Leading signs for dumbies???

Can someone explain to me the signs or alert signals of leading in barrels? I just shot my first batch of casted reloads and these were my findings after 30 rounds....

Gun appeared extremely dirty, like I fired 600 rounds over just 30.
Barrel was pretty dirty, but did not seem to have leading...(but then again I don't even know what the leading looks like)


Also I went with a grease groove lubing method over pan lubing the whole bullet... might be the reason for build up... (again not sure)

I will try to and explain hopefully....

Leading will look like fine silver slivers...Usually within the riflings only. That is about the best way I can describe it...

Usually it will look like little raised or lumpy spots in the barrel as compared to the rest of the barrel after running a couple patches down it...the patches may show light flecks of silver or gray on them. If it gets real bad, you'll actually be able to see it peeling in thin strips off the edge of the rifling.

If the whole gun looks dirty( not just the barrel)...I think that might be more of a powder problem.

Great descriptions guys, Sticky +1
Most people have tried but failed miserably at describing it on other forums

I have a partial 250 count box of ultramax 45acp...it will lead a barrel in 10 rounds or less. It is the worst lead bullet ammo I have ever used...I don't know if it is loaded to hot or the lead is too soft...you'd think a 45acp wouldn't need real hard lead. I think I'm gonna pull them bullets and seat my own cast bullets...right now they are just waisting space.

I never tried ultramax before but it soulds like it might be more of a lube problem. It might be worth using your own lube on the bullets if you don't want to re-melt the old ones. It would save a little time. Just a thought.

I'm not going t piss with them...into the pot of soft lead they will be going...prolly end up being swaged and shot through my 450 Bushy.

It appears like small slivers silver.... but who know. I know that my metal I used for my first casted round was garbage, and the bullets ended up looking dark grey over silver! used a bad tube of lube and had them all over the bullets so who knows. I pan lube the next batch and the bullets are actually shiny silver this time.... I wish I could snap a picture with my digital camera to show everyone what the EFF is going on, but I can't get a decent picture. If someone can send me a picture of a barrel that has the forming of "leading" please post it so i can compare what I'm looking at.

Let me see what I can find for ya. I don't have any barrels that lead, so I will have to find one..


Can you remind me again what caliber your shooting?? Can you also list the data and the diameter? Which Mould they are coming from, your lube receipe....

Ok, searching Google Images for Lead in Barrels, this is what I found. One is a real bad sign of leading and the other 2 are so so leading. Hope these help...










The last barrel the leading is kinda like a smear. Now looking at that barrel, I do have to say, I have seen this in my 45 once or twice. I am going to have to pay closer attention to some of my casts LOL..

I have seen leading like the top pic...that's what the ultramax does.

I have never had leading as bad as the middle pic...my god, I think it would be easier to pass a kidney stone than a bullet through that mess.

The third pic is very light leading...really not a big concern unless you let it keep building up and never clean the barrel.

hawcer wrote:I have seen leading like the top pic...that's what the ultramax does.

I have never had leading as bad as the middle pic...my god, I think it would be easier to pass a kidney stone than a bullet through that mess.

The third pic is very light leading...really not a big concern unless you let it keep building up and never clean the barrel.

THANKS MAN!!! Yeah maybe the third one is what I might have going on, but to me it looks like gun powder build up and dirt. I've been using Accurate #2 and 7 very fine powder, and it looks like it get's all over the place. it's in the gun frame when cleaning and looks like it's in the barrel. Plus I used my own lube recipe when making the lube, and used a really bad batch of Lead... (used the lead from inside car batteries and mixed it with zinc and wheel weights) Bullets were not even silver, there where dark grey! So all this could have played a factor... Either way thanks a lot I'm still not going to quit the casting, just going to adjust my process.

Just a tip....but never use battery lead. The fumes are harmful and the lead is contaminated....yeah, I know...everyone else on the planet is worried about lead contamination and we are worried about our lead being contaminated,lol.

hawcer wrote:Just a tip....but never use battery lead. The fumes are harmful and the lead is contaminated....yeah, I know...everyone else on the planet is worried about lead contamination and we are worried about our lead being contaminated,lol.

LOL... that is so true!

Never add zinc, you don't want that at all. If you have zinc in your lead mix, then it's trash and needs to be thrown out. Don't reuse any portion of it with a new batch thinking that if it's diluted it will be ok, because it won't.
Zinc makes the mix way too hard and doesn't cast good boolits at all. They won't fill out properly and the dull grey color you got was the zinc showing it's properties as contamination.
I know you probably have a hard time getting any lead to cast with in California, but battery lead is bad news just like Hawcer said.
Wheel weights used straight just like they are have everything you need in them to make a nice cast boolit and it doesn't need anything at all added to it. Especially in a 45 the pressures and velocities are minimal and with the right load, a guy could just about use straight lead at low velocities and the right lube.

The descriptions of leading are spot on. If you shine a pin light down in the barrel you will be able to see traces of lead in the form of slivers of silver left in the riflings. It will shine when hit with light, and also small bumps that are stuck to the high spots of the riflings.
It's kinda tricky to find the right lube, velocity, and pressure combo to get zero leading.

I would also suggest getting the Lewis Lead Remover kit from Brownells, it's a real time saver to get 98% of all the lead out of your barrel and riflings. It's caliber specific, but other adapters for different calibers are available and all you need is the jag that goes on the end without having to buy a whole new kit for each caliber.
Then you could just shoot until you see lead, stop and run the Lead remover jag through the barrel and clean as normal, then back to shooting again in about 5min.
The remover kit is also a good indicator of how much leading you have if there is even any at all. If it's there, the brass screen will pull it out. If it's not leaded, then the screen will come out clean.

Good Luck.

If you continue to get leading, try changing your lube recipe to Lithabee. I posted my recipe for it over in the "Lube Recipe" section of the Casting part of the forum.

Thanks, I'm going to look at that lead remover kit right now..