Caked Bore

[philman]

OK, I found that the bore of my XD is caked with I assume lead. Caked may be an over statement, but it's a good description. I like to think I am pretty good about cleaning my gun, but evidently that is not the case. So, that brings up two obvious questions:

1: How do I clean it, so far I have had little luck.

2: How do I avoid it in the future. Is this from round nose lead bullets?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Bart]

Yes, from round nose lead bullets. Try soaking the barrel with WD-40 overnight, then a good brushing.

[gilliland87]

There are any number of comercially available lead cleaners out there, BUTCH'S BORE SHINE at Brownells

I have had good luck with this in the past shooting cast bullets

Some others are
Ed's red (I believe there is a home recipe for that floating around)
Montana 50bmg
Even hoppes and a bore brush but the others will cut it much faster.
I like to try to stick with solvents and patches but have had to in the past resort to using losso bore paste on a barrel mop to remove some really bad fouling in the throat area of a 22-250 but That is always my last resort.
As a side note a god quality brass patch jag matched to your guns caliber is you friend not just those hoppes plastic patch hoops that come in that basic kits. It will push the patch against the bore evenly and clean much more effiecently BRASS JAGS & LOOPS at Brownells

[dukalmighty]

What kinda bullets are you shooting and are they lubed,are you casting your own and if so you do not want to use pure lead as it is too soft and will lead up your barrel quick

[cvhoss]

If you really have a serious leading problem, a Lewis Lead Remover will work wonders.

Hoss

[cmidkiff]

Copper chore-boy scrubber pads, cut a bit off, and wrap it around a brush. Works wonders on getting the lead out.

Make sure it's not steel with a copper coating... a quick check with a magnet will insure you don't ruin a perfectly good barrel.

If you're getting thick leading, quickly, you need to look at the ammo you're using. Leading can be drastically reduced if the load is matched to the hardness of the bullet. Too soft a bullet over too heavy a charge will lead up quickly, as will too hard a bullet over too light a charge.

[philman]

Copper chore-boy scrubber pads, cut a bit off, and wrap it around a brush. Works wonders on getting the lead out.

Make sure it's not steel with a copper coating... a quick check with a magnet will insure you don't ruin a perfectly good barrel.

If you're getting thick leading, quickly, you need to look at the ammo you're using. Leading can be drastically reduced if the load is matched to the hardness of the bullet. Too soft a bullet over too heavy a charge will lead up quickly, as will too hard a bullet over too light a charge.

Armscor Precision 9mm, 124 Gr. lead Round Nose

[Rcher]

I use Break Free Bore Foam. It will break up the lead deposits and the copper from jacketed ammo. The foam turns blue as it encounters the deposits and after 15 mins, you can swab out the entire chamber and bore and it will be good as new. It has worked great for me. I use it on all of my handguns and my AR-15 too.