lead fowling from maxiball

[10_point]

what is the best way to get the lead fowling from maxiball out? i am lubing with bore butter in the grooves and i thought i had it cleaned good and after checking it over , i am still pulling fowling out. i tried hoppes bore solvent and wd40 and it is getting better but i dont want to leave fowling in there to destroy my barrel .

 

[M. De Land]

I use Gunzilla and a tight felt patch in all my lead shooting guns.
A coat of it left in the barrel after cleaning also prevents some of the lead build up from firing.
I have never found anything better for lead removal, even JB paste.
It will also clean black powder fouling very well and has not water or petroleum in it.

 

[paul54]

I use Gunzilla too. Great stuff. Here's the link to their site: http://www.gunzilla.us/

 

[coloradoclyde]

A pure copper chore boy type scouring pad cut into a cleaning patch. And shooters choice solvent.

 

[mooman76]

Get a copper choreboy and remove some strands and wrap around a well used brush. It will peel the lead off the bore quite nicely.

 

[mooman76]

I also think if you load a bunch of patched RBs, it should remover the lead.

 

[robinsroost]

Outer's Foaming Bore Cleaner works well for me. Plug the touch hole or nipple and shoot the cleaner in until it approaches the muzzle. It comes with a short straw to direct the stream into the bore. Keep yer powder dry......Robin :wink: :grin:

 

[Rifleman1776]

I also think if you load a bunch of patched RBs, it should remover the lead.

Interesting. You responded to my post. But... :shocked2: ...my post isn't there. :youcrazy:

 

[don hepler]

I wonder why you are getting the leading, to start with. A lubed felt wad behind the Maxi-ball, might, keep the base of the bullet from melting, and help reduce leading, provided the bore is smooth. If the bore, itself, is pitted or ruff, I would run some J&B compound (or something similar)in the bore, to smooth it up. I used to shoot Maxi-balls, but out of a fast twist barrel, and never had a leading problem.

 

[nkbj]

Maybe just from gas cutting. If the bore isn't sealing off right it will spray molten lead in front of the bullet and then schmoosh the softened side of the bullet into the rifling and the droplets. Yucko.
The charge, lead softness, bullet weight, base diameter, style of rifling... they can all make a difference so the best bet is to try to reduce the amount of cutting that happens. Sometimes I use a short stack of over sized over powder wads soaked in melted waxy bullet lube. Especially so if shooting a mold that has a gas check style base like this one shot in the TC New Englander.

 

[jamesthomas]

That's all a good reason to switch to shooting a roundall. Btw, 10 point, what caliber are you using? If its a .54 or above a Patched Roundball is all you need for anything east of the Mississippi.

 

[nkbj]

By the way, hot loaded paper patched bullets can take the lead right out.

 

[10_point]

I am shooting a 50 cal. one thing nice is the grouping is real nice at 75 yards with this gun shooting maxi ball 370 grain that i cast myself out of roofing flashing soft lead , shooting pyrodex rs 80 grains with remington caps

 

[Idaho Ron]

Paper patched conicals is the way to go. Forget the PRB nonsense. Ron

 

[longcruise]

You can also wrap some steel wool around a jag. And, no, it won't hurt the bore!

 

[10_point]

yes i did that, it worked good,

 

[M. De Land]

Your barrel probably needs a lap job. You likely have some high or rough spots that need smoothed or leveled out.
Also, some times deep rifling is a problem for maxi balls. Most guns set up to shoot conicals have rifling in the neighborhood of .004 deep.
Your bullet diameter may be to small as well and gas is getting around in the groove.

 

[Vaino]

When first starting to shoot my TC Hawken in 1976 , I used MaxiBall conicals and after a long session of shooting, pulled the bbl and sent a swab down the bore. Inspected the bore and was stupefied...couldn't make out the rifling.

Took a bronze wire brush and after many strokes finally could see the rifling. Continued use of the brush finally rid the bore of the lead.

The load was 100 grs of 2f and I was convinced that the conical was "stripping" from the rifling.

Because of this, I switched to Buffalo Bullets and had no problems of leading the bore. Of course I didn't shoot the BBs in a shooting session as long as I did the MaxiBalls.

Possibly the lead was softer in the MaxiBalls that I shot....I'm convinced that purchased conicals are made from a harder lead alloy to avoid leading the bore. Minie balls are probably the exception w/ softer lead so the "skirt" will expand.

Shooting conicals in a conical bbl w/ .004 deep rifling can be "tricky"....especially w/ big loads which can "strip" the shallow rifling and really lead up the bore.

I no longer shoot conicals... not because of their tendency to "lead the bore", but because they move off the powder in a clean bore.....Fred

 

[M. De Land]

I shoot a maxi ball of my own make in a Navy Arms buffalo Hunter with the heavy octagon barrel.
It has the same three groove rifling as does the muskets. The muzzle has a noticeable choke in it.
The load is 150 grains of Goex 2f and the maxi weighs 620 grains. The lube was bore butter.
The chronograph said 1400 fps ( I'm dubious about that) and it punched a nice round 2 inch group at 100 yards for as long as I could stand to shoot it with no lead build up.
I'm not sure it is healthy for me to shoot it anymore from a bench and I always use a past recoil pad strapped to my shoulder.
The recoil is............ well let's just say "remarkable" but the accuracy is also with that bullet.
Here is a picture of it along side a Lee offering.

It holds an enormous amount of lube and probably is the reason it does not lead the bore.

 

[Spikebuck]

The load is 150 grains of Goex 2f and the maxi weighs 620 grains.

Well...you do have the potential of big Brown Bears to deal with! I can't imagine shooting that. I thought 90 grs behind a 425 Hornady GP was enough punishment! :wink: :grin:

In response to the original poster: I have used JB's with good success. It's interesting how one can use the "regular" cleaning regimen like one would with a PRB and patches after shooting a conical are clean. Then run a patch...or ten...with JB on them and they are BLACK. But I find this post very informative and I may have to experiment with some other options for when I shoot conicals, which is becoming less and less common, but I still like them at times.