Danny Abear:
The easiest, cheapest, and fastest way to remove leading is.
Go to walmart, buy a toothbrush case, Plastic one is fine
also buy small bottle of hydrogen peroxide, and small bottle of white vinegar.
Pour equal amounts (mixed well) into the toothbrush case and insert barrel and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
Remove barrel and run brass brush thru the barrel and watch the lead just fall out.
Rinse the barrel well with tap water, then apply your favorite oil.
I emailed this off to some shooter friends of mine, a couple of which happen to be metal smiths. His response is below.
Bronson
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Howdy, Bronson!
That's a stitch! We happen to use a one-to-three part solution of the
same two chems for removing the lingering pink firescale from copper
after we have annealed and pickled it. It's a very potent combination,
and very active against the metal. Of course we do use our school's
ancient secret process directly after it, which is why our kung-fu is
the best. Most of the time...
I've seen damn few pickling processes that are that sure-fire. If it
were me, I think I'd keep a slightly stiffer wire brush or even a thin
pick of some sort handy, just in case only MOST of the lead "just falls
out", or in case it needs a tiny bit of encouragement. Look it over
really closely, because anything that doesn't "just fall out" might need
a second dunking. The last thing you want to do is miss a chunk of it,
since it may trap vestiges of the mix against the barrel. That would be
bad, I suspect.
BTW, they really mean it about the rinse. Rinse until you're almost
sick of it, with running water, gently rubbing the surface with a
cleaning cloth as you go. That should help get any last vestiges of
lead out, and help agitate the rinse to drive every last bit of
acid-oxidizer mix (-sounds more sinister and corrosive when it's put
like that, doesn't it?) out of the pores, crevices, rifling, tiny
corners, threads, etc. Also, dry it off with more soft cloth, don't
wait for it to air-dry. When any metal that's prone to oxidation is
cleaned that well, it's REALLY ready to oxidize. Don't give it the
chance, and try not to handle it until you have the oil on it. Move
right along, don't linger.
Anyhew, there's my two cents' worth. Good luck to you! Let us know how
it goes. Later.
-Drak
"Each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late." T. Sowell
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