Moly Coating Bullets

[JWH Clark]

Ok heres the dilemma?

Moly coating bullets for a new rifle or not? Is it worth the bit of extra time and effort to coat the bullets for a Hunting/light target rig.

I have heard conflicting stories, but thought I would throw it to the Wolves to chew on? Any info appreciated.

 

[James Jones]

I used moly in a few of my guns , mostly the ones with factoy barrels , I did use it in one Hart barreled 22-250Ai that would see alot of action between cleanings.
In the guns that I had that carried quality barrels I diden't find enough benifit to warent the hassel.

So heres my take , try it and if it helps with fouling or accuracy then try it. I have noticed that it would help with the SD numbers because it reduces the pressure so you have to ad a little more powder to get the velocity back up which the increased powder volume can have some good effects on accuracy

 

[41mag]

Speaking from strictly personal experience here so take it for what it is worth.

When moly first hit the scene, I was working up new loads for two different rifles. My 25-05 and a brand new Sendero in 7mag. The 25 had already had several hundered rounds through it and was properly broken in from the start. The Sendero however was unfired. Before ever chambering a round, I lapped the barrel with 600 and 800 grit compound. This put a mirror finish on it, and drastically improved the bore. I coated the bullets myself, using the recommended techniques, and modified it to work somewhat better for my needs. I got a lot of my information at that time from an old forum on Compuserve from a man named Dan Hackett, who has done extensive testing with it.

I have since read many pages of why not to do this proceedure for any barrel, however I have personally noticed none of the drastic damage noted from these reports. My rifles are cleaned on a regular basis, and accuracy has held up just fine. Neither are custom barrels so that might make a difference.

However, in the overall scheme, I have been able to get better velocity, as well as more consistant groups while using it verses not out of these particular arms. I also went with the moly on my 7x30 Waters in order to achjieve the velocity I wanted for the particular load I worked up. I simply could not get there with out it. The same applies to the load I settled with for the 7 mag. THe moly I use is 16 microfine and I get it through McMaster-Carr. From what I have seen it appears to be a tad finer than some of the kits. I do not use the steel balls when tumbling bullets. I simply clean them with some solvent or polish with untreated corn cob media and tumble in a drum type tumbler, the latter seems to work best. You have to get the polish removed in order for the moly to adhear properly.

Like I mentioned, there are some real horror stories out there, but I personally haven't seen the damage noted by them. I have been shooting it since 1990 and all guns still hold their groups and velocities as they did then.

Like I said, it is to me more of a do or don't sort of thing. To me, in the applications I have used it, it has worked quite well. This has mostly been high octain loads through the smaller bores. I am sure that you will get more than just my opinion on this so the untimate choice will be up to you.

 

[JWH Clark]

Hmm

You see it makes sense to me that you get better velocity lower pressure with using moly. I intend to use in a new 6.5x284, which I might add has only got a 22" barrel being more a Stalking rig. So I was thinking along the lines of the 1-9 twist with the 22" barrel gaining some velocity with the moly bullets and reduced cleaning?

KG Industries do a moly coating which is supposed to be very good, but any products (as you have mentioned) anyone has used please tell me more.

Thanks.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Everything that you ever wanted to know about moly and more can be found here. Moly Coating Bullets

 

[JWH Clark]

Hi VH

The link didnt link if you catch my drift?

Thanks.

 

[41mag]

Here ya go,
Moly Coating

ANd this one is sure to pop up as well,
Lilja - Opinion of Moly Coating

Here is another,
RSI - More on Moly

Bottom line is, it works to some degree. What your looking at is basically what I was, higher velocity, at the same pressure as what I was getting without using it.

You will still have to work up your loads to get the best accuracy from your rifle. This subject has brought up some fairly heated discussion on another board, between the users and non users. Bottom line to me was it did what I needed it to do, and allowed me to get the velocities from the particular calibers, without the excessive pressure I had when not using it. But to me, I am not going to argue with anyone about the benifits or detractions of using it. The info is out there going both ways. Bottom line is if you use it and it works for you use it, if not, well then you have your own data to go on. Like I mentioned, I use it in a couple of cases but I also get gret results using standard loads in the same rifles when not using it. Just the loads I DO use it with aren't standard, they are a touch on the wild side. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Anyway, the above links all should work for you and the top one is the one that VH posted.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Mike/Tx

Thanks for fixing the link. Can't imagine how I messed up a cut & paste. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[wildcat]

I have two gunsmiths that build my rifles. I was thinking about using moly coated bullets. I asked one of my gunsmiths if it was worth it. He said no, do not mess with the stuff. However, I was still undecided, so I asked my other gunsmith the same question. He said the same thing, don't mess with the stuff!! I guess when two gunsmiths, both competitive long range target and varmint shooters, have the same opinion, you better listen. Based on their experience, I took their advice. However, there maybe other gunsmiths and competitive shooters and varmint hunters that think moly is great. I have had good luck with non-moly coated bullets.

Good Luck

Wildcat

 

[EddieHarren]

When Moly re-appeared on the Benchrest scene, in the early to mid 90's, a lot of shooters went to it. They quickly found out that the velocity went down with their usual powder charge. Those, who were shooting 28.0 grs. of H322 and 68 gr. bullets @ 3300 fps, had to go up on the powder measure at least 2 clicks to acheive the same velocity. Part of the moly coating process, that many were using, included waxing over the moly with carnuba. I believe the wax lead to bore fouling problems. One by one most BR shooters moved away from moly but, a few die hards remain. Most shooters, that I know, using coated bullets, are using a product known as Danzac. They are not waxing over this coating. One shooter claims he shot his 30 BR all year without cleaning.

 

[Waltech Jim]

I shoot and load thousands of bullets for pd shooting. I moly coat all of them and have seen the improvement in number of shots before accuracy falls off due to fouling. That is the only reason I use it.

I use naked bullets for everything else.

Jim

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Just to add to the confusion about moly::: I have loaded many thousands of moly coated bullets for my high volume varmint rifles. All of my rifles have custom barrels (Shilen - Hart - Lilja). I moly coated every single bullet with the NECO kit and used the carnuba wax as recommended. Over all these years I have yet to experience a single problem with moly use, except a few dirty fingers. I have never experienced moly build-up or rusty bores as some have warned. The number of shots that can be taken between cleanings has been greatly increased. However, I don't take that out of context and shoot hundreds of rounds without cleaning as some moly shooters do.

I also have some incredibly accurate moly bullet loads.