Is there a Downside/Drawback to using Moly bullets

mtwarych said:
I agree with everything sedancowboy wrote in his post. I have heard of shooters having terrible rust problems in their barrels from moly degrading to some type of salt and rusting barrels in a short time, up to, and including just overnight. The danger comes from the humidity of the area one lives in(hint hint). I started using moly when I lived in Northern California(Paradise in Butte county) and I still use moly now that I live in Montana and like sedancowboy, I haven't had any of the problems that all of the preious moly users always quote in moly threads like this one. I honestly believe that when the moly craze started years ago, people bought any moly they could get their hands on, probably trying to save money, I also believe very few of those people knew how to properly apply their moly to their slugs and barrel. Believe it or not, there were companies selling moly in aerosol cans to be sprayed on loaded ammunition. If one doesn't know how to apply the moly, they were probably applying too much moly to their slugs and barrels, also, using the wrong grade or using moly that is made for other applications will cause various and sundry problems. Moly isn't gooder the more one applies. Too much moly will cause glazing inside the barrel and I have heard it's almost impossible to remove. I have fired thousands and thousands of handloaded rounds and all of my oldest firearms still look pretty good. My newer firearms look just as good as the day I first moly'ed the barrel. All of my family's firearms don't lose any accuracy but we can "get away" cleaning the barrels down to steel once a year only. I have had no rust, glazing or loss of accuracy due to any of the moly problems that everyone always bring up in moly threads. Load your slugs. Clean your rifle after you shoot the moly every time or simply oil your barrel so any humidity can't get to the moly and affect the bore of your firearm. I moly my 257 Roberts, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 CM, 7.62X51, 7mm mag, 270Win 257 Wby mag, 300mag and others I am probably forgetting right now. I do not moly any of the family's handgun rounds or any 223rem or 5.56. No problems. Semper Fi you crayon eating beast! I hope your holidays are good for you and yours, Merry Christmas.
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Why don't you moly handgun bullets? I have a box of 230g .45 bullets but have been loathe to use them because of all the negative hype...especially the difficulties in cleaning. Did see the Kroil and Butch's in another message; any recommendation on that?
 
floyd kittrell said:
Maybe I'll strip all the machine oil and refill with vegetable oil , due to allergies and see if they vapor trail , what a hoot . The only time i have seen a vapor trail was in high condensation , rain , on a 600 yard shot in 20 MPH cross wind , what a hoot to watch the rise, fall and round traveling from left of target to right and ringing the bell . Reminds me of watching the projectile from my cannon disappearing or the round of the cannons behind us , as their rounds popped as we watched and heard them fly over our heads down range . The bad old days indeed !
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Excuse me , I'm so old I forgot this was not the conversation about Hammer bullets leaving a vapor trail. Sorry , floyd
 
Never had any issues with the blue moly on Barnes xlc. Still have a few in 30 cal, couple packs in 243 that I'll load in my DIL s rifle and 3 packs in 7 mm which I have no use for.
 
Usmcinfantry1988 said:
hey guys this may sound like a stupid question but i have alot of moly coated bullets that i want to use but have never used moly coated before, is there a downside to moly? mainly when it comes to barrel life, accuracy and cleaning ? thanks !
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In my experience the Moly (Molybdenum disulfide) coating does decrease velocity SD, lowers pressure spikes from the reduced friction, keeps the barrel cooler, may change velocity up/down depending on powder, and makes a mess on your fingers. I always tumbled my bullets with some cheap .223 bullets; some use ball bearings. Don't coat your barrel with it, treat the bullets. One caution, if you're shooting a Carbon Steel barrel do not wait to clean the barrel after shooting cause humidity will get trapped under the Moly and can pit the barrel.
Sniper Country has a good article on this... https://www.snipercountry.com/moly-coated-bullets/
 
I've had positive experience with moly bullets in a 25-06. Years ago a friend of mine built a 25-06 Arnold. At the time, Berger was making a 25 cal 95 gr moly bullet. My buddy tried his best to get the moly bullets to group for his Arnold with no luck. He gave me the bullets. I experimented with them and found a load that's great. I've used these bullets to take over 20 Antelope with great success. Unfortunately Berger no longer makes the moly bullet. Sure wish I could find some laying around.

As far as handguns, I've used thousands of moly bullets with mixed results. I think it depends on the barrel and the hardness if the lead. The new rage right now is hi-tec coating for handguns.
 
mtwarych said:
Yup, me again. If for some crazy reason using moly starts to sound good to you, please do as much reading about what the proper process is and if I or sedancowboy can answer any questions you have, you know where to find us. Sorry sedancowboy if I am throwing you under a bus you'd rather not deal
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No worries. I am always glad to help a fellow shooter! Merry Christmas!
 
Thanks for the excellent information , sounds like it's about like everything else in life , if the proper steps are taken it can be great but introduce short cuts and you will screw up eventually! I'm not scared to try them now , I was afraid it would get in my barrel and I could never get it out but looks like it's not so hard to strip it out if I decide it's a no go for me ! Once again thanks for all the help guys !!
 
I've ran moly in most all my rifles since it first became a "thing". Never had any issue and still run moly today. I beleive for the most part there was a LOT of internet mis-information and many guys not knowing what they were doing. Nothing wrong with moly when properly used.
 
bgouin said:
Sublimation or does it liquify and then evaporate? The latter would also add latent heat fusion.
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The charge vaporizes moly (giving up some energy in doing so). Then that vapor condenses to layers down the bore a ways. Then following shots compact those layers, smearing them into constrictions(if not well managed with cleanings).

That vaporizing is what reduces MV with moly use -NOT friction.
And as far as I know, moly is the only dry lubricant we use that does this.
Tungsten (WS2) is way slipperier than moly, and does not affect MV.

If managed well, moly extends accurate barrel life.
If not managed well, moly reduces accurate barrel life.
So people declaring both good or bad results can be correct in their assertions.
 
CaseyStengel said:
In my experience the Moly (Molybdenum disulfide) coating does decrease velocity SD, lowers pressure spikes from the reduced friction, keeps the barrel cooler, may change velocity up/down depending on powder, and makes a mess on your fingers. I always tumbled my bullets with some cheap .223 bullets; some use ball bearings. Don't coat your barrel with it, treat the bullets. One caution, if you're shooting a Carbon Steel barrel do not wait to clean the barrel after shooting cause humidity will get trapped under the Moly and can pit the barrel.
Sniper Country has a good article on this... https://www.snipercountry.com/moly-coated-bullets/
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Interesting article. Makes me wonder if I would of used them reading that. Probably would have gave them a run anyway.
Like I said, they worked well for me.
 
Usmcinfantry1988 said:
Thanks for the excellent information , sounds like it's about like everything else in life , if the proper steps are taken it can be great but introduce short cuts and you will screw up eventually! I'm not scared to try them now , I was afraid it would get in my barrel and I could never get it out but looks like it's not so hard to strip it out if I decide it's a no go for me ! Once again thanks for all the help guys !!
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Look into the wet method of application.I use a cheap rock Tumblr from Harbor freight no other media I do 100 bullets at a time clean the bullets in a bowl of Acetone, let them dry place in Tumblr with a 1/2 teaspoon of Molly and hot water you can let them go for two hours I then dry them with a heat gun.I then use a long sleeve cut off of a shirt with a knot tied in one end ,place your bullets in it lift each end alternately I call it milking the cow they will come out polished looking like black chrome
 

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