Barrel Leading Problem Vaquero .45Colt

[Hylander]

I am getting leading around the edge of the forcing cone and in the first inch of the barrel.
What would be causing this.
I have only fired 50 rd.
My Load:
New Starline Brass
200gr. Bear Creek .452, Moly Coated, Hardness 13
7.5 and 8.0 gr. Unique
OCL 1.585
Win. Primer

My Bore is .451
My Throats are .451

What do I need to change

[Micheal Fortune]

So what causes leading?
Most commonly is heat caused by velocity melting lead in the bore as the bullet passes.
There is a lube issue too.
I'm not real familiar with Unique powder (haven't used it since the 80's) but 8 grains seems a little hot.
There are others that will help in more detail but if you need a way to get rid of the lead, the easiest way is to run some 0000 steel wool down the bore with a jag in your cleaning rod.
Hope this helps some.

[Sergeant Smokepole]

Things to look for with leading are:

Lead at the end of the barrel indicates a too soft bullet for the velocity, rough bore or lube failure.

Leading at the forcing cone is caused my any one of the following or a combination of them: Too hard a bullet for the velocity, undersized bullet, beveled base bullet, all of which are attributed to the base not slugging up and sealing the bore.

Your problem? I'd hazard a guess and say that 1. you are shooting commercial hard cast bullets. 2. They are probably undersized at .451 so measure them with a good micrometer. stop measurement when you get resistance, not just contact. , 3. They have a beveled base.



Your load of 7.5 grains of Unique would be a good load with a 250 grain bullet but the 200 grain bullet is too light to give you sufficient resistance to upset the base to seal the bore.

In other words, your problem is attributable to the combination that you chose. You may want to have a Smith open up your throats to at least .452. You are swaging your .452 bullets down to .451 and creating the undersizeing problem that I mentioned. This, alone may remedy your problem.

IMHO, bullet hardness of 13 is waaaay too hard for the velocities that most CAS shooters are at.

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[Doc Shapiro]

When running the lead down the bore to be able to mic it, did you notice if it got really tight somewhere and then loosened up a little?  Mine did that, 3 consecutive S/N guns.  Lots of spectulation.

I heard later that some barrels at Ruger get tightened too much in the frames causing the barrel to swage down a little at or just in front of the forcing cone. 

If that's the case, send 'em back to Ruger or have someone install new barrel.

Doc

[Delmonico]

If too tight in the forcing cone/back of the barrel was the problem, that sucker would lead clear to the muzzle, no if's ands or butts about it.  I don't see any possible way you could tighten a barrel to tight and cause the problem you describe.  If the threads were not matched properly that could cause such a problem, but that is not the same as tightening to tight.  And I very well doubt you could unscrew it with out damaging the frame if it was tight enough to swage down the barrel.  This is what caused some of the recivers to crack on 1917 Enfields, they all cracked when you unscrewed the barrel. 

I agree with Sgt. Smokepole, in fact it is almost exactly the same as my answer on TFS, the only thing I didn't thing about was those dumb BB bullets.  Ya can't cheat the laws of basic physics and chemestry.

[litl rooster]

If too tight in the forcing cone/back of the barrel was the problem, that sucker would lead clear to the muzzle, no if's ands or butts about it. I don't see any possible way you could tighten a barrel to tight and cause the problem you describe. If the threads were not matched properly that could cause such a problem, but that is not the same as tightening to tight. And I very well doubt you could unscrew it with out damaging the frame if it was tight enough to swage down the barrel. This is what caused some of the recivers to crack on 1917 Enfields, they all cracked when you unscrewed the barrel.

I agree with Sgt. Smokepole, in fact it is almost exactly the same as my answer on TFS, the only thing I didn't thing about was those dumb BB bullets.  Ya can't cheat the laws of basic physics and chemestry.

  Okay now I am having a leading issue  in my Vaquero's also, I don't see much in the barrel however I see it in the cylinders. If it is a ammo issue, where should I buy and get my ammo?  I would love to reload my own however I don't have a great deal of space here at home. I am using the steel wool and lead remover but still see evidence of leading.  Thanks hope this bumbs thread up

[Delmonico]

Slug and check the throat diameters of the throats.  We can go from there.  If you don't know how hollor and I'll post how to when I have a bit of time.  I'm at word now and I'm just checkin' a couple things real quick.   Ok, checkin' the boards is part of my job, a tough one, but someone has to do it.