Lead removal - with mercury?
 

A few years ago someone told me that lead can be removed with mercury (Hg) I have a .22 that has a serious amount of lead in the barrel. I tried solvents and brushes - but to no effect. I finally got hold of mercury, but before I try it - what do the members say of this? My knowledge of chemistry, is only what brought me through first year engineering. Will it work? My friend told me to put it in the barrel overnight, and then there won't be any lead the following day! Can this work?
Piet

Mercury.....don't even touch the stuff, very toxic.....

I believe that the mercury would form an amalgum with the lead, which would be softer and, presumably, easier to remove. Be aware, however, that the presence of even small quantities of mercury in your home, could have serious long term health consequences for you and your family. Regards and stay healthy! Norm

Mercury is bad news! Don't use it, it's dangerous stuff to mess with.

newluger

Mercury was used by the old timers but it can kill you. There is a much better way; get some copper Chore Boy cleaning pads from the grocery store - pure copper, not plated. Now wrap a piece of the mesh around a used brass bore brush so it fits tightly in the pistol's bore. Run it through a couple of passes. The copper will scrape the lead out easily and it won't damage anything. I shoot lead bullets almost exclusively in my Lugers and S&W's and would never use anything that would harm my guns.

Piet, since you're in South Africa it may be hard to find that particular brand but there is probably a similar product there that will work. If you can't find anything pure copper, PM me and I will mail you some for Christmas.

Charlie

Please just use H2O2 common Hydrogen Peroxide, plug the barrel at one end, fill and let stand for a few hours.

Then use a good SS brush.

I have cleaned barrels that looked like smooth bores doing this with good results.

Mercury can cause damage to your barrel besides being deadly.

Vern

Another option I have used on occasion it to obtain several .22 cal. brass bore brushes, heat them with a blow torch and push through the bore. Do this in a well ventilated area.
This has solved severe leading problems in my M16 barrels when I used to fire lead .22 bullets with a conversion kit on full auto. The lead just glops out the muzzle.

Piet:

I am 53 and as kids we used to play with mercury. My father used to bring Mercury home from work and we would have a blast playing with it, great fun. It did a nice job cleaning silver coins as well. Amazing how one would tap it and would separate in many smaller droplets of Mercury and then just reabsorb itself. As of today I do not believe I have any ill effects from it. Yet no one knows what tomorrow will bring.

My Mother lived till she was 86 and Dad till 94 and they as well as my 6 siblings all lived in the same residence.

Everyone says it is bad, yet it's effects on the human body are not mentioned, so my guess no one knows it true effects. Asbestos is another one of those items that is a bad word, yet folks been around it for years and never any ill effects so go figure.

Here is what I found without spending much time researching the effects of Mercury on the human body:

Health & Fitness
Data now suggest mercury effects might occur at levels lower than anyone suspected. Some studies show that children who were exposed to tiny amounts of mercury in utero have slower reflexes, language deficits, and shortened attention spans.

In adults, recent studies show a possible link between heart disease and mercury ingested from eating fish. Other groups claim mercury exposure is responsible for Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, and the escalating rate of autism.

I have also heard that Mercury will dissolve and bond with the lead thus removing it from the barrel. However I have never tried this so no idea if it works or not.

I would agree with everyone and stay away from using Mercury or exposing your household to it. Your possible loss is by far greater than your gain in this case.

Good luck and Merry Christmas.

Regards,

George

"Asbestos is another one of those items that is a bad word, yet folks been around it for years and never any ill effects so go figure."

George,

No offense, a point of fact, and not to divert from the subject of the thread, but Asbestos will kill you.

My father died from Interstitial Fibrosis, which is caused by a single microscopic particle of Asbestos becoming lodged in the bottom of the lung. Over a period of 20-30 years it will cause the lung to gradually crystalize, creeping upward until it becomes the approximate consistancy of fiber glass. In an x-ray, it looks like jagged ice crystals.

A very prolonged, slow and painfull death. There is no cure, it makes lung cancer look like a bad cold.

Ron

George,

No offense, a point of fact, and not to divert from the subject of the thread, but Asbestos will kill you.

Ron:

Sorry to hear about your Father. Asbestos is a very controversial subject and there are many arguments in this regard. Please know I don't care to discuss this matter.

George

And how many of you have had mercury lead amalgam dental fillings?

FN

I believe that much of the concern about mercury exposure is driven by the affect it has on cognitive development. That is why pregnant women are advised to limit their consumption of certain types of fish.
By the time most people had amalgam fillings they would be past the age where this would be a problem. Regards

In my early days, I supervised a type 3 test equipment calibration lab, at one of the Naval Air Stations. The responsibility of one of my shops was to triple distill mercury for manometers and other mercury using devices that were used by type 2 labs. During a visit to a dentist, one of the employees from another lab was advised to see a doctor. It turned out that he was suffering from mercury poisining. I too remember playing with mercury and coating dimes. Mercury was also used in gold panning to reclaim minute specks of gold. I was told that the combination was then squeezed thru a chamois to seperate the gold from the mercury. In any event, it's dangerous stuff, and if you don't have the proper safety equipment to protect yourself or your family, it's not worth it. There are a lot of alternative and much safer products on the market now-a-days to use instead of taking a chance.

newluger

I have already returned the mercury to the original owner. (without using it)
Thanks for the great feedback on this thread.
I have done some research too: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(element)
Some interesting facts about mercury. Seems as if it played a big role in the gold mining industries -and with the green guys in Kopenhagen, this is a relevant subject. Somewhere I read that some 45,000 tonnes of mercury was unaccounted for by small gold mines in USA.
Apparantly the standard mercury (in the element form) is not readily absorbed through the human skin, and also not readily absorbed if swallowed - the vapour is the culprit, and other chemical variations - can be lethal even in very small dosages. One guy tried to inject someone with the standard mercury in order to murder the person. It did not work.
Mercury seems to have the ability to attach other heavy metals.
Thanks for the alternatives - I will take my pick from them.
Happy Christmas!
Piet