Cleaning after Bear Creek bullets

[jetinteriorguy]

I ran 20 rounds of the LLA coated bullets through the Taurus today. I shot five and shined the bore light down the barrel and it was already fouling. Then I loaded and shot the last fifteen and the barrel was fouled as bad as it was before when I ran about 150 rounds through it. I’m going to soak it overnight with moly magic, run some patches through in the morning then soak it in Kroil all day and then run patches through until clean. If that cleans it good enough I’m just going to dedicate this gun to burn up the rounds I have already loaded. Then I’ll give it a heavy duty cleaning and call it a learning experience.

 

[Metal god]

Anyone else thinking some other product was used to clean and or treat the barrels of all the OP's firearms before shooting the bear creek ammo and its the reaction to that product that is causing all this ? I have never heard of anyone ever having this big of problem with any bullet . I did have a 12ga shotgun bore that got pretty bad . It was a pain to clean but nothing like this .

I will say this , I will NEVER even look at the bear creek website let alone buy or use any of there products after reading this thread . Even if it isn't the bullet or coating that caused the problem . It was something that included using the bear creek bullets and I'm now to afraid that what ever the OP did or not do I might have done the same which will result in the same issue if I use there product , Just not worth it .

 

[jetinteriorguy]

While my intention in this thread was mainly to find a cure for this problem, I too will not use these bullets ever again. The problem may be the load I’m using or some other issues that are of my making and no fault of Bear Creeks product, but either way I certainly wouldn’t recommend them. I’m simply not going to do a bunch of experiments to find what works when I have other known products that do work very well for me, even though a bit more expensive. I’m going to shoot up what I’ve already loaded without cleaning in just one dedicated gun. I’m going to monitor it for buildup to see if it just gets worse with more rounds, or if it stabilizes at some point without pressure building up.

 

[jetinteriorguy]

I’ve changed my approach to a solution for using these bullets. I’m pulling them and using my good old plated bullets. I just can’t see wasting primers at this point trying to make these work, it’s just not worth it. I would sell the unused ones but don’t feel right dumping a product like this on someone else knowing the problems I’ve had, so they are just going on the back of the shelf to be used only in an absolute emergency. I might be tempted at some point to try some light loads with the 158gr bullets for my revolver but right now I’m not too keen on going through this again, especially since cleaning a revolver barrel is a little more of a pain than a semi auto.

 

[camsdaddy]

I use a lot of ACME coated DEWC. I am thinking of buying the HBWC from Bear Creek. I shoot a lot of DEWC over 3.0 Bullseye but Im out. I just ordered a jug of 231 and plan to load it similarly mild under the HBWC. It looks like from this thread that I may get more leading or debris in the barrel than I want to deal with. The reason I dont shoot lead HBWC is the leading.

 

[Unclenick]

If you stick to HBWC pressures, so the bullet skirt isn't expanded too hard against the bore and the bore is in smooth condition (and if the gun is a revolver, the throats are at least a thousandth bigger than the bore's groove diameter and the chambers line up with the barrel well), it won't be an issue.

 

[camsdaddy]

Only interested in light accurate loads to shoot in my J frames.

 

[Recycled bullet]

Only interested in light accurate loads to shoot in my J frames.

If you cast and coat and size them yourself then you can make sure the bullets are manufactured correctly.

It's the only way to get the highest quality most consistent quality bullets.

Make a post on the casting sub forum if you have questions about making your own bullets.

 

[camsdaddy]

If you cast and coat and size them yourself then you can make sure the bullets are manufactured correctly.

It's the only way to get the highest quality most consistent quality bullets.

Make a post on the casting sub forum if you have questions about making your own bullets.

Im not ready to get into casting.

 

[Unclenick]

The basic deal with the resins is they melt (the reason oven heat fuses the powder), and they are not armor plating, so they rub off, and the heat can glue a bit of them to the bore. I found the same thing when I was experimenting with poly wads. The plastic discs under the bullets stopped leading but left a thin layer of melted plastic on the bore. The folks who came up with the P-wad idea said that layer would assist in lubrication. It certainly didn't hurt accuracy.