Author Topic: Removing moly-coating (Read 537 times)

huntsman · « **on:** April 01, 2004, 07:43:41 AM »

Bought some bullets via internet and discovered to my surprise that they had been moly-coated. Don't like the reports on moly bullets, so wanted them in original form. Removed the moly coating like this:

1. Soak in straight ammonia in bottom of small bucket for 30 minutes, then agitate for about 15-20 minutes until 95+% of the coating dissolves. (Be extremely careful not to breathe the ammonia fumes or get them in your eyes).

2. Pour off ammonia and rinse bullets. Add dish soap and water, agitate for 5 minutes, pour off soapy water and rinse again.

3. Pour straight vinegar to just cover bullets in bottom of bucket. Agitate for about 8-10 minutes or until copper jackets take on a nice shine. Pour off vinegar, triple-rinse bullets, dry with old towel. They're good as new!

Catfish · « **Reply #1 on:** April 02, 2004, 03:39:14 AM »

I`m not sure how the vinigar will efect the bullet preformance, but I got some 06 brass years ago the had been cleaned in vinager and it made the cases very brittle, the neck would split the first time they were fired.

Varmint Hunter · « **Reply #2 on:** April 02, 2004, 01:38:07 PM »

All you had to do was tumble them in some walnut (or similar) media and you would have been done.

Where did you ever find that moly removin' recipe? :roll:

Good shootin' - VH

huntsman · « **Reply #3 on:** April 03, 2004, 05:45:17 AM »

I thought about tumbling, but was worried about the moly left behind in the media that I will later use on brass. Maybe it would be nothing to worry about, but I didn't want to invest in new media (mine is almost brand new).

The recipe was a my own creation based on a little experience and some basic chemistry. Ammonia, a strong base, is a great metal cleaning solution (it's in most commercial metal cleaning formulas). Soap, a surfactant, helps loosen any oil-based material. Vinegar is a mild organic acid, which removes oxides from the surface of metals like copper and also bases that might be left behind after steps 1 and 2, but won't "eat away" at the copper jacket.

skb2706 · « **Reply #4 on:** April 06, 2004, 07:35:29 AM »

Tumble mine in a little corn cob media ......how much media can you afford to throw out. Unless you are doing hundreds of bullets it don't take much ....less than the cost of ammonia, vinegar and dish soap.

Questor · « **Reply #5 on:** April 06, 2004, 08:52:48 AM »

My favorite way of removing the moly coating is to shoot the moly coated bullets into a prairie dog. Works great, no cleanup.

GrampaMike · « **Reply #6 on:** April 06, 2004, 09:27:29 AM »

Thanks for the laugh Questor...

I needed it.

huntsman · « **Reply #7 on:** April 06, 2004, 10:21:21 AM »

Last time I checked, media was running around $10 a 5# bag. The common household cleaners I used probably didn't add up to $1.