Re: Coated bullets
Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 9:53 pm
Lock-Eze or Lock-Ease is a very common form of colloidal graphite. Its used to lubricate locks and can be fund in most hardware stores, etc.
First off, I always clean a rifle after a shooting session or at the end of a big game season on rifles not shot a great deal. Careful cleaning procedures will not ruin a barrel. And I never shoot a dry bore for the first shot down a clean barrel. L-E is what I use for lubrication in a clean barrel for the first shot; others use a thin layer of some type of gun oil.
I have used colloidal graphite for years and picked up the idea from BR shooters in West Texas in the early 1980's.. BR shooters initially used it to keep the first shot down a clean barrel in the same grouping as subsequent shots. They also fund as a bonus that using it reduced copper fouling. This has been the biggest reason I use it - the copper fouling issue. I have seen some internet claims of improved accuracy from using it, but I have not seen that in my experience where I can say its the graphite making the difference..
I clean a barrel as normal after shooting. I then apply a L-E saturated patch to the clean, dry bore and leave the rifle with the muzzle down for 15-20 minutes to let the liquid carrier evaporate. What is left is a dried micron+ range "painted" graphite coating on the steel in the barrel. After the liquid carrier is evaporated, I run a clean dry patch down the barrel to remove any excess graphite. I then put the rifle away until its used again, and its ready to go for the first shot or so. I use it every time I clean a barrel, both large and small bores.
One additional benefit of L-E is that the liquid carrier also has a good anti-corrosive element in it. I live in the very humid Gulf Coast region, and I have never had a single chrome moly barrel rust with a coating of L-E in the bore. Some of my rifles have set for six months between shooting and cleaning sessions, and the bore is fine.
Basically its just a last step in cleaning a rifle bore. It provides a lubricating surface in the barrel to eliminate metal to metal contact for the first shot or so, and it works as a great rust/corrosion protectant between shooting sessions.
Greg Tannel sells a similar product with supposedly a smaller graphite particle size for cleaning like I described as well as a graphite/oil solution for barrel break-in. Every new barrel he puts out comes with the break-in oil/graphite solution. Even though I got the idea from others years ago, if today Greg thinks it works, it must have something about it that is beneficial. His barrel break-in oil/graphite solution is not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking barrel cleaning and L-E treating only, and not breaking in a new barrel. Two different subjects. Call Greg for his break-in oil if interested.
As an aside: I am not a big believer in breaking in a barrel, but I suppose if you are that you could use L-E as I described after each cleaning in the Break in process. It will just take extra time with the drying. Greg's oil graphite solution can be shot immediately after applying a thin layer in a barrel with no drying required.
I do a lot of 17 caliber shooting and it is not uncommon for me to run 150 rounds through a 17 Remington rifle shooting PD's before I clean. Accuracy stays good and the barrel cleans up very easily. An addendum to that is all my 17 caliber barrels are good quality custom barrels. In a 17 with a possibly rough factory bore, you're probably not gonna' get that kind of performance even with the colloidal graphite.
Also, I have found that it easily comes out of a treated barrel if for some reason you choose to re-clean the barrel again before shooting,
That in a nut shell is my experience with it. YMMV as they say....
As for any MSDS concerns raised, colloidal graphite comes in many forms and is used by industry and the space program for dry surface to surface lubrication. MSDS sheets contain information for the most volatile or hazardous form of a chemical substance as a CYA feature for the publisher of the MSDS. However, its generally sold unregulated in normal forms which means normal prudence is expected to be used much like you would do when buying a can of Krylon to pretty up a rifle. Hexane and Propane, etc. are used in aerosol forms of the liquid solution and are also used in many other aerosols we use daily like even possibly in your under arm spray if you used an aerosol one in the past prior to when "the hole in the ozone" was discovered. WD-40 is an example most folks might be familiar with as being an example of an aerosol. My plastic squeeze container of Lock-Eze says it contains petroleum distillates (solvent) and it is not an aerosol. No hexanes or propanes, etc. as there is no pressure in the container. And it is almost odorless.
And like any smart shooter knows, cleaning a rifle should be done in a well ventilated place to begin with. For years I have used light surgical-type plastic gloves when cleaning a rifle as just about 100% of the products we use have contact issues with them, many more severe than contact with pure petroleum based products or something like CG. I would be much more concerned with the substances in some of the barrel cleaning solutions we widely use (known carcinogens) or that might be in powdered bullet lubricants than what's in colloidal graphite. As an example, the old favorite Hoppes contained high levels of Benzene for years, the same Benzene that is still present when you fill your car with gasoline.
With CG, the issues are very normal for any chemical substance containing petroleum based materials, and short of drinking it or bathing in it, with normal diligence it's not going to affect you other than it might cause all your babies to be born naked.
Personally: Having spent 30 years working in the petro-chemical business with a technical degree, I would likely be more concerned with the MSDS (if they were required to provide one) on a Big Mac, Fries and a Coke than I would be with non-aerosol colloidal graphite. If you missed it in 7th grade science, put a nail in a glass of Coke and also put one in a glass of CG and see which looks the best tomorrow... Keep in mind your body needs stored iron (like in a nail) to allow for oxygen absorption by the blood.
Again, YMMV...
-BCB
First off, I always clean a rifle after a shooting session or at the end of a big game season on rifles not shot a great deal. Careful cleaning procedures will not ruin a barrel. And I never shoot a dry bore for the first shot down a clean barrel. L-E is what I use for lubrication in a clean barrel for the first shot; others use a thin layer of some type of gun oil.
I have used colloidal graphite for years and picked up the idea from BR shooters in West Texas in the early 1980's.. BR shooters initially used it to keep the first shot down a clean barrel in the same grouping as subsequent shots. They also fund as a bonus that using it reduced copper fouling. This has been the biggest reason I use it - the copper fouling issue. I have seen some internet claims of improved accuracy from using it, but I have not seen that in my experience where I can say its the graphite making the difference..
I clean a barrel as normal after shooting. I then apply a L-E saturated patch to the clean, dry bore and leave the rifle with the muzzle down for 15-20 minutes to let the liquid carrier evaporate. What is left is a dried micron+ range "painted" graphite coating on the steel in the barrel. After the liquid carrier is evaporated, I run a clean dry patch down the barrel to remove any excess graphite. I then put the rifle away until its used again, and its ready to go for the first shot or so. I use it every time I clean a barrel, both large and small bores.
One additional benefit of L-E is that the liquid carrier also has a good anti-corrosive element in it. I live in the very humid Gulf Coast region, and I have never had a single chrome moly barrel rust with a coating of L-E in the bore. Some of my rifles have set for six months between shooting and cleaning sessions, and the bore is fine.
Basically its just a last step in cleaning a rifle bore. It provides a lubricating surface in the barrel to eliminate metal to metal contact for the first shot or so, and it works as a great rust/corrosion protectant between shooting sessions.
Greg Tannel sells a similar product with supposedly a smaller graphite particle size for cleaning like I described as well as a graphite/oil solution for barrel break-in. Every new barrel he puts out comes with the break-in oil/graphite solution. Even though I got the idea from others years ago, if today Greg thinks it works, it must have something about it that is beneficial. His barrel break-in oil/graphite solution is not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking barrel cleaning and L-E treating only, and not breaking in a new barrel. Two different subjects. Call Greg for his break-in oil if interested.
As an aside: I am not a big believer in breaking in a barrel, but I suppose if you are that you could use L-E as I described after each cleaning in the Break in process. It will just take extra time with the drying. Greg's oil graphite solution can be shot immediately after applying a thin layer in a barrel with no drying required.
I do a lot of 17 caliber shooting and it is not uncommon for me to run 150 rounds through a 17 Remington rifle shooting PD's before I clean. Accuracy stays good and the barrel cleans up very easily. An addendum to that is all my 17 caliber barrels are good quality custom barrels. In a 17 with a possibly rough factory bore, you're probably not gonna' get that kind of performance even with the colloidal graphite.
Also, I have found that it easily comes out of a treated barrel if for some reason you choose to re-clean the barrel again before shooting,
That in a nut shell is my experience with it. YMMV as they say....
As for any MSDS concerns raised, colloidal graphite comes in many forms and is used by industry and the space program for dry surface to surface lubrication. MSDS sheets contain information for the most volatile or hazardous form of a chemical substance as a CYA feature for the publisher of the MSDS. However, its generally sold unregulated in normal forms which means normal prudence is expected to be used much like you would do when buying a can of Krylon to pretty up a rifle. Hexane and Propane, etc. are used in aerosol forms of the liquid solution and are also used in many other aerosols we use daily like even possibly in your under arm spray if you used an aerosol one in the past prior to when "the hole in the ozone" was discovered. WD-40 is an example most folks might be familiar with as being an example of an aerosol. My plastic squeeze container of Lock-Eze says it contains petroleum distillates (solvent) and it is not an aerosol. No hexanes or propanes, etc. as there is no pressure in the container. And it is almost odorless.
And like any smart shooter knows, cleaning a rifle should be done in a well ventilated place to begin with. For years I have used light surgical-type plastic gloves when cleaning a rifle as just about 100% of the products we use have contact issues with them, many more severe than contact with pure petroleum based products or something like CG. I would be much more concerned with the substances in some of the barrel cleaning solutions we widely use (known carcinogens) or that might be in powdered bullet lubricants than what's in colloidal graphite. As an example, the old favorite Hoppes contained high levels of Benzene for years, the same Benzene that is still present when you fill your car with gasoline.
With CG, the issues are very normal for any chemical substance containing petroleum based materials, and short of drinking it or bathing in it, with normal diligence it's not going to affect you other than it might cause all your babies to be born naked.
Personally: Having spent 30 years working in the petro-chemical business with a technical degree, I would likely be more concerned with the MSDS (if they were required to provide one) on a Big Mac, Fries and a Coke than I would be with non-aerosol colloidal graphite. If you missed it in 7th grade science, put a nail in a glass of Coke and also put one in a glass of CG and see which looks the best tomorrow... Keep in mind your body needs stored iron (like in a nail) to allow for oxygen absorption by the blood.
Again, YMMV...
-BCB