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How can I tell if the Barrel is leaded

Shooter1
This is a dumb question! How can I tell if the barrel is leaded up or worn out? Is there away without some kind of a gauge?
I have two Colt 380 Barrels one is new you can see twist the other you have to look hard to see the twist. Could this be Lead?
Thanks for your help
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Comments

4 comments

Date Votes
  • perry shooter
    Hello good question If you can get a LEWIS LEAD remover IT IS A CLEANING ROD WITH ALUM. CONE AND BRASS SCREENS when you pull this through the barrel you will see lead other than that look very close at patches or brush residue . quote:"PRAISE THE HARDBALL GUN"
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  • gunnut505
    If you're using a bore light to inspect the rifling, look for smears, lumps, ridges and wavy lines on the sides of the grooves (
    the flat parts), or to find out if there's copper fouling, use a patch moistened in Barnes Copper Solvent through the bore, wait 10 minutes, and run a dry patch through: if it's green or blue, you have copper fouling to remove before you start to remove the lead underneath.
    I use a stainless brush with a patch wrapped around it, soaked in JB's Bore Paste and Hoppe's #9 benchrest to get rid of heavy leading, then I treat the bore with M-Pro7 and let it soak in for 10 minutes, swab it out and lightly oil it.

    If you know it all; you must have been listening.<br>WEAR EAR PROTECTION!
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  • heavyiron
    Shooter1,

    This is not a dumb question. It is sometimes difficult to tell the condition of a barrel.

    I have an Argentine Colt Systema with what I thought was a worn out barrel. I had cleaned the barrel several times and the rifling was weak.

    Finally, I decided to use a good copper solvent (7.62)and "tornado" stainless steel brush as suggested by gunnut and others and suddenly the rifling appeared much stronger in the bore. Apparently, the barrel was very fouled with copper after years of service. I had the identical experience with an Enfield No. 5 Jungle Rifle.

    Because the 380 is an automatic pistol cartridge, bullets for this caliber are usually copper jacketed. Unless you know this barrel was used for lead bullets, it may be that your barrel has copper fouling. I suggest a complete cleaning with an aggressive copper solvent, like 7.62 or Butch's Bore Shine, and a thorough scrubbing with a stainless brush.

    Regards,

    HI[:D]
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  • Shooter1
    Thanks for all the information tomorrow I will go to the gun store and pick up the cleaning supplies that has been recommended and give the barrel a good cleaning. Thanks Again Shooter 1[:D]
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