Leaded barrel and mercury...

[William H. Shuey]

Hi Troops:

Can anyone here fill me in on the old time gunsmith's use of Mercury to clean a badly leaded barrel?? I have an 03A3 that was shot with cast bullets and it is a mess. Also, I was told that Mercury may now be a Federally controlled element, does anyone have knowledge of any Federal regulations??

Bill Shuey
whshuey@verizon.net

[Ron/The Old Reb]

Bill
Yes years ago gunsmiths would use mercury to remove lead from a barrel. They would plug one end of the barrel fill it with mercury plug the other end and let it set for awhile. I am not sure if it is federally regulated or not and I do not know where you could get it if you could. When I was a kid we would get it out of salient light switches. They had a little glass tube in them. We would brake tube to get the mercury out and put it in a bottle. Something that would make an EPA official scream in horror today. A norther thing they would use was 28 percent Ammonia solution that I tried on a barrel back in the 60's and it worked. You had to be careful not to breath in the Ammonia. But I don't know if you can buy that anymore also. Back then you could buy it at a pharmacy. I have used Barns CR10 and it worked for me. Just do it outside use a nylon brush and read the directions. You can get it from Midway.

[Kevin Tinny]

Hello:

Mercury is expensive, quite harmful to your brain ( swelling/ "mad hatter")! And it will work its way around all but the most impermeable (sp?), very tight plugs. Friends tried this in the '60's, only to find puddles on their floors. NOT GOOD!

Suggest soaking with a proven penetrating oil such as KROIL. It gets under the leading. Seal the CHAMBER end with a nylon tapered plug. Make SURE it is tight. Stand the filled barrel in a corner for a couple weeks.

Regards,
Kevin

[jonk]

No need to get mercury.

Soak the barrel, plugged, with Kroil for a few days. Drain.

Then take a bronze brush and wrap it in OOOO steel wool. Not only will it scrape out the lead, it will polish any rough spots in the old military bore (so long as you don't do this too often).

Now go to a tight fitting patch and see what's what. Probably will have done the job.

If not... a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide WILL turn the lead into a slurry that rubs right out, but it WILL also mildly etch your barrel; leave it in for no more than 15 minutes. Last resort.

[Maillemaker]

I agree, mercury really is some nasty stuff. Very hard to get fully cleaned up after a spill. Check out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpZF88fqrl8

Steve

[Carolina Reb]

Another option is an electric foul-out. It essentially plates lead off the barrel and onto a steel rod. Directions are attached. Instead of a battery and lamp, I use a lab 12V DC power supply and watch the current fall off to judge when it's done. Several years ago I picked up a Whitney Kennedy in 45-60 that was really loaded up. Using the foul-out, enough lead came out of that barrel to make a couple 22 bullets! That rifle shoots great now.

[marv762]

try CVA barrel blaster gel it worked great on my henry rifle. i have used in all my guns at the end of the season now. cleans up the rifling real well. only about $6

[ChrisWBR]

No need to get mercury.

Soak the barrel, plugged, with Kroil for a few days. Drain.

Then take a bronze brush and wrap it in OOOO steel wool. Not only will it scrape out the lead, it will polish any rough spots in the old military bore (so long as you don't do this too often).

Now go to a tight fitting patch and see what's what. Probably will have done the job.

If not... a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide WILL turn the lead into a slurry that rubs right out, but it WILL also mildly etch your barrel; leave it in for no more than 15 minutes. Last resort.


Jonk, I'd suggest no more than 5 minutes. That should be long enough to clean the lead out of the barrel. You need to thoroughly scrub it afterwards with bore cleaner and oil it well.

[Joseph Plakis Jr, 00302V]

Try soaking the bore with Kroil. Then go to the supermarket in the housewares section they sell steel wool pads. They also sell "copper" wool pads. take some of the copper wool & wrap it around an old bore brush. Scrub the bore it will remove the lead & not damage your bore. I use this in my Henry to remove the lead from the barrel.

Joe Plakis Jr 00302V
Hampton Legion.