Leading in the barrel

[spadegrip]

I am shooting an original typeII p-53 Enfield and I am getting strips if lead on my cleaning patches. I have pulled the breech plug and inspected the bore which is in very good shape. The bullet is a Rapine 580-510 which loads with about .002 clearance in the bore. They are unsized. The fouling is soft right through the shoot and accuracy doesn't seem to suffer. When I go to clean the bore the first patch comes out with carbon and slivers of lead. What could be causing this.
Thanks for your help

[Rich Foster]

You need to have your barrel scoped for that. A piece of rifling could off broken off or anything that might grab that lead. Rich

[Jud96]

What's the bore condition like?

[spadegrip]

What's the bore condition like?
The bore is very good. No large pits. Just a scattering of very light shallow pitting.

[Jud96]

The bore is very good. No large pits. Just a scattering of very light shallow pitting.
Maybe there's a burr in the rifling like Rich suggested that's causing problems. Is this the first time you've fired it?

[spadegrip]

Maybe there's a burr in the rifling like Rich suggested that's causing problems. Is this the first time you've fired it?
I have fired it about 10 times in the last 6 weeks. The lead seems to be coming from the edges of the groves by the location on the patch.

[Jud96]

Your rifling could possibly have a burr in it. What lube are you using? The reason I ask is because your lube could be burning up too fast. This will cause the bullet to cut into the grooves without lube causing your leading problem.

[Lou Lou Lou]

What are you using for lube?

[spadegrip]

What are you using for lube?

Mark Latham's beeswax and tallow. I believe the lube is working to keep the fowling soft, but maybe I am not putting enough on. I put the bullet in the tube and then dip the base in the lube. I only coat 2 of the 3 rings of the bullet.

[R. McAuley 3014V]

Try coating your minies with Alox for your lube and see if it is still leading the barrel afterwards?

"Dennis Marshall, contributing editor for The American Rifleman, taught me a clever method to test the effectiveness of a lubricant. The test consisted of weighing the barrel of a 45 automatic. Then firing 25 rounds of the ammunition to be tested. Lightly clean the barrel to remove loose fouling and weigh again. The difference in weight is the amount of lead deposited in the bore.

Test results appeared to be in error with my first batch of bullets treated with the liquid Alox. The barrel surprisingly weighed less after firing the 25 rounds with the liquid Alox. I checked the scale and my previous test results. Everything checked. The liquid Alox not only did not lead the bore under the same conditions, [the Alox] removed some of the leading I had not been able to scrape out with the bronze cleaning brush." That's why Lee Precision wasted no time in getting Alox to market. The above quote is from Richard Lee (2012) Modern Reloading, 2nd Ed.

[Scott Kurki, 12475]

Do patches get cut when you are cleaning the gun? Try dry patches, maybe more than one at a time if you can fit them. If trying dry patches, first lube the barrel.

[R Filbert]

Just my opinion- I use50/50 bees wax and lanolin dip all three rings-or in my case two as I use a gardener bullet 514-575 I may be wrong but alox is more suited for smokeless powder than black tends to fowl much faster -Dip them and shoot em don't size to much off -It's my thoughts that some put lube in the base of the Minnie which puts raw lead against the lands and grooves and can cause leading I also believe that it doesn't allow the Minnie to expand properly. Just my 2 cents

[R. McAuley 3014V]

I began using Alox with my smoothbore, when I switched from wrapping the round balls with aluminum foil and thrice dipping in lube to make up my ammo. Now I just sand off the sprues, then put all the balls in a plastic can and pour the Alox over them, and put the lid on and shake em around. I pour out the coated balls onto a screen to dry. After they have dried, I repeat the process before loading them in the tubes as I make up each charge. I also use Alox-brand lube for my M1860 Spencer Rifle, and have began using it with my '55 Rifle and Richmond carbine, with pretty much the same results. After firing, I brush out the bore with a bronze bristle brush, then dump the debris. Next, I wet a patch with Hoppe's and run it thru the bore three or four times, before changing to a dry patch to wipe out the dampness. By the second dry patch there usually isn't any carbon residue left in the bore except down against the breech face in the muzzle-loaders. Maybe if I shot more than eight or ten rounds per event, it might have more fouling but other than with the Spencer, I rarely shoot more than seven or eight shots per event in the team matches with the muzzle-loaders. Sometimes its no more than five shots, if I get that many off. I shoot more rounds in individuals than I normally shoot in the team matches unless the team is shooting badly that day.

[hobbler]

I am shooting an original typeII p-53 Enfield and I am getting strips if lead on my cleaning patches. I have pulled the breech plug and inspected the bore which is in very good shape. The bullet is a Rapine 580-510 which loads with about .002 clearance in the bore. They are unsized. The fouling is soft right through the shoot and accuracy doesn't seem to suffer. When I go to clean the bore the first patch comes out with carbon and slivers of lead. What could be causing this.
Thanks for your help

The first thing I'd look for is lead deposits at the edge of the grooves created by greater corrosion pitting at that specific location. That's where it is most difficult to achieve the best cleaning, hence over time it would be where pitting started first, and that's where lead build up would be expected. After absolutely scrubbing the barrel until nothing but barrel remained I'd try again with minimum powder charges and lotsa lube.

[ken s]

go to an automotive store and buy a tube of valve grinding compound. about six bucks. it's a grey mix of polishing oxide. put a tight rag on the rod head and pull it through, full length strokes, and it will smooth the bore, and take the lead out. clean out well before firing. you could do a lead plug, and fit it to a rod and use the compound that way, but it's hard to do.... I do this to all my originals periodically and it keeps them clean. it is a lapping compound... Ken