Barrel polishing vs. Cleaning time
- By Bedrock Bob
- General Discussion
- 21 Replies
Yes. The barrel cleans easier. A good polishing helps a lot. Even waxing.
There are fewer high spots shaving off lead and shallower low spots to trap it.
Here is what I have learned (or believe) about centerfire rifles, lead bullets in centerfire pistols and barrel polishing in general. Hopefully you can use it as a comparison.⁷
You don't need to polish too much. There is a point of diminishing return. Sharp lands and a bit of nap to the metal are great. A mirror polished bore adds friction to the projectiles bearing surface actually increasing copper fouling in a powder burner. I'm assuming this would be true with lead projectiles shot at PCP speeds.
Friction causes lead ablation in my .357 and .44 handguns at about 1000 fps. depending on the lead alloy. I would bet you will find a PCP will do it too around that speed. Abated lead is mighty difficult to remove mechanically if you let it go too long.
Lead alloy is an important factor in leading too. Harder bullets seem to lead worse. Softer bullets can be pushed faster before they foul your bore. Harder lead resists deformation and bears against the barrel more. Soft lead form to the barrel easily and friction never spikes.
You aren't going to polish a barrel enough to worry about friction with bore paste. But you don't have to polish much before you see the full benefit. As long as you don't push your projectiles too fast it takes a LONG time for "leading" to be a problem. You simply wipe it out with a patch and you are cool.
If you push hard lead fast you will get ablation. It will stick thin coats of lead to the lands. That's leading you must worry about. It will affect accuracy and is tough to dig out. Rifles pushing lead bullets fast (even with gas checks) will lead a barrel so bad it takes electrolysis to fix.
As slugs come into vogue and PCPs get faster this will become evident. I'm not sure what velocity they will experience it but it will happen. Polishing the bore and shooting soft lead will help up to a point. Sooner or later they will start plating lead to the barrel just like a centerfire rifle gets copper fouling.
There are fewer high spots shaving off lead and shallower low spots to trap it.
Here is what I have learned (or believe) about centerfire rifles, lead bullets in centerfire pistols and barrel polishing in general. Hopefully you can use it as a comparison.⁷
You don't need to polish too much. There is a point of diminishing return. Sharp lands and a bit of nap to the metal are great. A mirror polished bore adds friction to the projectiles bearing surface actually increasing copper fouling in a powder burner. I'm assuming this would be true with lead projectiles shot at PCP speeds.
Friction causes lead ablation in my .357 and .44 handguns at about 1000 fps. depending on the lead alloy. I would bet you will find a PCP will do it too around that speed. Abated lead is mighty difficult to remove mechanically if you let it go too long.
Lead alloy is an important factor in leading too. Harder bullets seem to lead worse. Softer bullets can be pushed faster before they foul your bore. Harder lead resists deformation and bears against the barrel more. Soft lead form to the barrel easily and friction never spikes.
You aren't going to polish a barrel enough to worry about friction with bore paste. But you don't have to polish much before you see the full benefit. As long as you don't push your projectiles too fast it takes a LONG time for "leading" to be a problem. You simply wipe it out with a patch and you are cool.
If you push hard lead fast you will get ablation. It will stick thin coats of lead to the lands. That's leading you must worry about. It will affect accuracy and is tough to dig out. Rifles pushing lead bullets fast (even with gas checks) will lead a barrel so bad it takes electrolysis to fix.
As slugs come into vogue and PCPs get faster this will become evident. I'm not sure what velocity they will experience it but it will happen. Polishing the bore and shooting soft lead will help up to a point. Sooner or later they will start plating lead to the barrel just like a centerfire rifle gets copper fouling.
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I absolutely love my model 23 for killing cans at 10 yards.....could shoot her all day! 
