing .... I understand your reasoning behind not firing lead and jacketed bullets through the same firearm but for me that isn't an option .... while in our Henry rifles I practice with lead ( to save $$$ ), I haven't reached the point where I would feel comfortable hunting with them .... I prefer jacketed bullets for hunting and normally use ones made by Nosler .... consequently, I fire both with most being lead .... in our 45-70 my hunting bullet would be a 300 grain Nosler Combined Technology Ballistic Silvertip .... should I ever need to move up to 400+ grain bullets, I have no clue what I'd use because Nosler doesn't make one in that weight

my plan is to have a gunsmith I've come to trust in Texas do some work on our 45-70 in January while we are down there for the winter .... I want him to install a Mercury recoil suppressor and better recoil pad .... while going north next spring I plan to stop by Mag-Na-Port and have them port it .... I'm looking forward to getting it taken care of

[tx gunrunner]

When I 1st moved to Tn I used my 44-40 lever gun [ below ] with 200 gr lead bullet to kill 3 deer and I killed another deer with my 50 cal flint gun [ below ] 1st time out using a patched round ball so your right you don't need a 400 gr bullet to kill a deer under 150 yds . You only need bullet placed in the right spot .

The reason for my post was to show people if you don't need a Lewis Lead Remover tool if you never lead the gun up in the 1st place . I hate cleaning lead out of barrels and if you are leading up a gun you are doing something wrong and need to switch to maybe to a jacket bullets . This is my opinion .

[JEBar]

When I 1st moved to Tn I used my 44-40 lever gun [ below ] with 200 gr lead bullet to kill 3 deer and I killed another deer with my 50 cal flint gun [ below ] 1st time out using a patched round ball so your right you don't need a 400 gr bullet to kill a deer under 150 yds . You only need bullet placed in the right spot .

The reason for my post was to show people if you don't need a Lewis Lead Remover tool if you never lead the gun up in the 1st place . I hate cleaning lead out of barrels and if you are leading up a gun you are doing something wrong and need to switch to maybe to a jacket bullets . This is my opinion .

historically we have deer hunted with 30 caliber rifles and 357/44 mag pistols .... in our 308's we use 150 grain, in our 30-06's we use 165 grain and in our 300 WBY Mag we use 180 grain Nosler bullets .... my boys and I have all hunted and taken deer with black powder rifles (I use a Thompson Center 50 caliber Hawken) and certainly agree that shot placement is universally critical .... while I appreciate your position on lead I don't find getting it out of a barrel isn't a big deal for me .... given, we've never had what could remotely be considered a significant build up in one of our rifles .... with the Lewis Lead Remover we have found that removing it takes about as much effort as cleaning our burnt powder

[tx gunrunner]

This is my one of jacket hunting guns . I built the Remmy on for hunting . Sold it a few yrs ago to my buddy here in TX .
Sold the Tc too I got for pig hunting here in Tx . My health won't let me hunt anymore

[JEBar]

nice rifles, I have no doubt you hated to part with them .... understood on not being able to hunt like you used to .... I'm pretty much in the same boat .... I can man a stand but can't walk the drive .... in the first picture below shows my Remington 1100 and 1187 .... both have been retrofitted with top recoil pads and Mercury Recoil Suppressors ... you can literally shoot skeet with them all day, when I have the opportunity, firing a couple of hundred rounds is no problem .... the 1100 has been fitted to use Remington Chokes ....

Remington 700 chambered in 300 WBY Mag and all weather 700 chambered in 30-06 .... I've had the Browing BLR chambered in 308 the longest .... all three have been refitted with outstanding recoil pads, Mercury recoil suppressors and Mag-na-ported .... I haven't hunted with any of them in several years but don't even want to think about parting with them .... they will be passed on to our sons .... none of them have ever fired a lead bullet ....

[JEBar]

recently one of our sons showed me a stainless Ruger GP100 357 that had the worst case of lead buildup in its 6" barrel that I've ever seen .... it literally looked like a smooth bore .... he said a friend told him that he'd worn out his GP and was thinking about sending it back to Ruger to have another barrel installed .... our son asked him to let us take a look at it first .... I'd told our son about buying a Lewis Lead Remover, if there ever has been a worst case test, this had to it .... while it didn't remove all of the accumulated lead on its first pass though the barrel, the pile of lead slivers it brought out with it was impressive .... in doing so, it exposed the rifling thus proving that the barrel was fine .... for me this was a most impressive demonstration and has completely sold me on this lead removal system

[DAVIDF]

JEBar,

Thanks for letting us know that the Lewis Lead Remover still exists. I bought one many decades ago and left it behind somewhere in one of my moves. It worked great. I don't have much of a leading problem at all with the bullets that I am using, but I did find a tiny bit cleaning my Big Boy. I'll be buying them from Brownells for my Henry and Rugers!

tx gunrunner,

Thanks for the tip on the kroil. I might as well order some from Brownells also and give it a try.

[BigAl52]

I have never used the Lewis tool but one thing I have done is I went to Walgreens and bought some Chore Girl scrubbing pads. They are made of copper and when you do this you need to make sure you get the copper ones. There are well marked. I then pull the strands of the copper off and use those to wind around a copper bore brush which works the same as the lewis tool does. I have had good luck using this and kroil. Al