moly coated bullets?

[3006bluffhunter]

Thinking about trying moly coated bullets .308! Can someone give me insight on these! anything I need to know about reloading them( do they seat hard?) Do they shoot good? Please explain fully if they are not the way to go! Or the way to go? Or a problem someone had with them! Thanks Dale

[jhalcott]

  I coated my own  and found them (both bought and self made) to be more gimmick than any thing else. You have to season the barrel when using them . This takes several shots,often 10 or more! Then when you clean the bore ,you need to season again. They do take a bit MORE powder to get the velocity back. They are slippery enough that you lose a bit of pressure, so some velocity also at NORMAL levels.Maybe a grain or two. I have a 30-06 that shoots under an inch(5 shots) at 100 yards. Moly did NOT improve on this. My 280 Remington shot plain bullets better than the molied ones by 1/2". Average of 5 -5 shot groups.The 7TCU 14" contender shot them better than plain though! The moly IS a form of lubricatiom, so they are going to seat easier. I believe it is a mind thing IF YOU THINK THEY CAN HELP< THEY PROBABLY WILL. There is a group that SWEARS moly will build up inthe bore, another group says NO WAY can that happen. Moly is not a water proof type of lube and MAYBE moisture can get under it and harm the metal. Cleaning moly out CAN be a chore. I would NOT fool with it again. What are you planning on using it for? Better accuracy? Longer bore life? Just to try it?  Do a search for a product called Mic ro lon it MAY be better for your needs.
  http://www.microlon.com/gun_metal_treatment.php  Read the reviews!

[3006bluffhunter]

well I was just thinking about trying them! Confused on seasoning the barrel ! Seasoning is not fowling the barrel?So what you are telling me? You need to shoot up to 10 shots to get the lands and groves full of the moly lube before you would see good accuracy! Thanks Dale

[Grumulkin]

Well, Kenny Jarrett of Jarrett rifles fame says moly does build up in the bore and doesn't recommend it.  That's good enough for me; no moly bullets are ever going through one of my guns.

[Catfish]

I ruined a .17 Rem. barrel with molly bullets. The only way I could find to clean the Molly from the barrel was to fire lap it. I`ll never shoot Molly again. I can see why I even tried them when they tell you up frount that you`ll need 1 gr. more powder to get the same velocity and they will not make you gun more accurate.

[jhalcott]

  Yes seasoning IS shooting "fouling" shots to coat the bore. You CAN also run a tight fitting patch coated with moly thru the bore a few times. As the others have said though,it's not any more accurate and is hard to remove once it's in the bore! Many of the big name benchresters tried it. They can and DO replace very expensive barrels regularly though! I do NOT have that kind of $$$ and expect my barrels to last MANY years. You haven't said WHAT you expect to gain from MOLY coated bullets. Did you look into Microlon??

[Grumulkin]

Now Microlon is something I LIKE.  It's right up there with Prolix.

[Blue Duck]

I have heard a lot about the down side of molly.  Whats the good part?

[Varmint Hunter]

THE  GOOD PART

I have been shooting moly coated bullets for many years. I moly coat them using the NECO kit and method. Most bullet manufacturers use the same or similar method.

Typically, a barrel will need 20-30 moly coated bullets to be fired before it is adequately seasoned. Once it is seasoned you will not need to season it again. Normal bore cleaning does NOT remove the moly coat in the bore. Actually that was some shooter's complaint; you can not get the stuff out too easily. If you want to remove moly from the barrel two things seem to work reasonably well. Either use JB bore paste or similar semi-abrasive cleaner or just start shooting naked bullets which wears the moly away. A combination of the two worked quickly for me.

I like moly coated bullets in my high volume rifles, mostly varmint rigs. While there have been many wives tales about moly bullets, most of the facts are now known. I have shot many thousands of moly coated bullets in both custom barrels and factory barrels.

I have never experienced moly build up in any barrel. Moly bullet use will allow you to shoot very long strings of fire without the need for bore cleaning. Some of my custom barrels do not allow copper to build up at all. However, that doesn't mean that the rifle bore shouldn't be cleaned. I'd guess that "moly build-up" may result from cleaning a bore at unreasonably long intervals. There may be other causes but I have never experienced this problem so could only guess what would cause this.

Generally speaking, moly will not increase or decrease the accuracy of a rifle. Naturally, any change in a load will likely result in some change in group size but moly does not lend itself to moving a group in either direction. An accurate load can normally be found with or without moly. Inaccurate rifles do not become accurate with the use of moly.

IMO, Moly can allow for a small increase in velocity given a load of equal pressure. Because moly is a very effective lubricant it will reduce bore friction and result in  a slight decrease in velocity until the load is adjusted. However, with a small increase in charge weight, the velocity will be restored and can even be enhanced. This has been my experience with several cartridges.

As to the issue of moly attracting mosture - this is another problem that I've never experienced, if it even exists. It may be that most of my barrels are stainless steel or that I use normal bore cleaning/lubricants but I have never had a problem with regard to moisture or rust in any of my rifles that shoot moly coated bullets.