Got The Lead Out

A

alinwa

oft dis'd member
Some time back I posted asking how to get the built up streaks of lead out of a custom barrel......Although many of you had helpful advice, I did not manage to get the barrel cleaned.

I left the matter hanging, unfinished and unresolved.

I don't like to do this

So....

I can now state that 30% hydrogen peroxide will get lead out. I built a fixture to submerge and soak the barrel in about 1 cup of H2O2 at a time. It takes about an hour at 70-80F (It will produce some heat endothermically dunno if that's a word) for the solute to neutralize, taking with it a substantial layer.

It will not boil nor "burn"

It is well contained by HTPE

I did not have to add vinegar

I do not know how it affects bluing

30% H2O2 is nasty stingy stuff, don't get any on ya'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_peroxide peeing on it won't help

This huge 50cal bore took three treatments, it was beyond "badly leaded" and some of my treatments had made it worse.

But it's now clean, no damage AFAIK

resolved
al
 
Bravo! Now you can go lead it up again with every confidence that you can clean it up. Yeah, I know it takes a while and is kinda dangerous but hey...you got the lead out!
 
Did I suggest Goo Gone? Most women has it in their cleaning products. My Grandson took my nice airgun and shot I don't know how many rounds until 4 pellets were stacked in the bore. I tapped them ou with a wooden dowel. I brushed a little Goo Gone through it and let it soak for an hour. I patched it out and it was good.
All I can find is it conforms to ASTM D 4235. It is non-toxic "but" it does say not to drink it.
 
Butch Lambert said:
Did I suggest Goo Gone? Most women has it in their cleaning products. My Grandson took my nice airgun and shot I don't know how many rounds until 4 pellets were stacked in the bore. I tapped them ou with a wooden dowel. I brushed a little Goo Gone through it and let it soak for an hour. I patched it out and it was good.
All I can find is it conforms to ASTM D 4235. It is non-toxic "but" it does say not to drink it.
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Butch. We will give it a go.
I have been using "Lead Out" from the Patch out guys. Works pretty good. Just have to let it set. Lead turns pink.....
 
No you didn't Butch, I'll try it too :)

Incidentally, the hydrogen peroxide isn't "dangerous," it's just a strong concentration of the stuff yer Mom used to put in your cuts. She used 3% from the drugstore, the stuff I used is 30% from the pool supply store called Baquacil. It's less dangerous than the lye under the kitchen sink.

0103151438.jpg

A couple of points.....

#1, I was wrong about the time frames involved. My procedure is to make up a tube of 1-1/4" PVC pipe, drop the barrel in and dump in enough Baquacil to cover it. I would do this in the evening and come back the next day and change the solution out. I got the impression that the stuff "did it's work in about an hour."

I was wrong.

#2, it's important that the temperature be kept up somewhat. I was instructed to run the barrel under hot water for a few minutes before dropping it in. When the Baquacil goes in it immediately starts to bubble and give off a fog of water vapor and hydrogen gas.

This means "it's working."

I've got one going right now that's been bubbling furiously for 20hrs.... I just checked it.......that's a looong reaction!!! It's in a 65degree environment, standing in a wastebasket in the corner of my shooting room. I did roughen up the lead in this bore by scrubbing it with a bronze bore brush.

I'm hoping this long reaction means fewer applications.

We'll see.
al
 
Dusty Stevens said:
Did that electrical gadget from the 80's ever make it? The led out or cop out
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I have one of those, it's called "FOUL OUT", in fact I wrote an article on it for a Magazine. But I did not have any lead to clean out, still use it on copper, once in awhile. And I still have a bottle of Lead-Out which went with the machine.
Bill
 
Remember, at one time, Mickey Coleman RIP, wrapped STEEL wool around a bore brush and used it to remove lead....bad!!

Back when I was shooting a lot of IMHSA and using cast bullets I used a tool called Lewis Lead Remover. It had about a 12" long handle, a rubber knob on the end and was wrapped with a BRASS screen that looked like a screen door uses. Worked great. I was shooting in International Class against the jacketed bullet shooters.

If you can come across enough, elemental Mercury will dissolve lead.
 
How about amalgamation with...

wait for it...



mercury?

I know most here will avoid it like the Ebola virus, but mercury will amalgamate with lead...IOW, it will pretty much "absorb" lead. Many of us have mercury in our mouth in the form of fillings, and most of us played with it as kids. I'm not saying it's a healthy way to do it, but mercury has been used for lead removal for years. I've done it with good results.

That's all I can say for now...My fingers are twitching.:eek:
 
I was going to ask about one of our shooters that needed to get rid of a lot of mercury several years ago, but won't. Yeah, in the olden days we played with it.
 
I had a thermometer bust in my mouth back in the 70's when kids were tuff. Being an instrument man and having carb synchronizers from the good ole days ive got several kilos of it. There are tons of it in industry still and even can buy brand new mercoid controls with it in there
 
If I had access to mercury I'd certainly try it but I have two problems...... #1, if I find some mercury I have no way of knowing whether or not it's pure, and #2 once I've used it to amalgamate with the lead and it's no longer pure I have no safe way to retort it.

And I have no clue "how much" lead the mercury will combine with, nor how to know when it's "saturated" (nor what any of that means!)

:)

al
 
Regarding the Foul-Out - -

I have one and it takes a very long time to work, if it works at all. Do a search for "Home Made Foul-out" on Youtube. I believe there is one there and they simply use a 9v battery hooked up to the rod through the barrel and the other onto the receiver. It works in minutes :). I suspect there are a lot of barrels that have been given up on because of their being leaded up, without the owner knowing it. Once cleaned, lap the spots where the leading occurs to smoothen the teeth the lead sticks to and one will find an improvement in usage. Lapping seems to only make foulers work better.

Pete
 
alinwa said:
If I had access to mercury I'd certainly try it but I have two problems...... #1, if I find some mercury I have no way of knowing whether or not it's pure, and #2 once I've used it to amalgamate with the lead and it's no longer pure I have no safe way to retort it.

And I have no clue "how much" lead the mercury will combine with, nor how to know when it's "saturated" (nor what any of that means!)

:)

al
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Junk yards and heating and cooling people are good places to start. Some cars have mercury roll over switches in them, and lots of central heat and air thermostats contain a mercury switch. Another place is from mercury recoil suppressors...you can also buy the stuff, but the aforementioned options are far cheaper. As for how pure and how long it'll work, I don't know if anything really mixes with mercury. Something well might, but it's a metal. I don't know of many metals that are liquid..As for how long it'll last...a long time is all I can tell you. I've been using the same 6-7 ounces from a suppressor for several years. It still does the same as new.

As for its safety, I'm not condoning it...just stating it works.
 
mwezell said:
Junk yards and heating and cooling people are good places to start. Some cars have mercury roll over switches in them, and lots of central heat and air thermostats contain a mercury switch. Another place is from mercury recoil suppressors...you can also buy the stuff, but the aforementioned options are far cheaper. As for how pure and how long it'll work, I don't know if anything really mixes with mercury. Something well might, but it's a metal. I don't know of many metals that are liquid..As for how long it'll last...a long time is all I can tell you. I've been using the same 6-7 ounces from a suppressor for several years. It still does the same as new.

As for its safety, I'm not condoning it...just stating it works.
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So how do I use it Mike? I can get a few oz of mercury, maybe even a cup, without too much trouble, but I really don't know how to work it. In your first post you state that it "will absorb lead" then in this post you seem to be saying something else. All's I know of mercury usage other than playing with it as a kid is peripheral to gold mining and the guys I know who use it have a fancy plug-in bucket-and-hose gizmo like a portable moonshine-maker and they all get together to use it in bunches like it's at least as much a pain as rendering a hog..........

The safety aspect is a non-issue with me.

al
 
I know with gold it kinda absorbs it in a way from the clay and water then they burn it off. All thats left is the gold and the mercury turns into vapor
 
I fail to see an issue with wrapping some medium steel wool on a brass bore brush, and scrubbing the lead out with some bore cleaner. Rust bluing uses steel wool(or fine carding steel brushes), and I have yet to see visible wear from rust bluing carding. Except when the wire brush is running too fast, then the bristle ends do a fine pitting from impact.
 
alinwa said:
So how do I use it Mike? I can get a few oz of mercury, maybe even a cup, without too much trouble, but I really don't know how to work it. In your first post you state that it "will absorb lead" then in this post you seem to be saying something else. All's I know of mercury usage other than playing with it as a kid is peripheral to gold mining and the guys I know who use it have a fancy plug-in bucket-and-hose gizmo like a portable moonshine-maker and they all get together to use it in bunches like it's at least as much a pain as rendering a hog..........

The safety aspect is a non-issue with me.

al
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Al, just fill the plugged bore and let it sit overnight. It doesn't take that long, IME, it actually works very fast, but I let em' sit most of the time. Remember, mercury doesn't touch carbon or oils, so it needs to be clean and dry. I like to abrade the lead with a brush before adding the mercury, also.
As for "re-claiming" either the lead or mercury...I don't have an answer, but the lead will float on the mercury. You can see it and it could probably be skimmed off if need be. I've never done it because I've never seen the need. As I said before, the little bit of mercury I have, has worked well for a long time, without regard for separating the lead from it..

I will say this...fashion a bottle or similar over the muzzle to catch patches after the process. There will be a small amount left in the bore, particularly where there was/is lead left. The lead will usually push right out with/on a patch after it has been in contact with mercury. Mercury is very bad if inhaled. Don't heat it or allow it to spray out of the barrel, ie. on a brush.
 
mwezell said:
Al, just fill the plugged bore and let it sit overnight. It doesn't take that long, IME, it actually works very fast, but I let em' sit most of the time. Remember, mercury doesn't touch carbon or oils, so it needs to be clean and dry. I like to abrade the lead with a brush before adding the mercury, also.
As for "re-claiming" either the lead or mercury...I don't have an answer, but the lead will float on the mercury. You can see it and it could probably be skimmed off if need be. I've never done it because I've never seen the need. As I said before, the little bit of mercury I have, has worked well for a long time, without regard for separating the lead from it..

I will say this...fashion a bottle or similar over the muzzle to catch patches after the process. There will be a small amount left in the bore, particularly where there was/is lead left. The lead will usually push right out with/on a patch after it has been in contact with mercury. Mercury is very bad if inhaled. Don't heat it or allow it to spray out of the barrel, ie. on a brush.
Click to expand...

Thank you,
al
 
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