lead deposits using hi-tek coated bullets

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J. Yuma

Single-Sixer
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Apr 4, 2024
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I'm using hi-tek bullets from Missouri Bullet in my Rugers
I watched a Hickok 45 that suggested after shooting lead, shoot some copper plated or jacketed bullets to remove lead.

I have two questions:

1. Do hi-tek bullets leave lead deposits?
2. Do plated/jacketed clean lead deposits?
 
I have zero experience actually using Hi-Tek bullets. But I do use my own cast & PCed bullets.

I have noticed a very significant difference in the actual reduction of cast/lubed bullets vs PCed ones. And judging by the many hundreds of PCed bullets I've recovered on my range,, I doubt any amount of lead is left behind in a gun that is using them.

But it USED to be a common wives tale about how a jacketed bullet would "clean the lead" out of a gun if fired after shooting cast. What happens a LOT is that the jacketing actually compressing or irons a thin layer of lead in the barrel that can be a PIA to remove.

A GOOD borescope can prove this or even better,, a good cleaning with a lead removal method will "magically" remove lead you THOUGHT was not in there.
 
Thanks, I imagine that powder coat is exactly what hi-tek is.
I run chore boy through the barrel just because "internet said."

I read this (I posted before):
master barrel maker Wil Schumann - in 2001 after reading an article in the now defunct but wonderful magazine Precision Shooter in which he and some other barrel makers, silhouette and long range shooters analyzed barrel wear of brushes, solvents and oils. Bottom line, and a conclusion I've come to follow over the years with excellent results, is that it's best to not use solvents or metallic brushes in bores you care about. Keep your chambers clean to ensure feed reliability. Use Strictly oil, perhaps JB bore paste to remove leading if necessary but leave your barrels alone. They'll foul up to a point then stop. It's proven itself to me over two SIG P series self loaders with over 10k rounds through each of them over the years, the third with over 12k before I was forced to swap it for a G19M. Same with my issue carbines. Perhaps once or twice a year I'll scrub the bores using Mili-tec1 or Ballistol and JB just because and my pieces show as good and better accuracy compared to my colleagues who scrub the snot out of their guns with brushes and Rem oil and/or Hoppe's.

I like this take on barrel maintenance, but would love to hear more.

In any event, the accuracy of plated bullets compared to the hi-tek is awful.
I think I'm gonna stop shooting the plated bullets.
 
My experience with powder-coated bullets is that they leave essentially no deposits as long as properly sized, but are no better than traditionally lubed lead if they are not. This has been a particular problem for me in .44s since most commercial cast is undersized compared to groove/throat dimensions, must less so in .38/.357, .41, and .45.

I use the copper scouring pads to remove leading when it does occur.
 
JB Bore Paste is an abrasive.
Metal bore brushes can be used w/o damage to most guns. High level benchrest shooters don't use them,, (many of the folks who used to get Precision Shooter magazine,) but they spend more on just a barrel than many spend on an entire gun. They are seeking the ultimate in long range precision, and even a microscopic drop in accuracy causes them to replace barrels. So their methods of cleaning are much different than about 98% of the shooters. Solvents are there to soften, or even dissolve copper, lead, burnt & unburnt powder in a barrel. Oils are used to lubricate & protect the steel.

That said,, it's also true that some people "over clean" their guns & barrels. They shoot a box of ammo or less, and scrub the heck out of it to make it pristine inside & out. Their use of metal bore brushes may cause a little wear. But most metal brushes are copper. The same material as the bullets many shoot.
 
I kinda stopped the "ultimate scrubbing."
As far as brushes I use a kit, and mostly on the cylinder. I like it when those cartridges drop in with a clunk. I do use a little chore boy scrub in the barrel before I run patches.

I've taken to using Ballistol, (I don't find the smell objectionable 🤧)
 
I'm using hi-tek bullets from Missouri Bullet in my Rugers
I watched a Hickok 45 that suggested after shooting lead, shoot some copper plated or jacketed bullets to remove lead.

I have two questions:

1. Do hi-tek bullets leave lead deposits?
2. Do plated/jacketed clean lead deposits?
I cast and powder coat (PC) my own and once I started the PC, for the most part I never used wax lubed bullets again. That said I also rarely use jacketed bullets either and like Contender said I never found they remove lead, they only seem to compress it.

One thing about leading. A friend of mine was a master bullseye shooter and he once said he NEVER did more to his bore than to swab it for powder residue. Scrub the chamber(s)? Yes but the bore was only swabbed.

When I asked why he said this (paraphrased) "Start with a CLEAN bore without lead and groups will be inconsistent until the bore is lead fouled. Once leading is where it is, it won't progress enough to make accuracy potential go down".

Dunno how right he was, but he made it high master (or whatever they call it) this way and since then I not only do not use lead, I don't scour the bore with a brush. A light pass? Yup, but scour? Nope!
 
JB Bore Paste is an abrasive.
Metal bore brushes can be used w/o damage to most guns. High level benchrest shooters don't use them,, (many of the folks who used to get Precision Shooter magazine,) but they spend more on just a barrel than many spend on an entire gun. They are seeking the ultimate in long range precision, and even a microscopic drop in accuracy causes them to replace barrels. So their methods of cleaning are much different than about 98% of the shooters. Solvents are there to soften, or even dissolve copper, lead, burnt & unburnt powder in a barrel. Oils are used to lubricate & protect the steel.

That said,, it's also true that some people "over clean" their guns & barrels. They shoot a box of ammo or less, and scrub the heck out of it to make it pristine inside & out. Their use of metal bore brushes may cause a little wear. But most metal brushes are copper. The same material as the bullets many shoot.
copied this too
 
Personally I run a wet tight patch of Hoppes #9 down the barrel, then dry patch. Check barrel with a white patch at the breach end. If that looks good with no obvious deposits (usually doesn't), I am done with barrel. No need to get every speck of lead (all I shoot) out of the bore. Leave it 'seasoned'.
 
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I'm using hi-tek bullets from Missouri Bullet in my Rugers
I watched a Hickok 45 that suggested after shooting lead, shoot some copper plated or jacketed bullets to remove lead.

I have two questions:

1. Do hi-tek bullets leave lead deposits?
2. Do plated/jacketed clean lead deposits?

Seems Hickock 45 may be subject to internet lore as well. Worth a watch:



And powder coat shouldn't leave lead in the barrel if properly applied and loaded.
 
What's a "pewpew" note please..??

J.
it's where I accumulate my internet "research."

for example:

W296/H110
"These are not the powders to use for reduced-velocity loads. Moreover, handloaders are cautioned against using less powder than the starting charge shown in reloading manuals. With some of these powders, there is not a lot of distance between start charge and max charge.

For 240- and 300-grain jacketed bullets, the latest Hodgdon Annual Manual shows only 1.0-grain difference between starting and maximum charges of W296/H110. When Winchester made W296 available to handloaders back in the 1970s, load data published by the company had only one charge listed for each bullet weight, and it warned against any reduction in charge weight.
Velocity comparisons were my objective during this project, so I did not shoot for accuracy. I have burned enough of the slow burners through the years to already know that any good revolver will shoot good bullets inside 4 inches at 50 yards with either of them, and some will beat that by an inch or so."

I keep it all in my "smart phone."
 

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"I do use a little chore boy scrub in the barrel before I run patches."

Is this the real copper Chore Boy,, or the fake copper colored Chore Boy? There is a difference.

When needed, I just wrap a little bronze wool around a bore brush, and use that. No doubt in my mind that it is, truly, bronze, and not bronze (or copper) plated steel.
 
I'm still in the discovery phase of firearms.

It occurred to me that i might be doing something "unnecessary" when it was taking me more time to clean a gun than to shoot it. 🤔
 
Hi-tek coated lead SWC's don't lead up my GP100's ever since I started sizing the bullets approx .0003 smaller than the throats and ordering the appropriate BHN for the peak pressure of the cartridge. (giving good obturation)
 

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