Molycoated Bullets
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Paul "Fitz" Jones
Moderator - Emeritus
Moly Coated Bullets
They are fine if you choose to use commercially prepared bullets that were swaged from soft lead of the right diameter for your weapon then had Moly applied for ease in packaging and shipping in hot weather.
But if you cast your own bullets and Moly coat them without sizing that is bad as bullets come out of the mold slightly out of round that a Luber sizer straightens out and depending on the source of your bullet metal your bullets can be thousanths oversize creating excess pressure in your weapon.
If you cast your bullets then size them without lubricant on them there is increased resistance in your sizer and then spray or dip them afterwards.
If you spray the bullets first then size them then check if enough of the moly coating stays intact on the bullets to do the job intended.
The use of moly should not be an excuse not to purchase a lubricator sizer and if you possess one then why not use the lubricant that they were designed for?
I have not heard of a sizer that was designed for using Moly yet.
Paul Jones
Retired Commercial Bullet Company
They are fine if you choose to use commercially prepared bullets that were swaged from soft lead of the right diameter for your weapon then had Moly applied for ease in packaging and shipping in hot weather.
But if you cast your own bullets and Moly coat them without sizing that is bad as bullets come out of the mold slightly out of round that a Luber sizer straightens out and depending on the source of your bullet metal your bullets can be thousanths oversize creating excess pressure in your weapon.
If you cast your bullets then size them without lubricant on them there is increased resistance in your sizer and then spray or dip them afterwards.
If you spray the bullets first then size them then check if enough of the moly coating stays intact on the bullets to do the job intended.
The use of moly should not be an excuse not to purchase a lubricator sizer and if you possess one then why not use the lubricant that they were designed for?
I have not heard of a sizer that was designed for using Moly yet.
Paul Jones
Retired Commercial Bullet Company
Pdh, I have reloaded for over 30 years
and only problem I ever encountered
was with moly coated bullets, had a
pistol barrel pit, was it my cleaning,
the barrel quality,??? don't know, but
articles I have read have said it will
pit over time, so for me no I won't use
it again, but a lot of benchrest shooters
love it in rifles.
and only problem I ever encountered
was with moly coated bullets, had a
pistol barrel pit, was it my cleaning,
the barrel quality,??? don't know, but
articles I have read have said it will
pit over time, so for me no I won't use
it again, but a lot of benchrest shooters
love it in rifles.
KP95DAO
member
I moly every jacketed bullet except the practice velocity (1300 fps) 357 sig rounds and the bullets I shoot in my KP95DC. The DC bbl gets moly buildup something fierce. My DAO does not have this problem and the FAC aftermarket KP95 bbl I have does not have this problem
I have put over 4500 rounds through my Sav 10FP 308 and they were all moly coated ( I use the Lyman setup). Over 2000 through my NEF 45-70. My Ruger SBHs and BHK 357 get the same treatment along with the 45 autos and 40 S&W. The only problem is that one 9mm bbl.
I will say that the moly does iritate my nasal cavity. I plug them up while pouring the BBs and bullets into the seperating buckets. This could just be a individual reaction on my part. Good ventilation is a must besides while handling. After seperating the BBs and bullets I put them on an old towel and remove the excess/loose moly. They sure are pretty and shoot like a house afire.
PS: I'm doing a batch as I type this.
I have put over 4500 rounds through my Sav 10FP 308 and they were all moly coated ( I use the Lyman setup). Over 2000 through my NEF 45-70. My Ruger SBHs and BHK 357 get the same treatment along with the 45 autos and 40 S&W. The only problem is that one 9mm bbl.
I will say that the moly does iritate my nasal cavity. I plug them up while pouring the BBs and bullets into the seperating buckets. This could just be a individual reaction on my part. Good ventilation is a must besides while handling. After seperating the BBs and bullets I put them on an old towel and remove the excess/loose moly. They sure are pretty and shoot like a house afire.
PS: I'm doing a batch as I type this.
bogie
Member
I use Danzac (tru-kote) in my .22PPC (0.070 short), and thus far haven't had any problems.
You still have to clean.
You still have to clean.
Tim V
Member
pdh you will lose a very small amount of velocity because the bullet goes down the barrel with less resistance.
Yes I moly all my bullets for rife (I dont cast)
Tim
Yes I moly all my bullets for rife (I dont cast)Tim
swifter
Member
The biggest danger in moly is a few idiots decided that they'd never have to clean again, got a wax/hard carbon/moly ring in the throat, and immediately declared it a "moly build-up"
.
Clean carefully and regularly, you'll have no trouble.
I moly everything I shoot, have for around 10 years, and have had no problems. I even moly certain cast bullets, in a couple rounds, and have noted a significant reduction in lead deposits. I DO NOT rely on moly as the only lube herebut use Lyman's moly lube in my lubri-sizer. It is a RPIA, but worth it in some cases.
Try: www.xtremeaccuracy.com scroll down to the moly ??.
Tom
.Clean carefully and regularly, you'll have no trouble.
I moly everything I shoot, have for around 10 years, and have had no problems. I even moly certain cast bullets, in a couple rounds, and have noted a significant reduction in lead deposits. I DO NOT rely on moly as the only lube herebut use Lyman's moly lube in my lubri-sizer. It is a RPIA, but worth it in some cases.
Try: www.xtremeaccuracy.com scroll down to the moly ??.
Tom
bedlamite
Member
Wear a dust mask when using moly powder, the stuff is nasty. Once it's in your lungs the effects are similar to asbestos.
I've found it to help when shooting a high volume of 223, the barrel takes much longer to foul, and stays accurate much longer. With lower velocity, small volume rounds, I don't think it's worth it.
Moly is not an excuse to not clean the gun. Left without cleaning there will be a small amount of sulfuric acid formed. It doesn't take much to prevent, nut you MUST clean it. A couple swipes with a brass brush and a few oily patches right away will do the job.
I've found it to help when shooting a high volume of 223, the barrel takes much longer to foul, and stays accurate much longer. With lower velocity, small volume rounds, I don't think it's worth it.
Moly is not an excuse to not clean the gun. Left without cleaning there will be a small amount of sulfuric acid formed. It doesn't take much to prevent, nut you MUST clean it. A couple swipes with a brass brush and a few oily patches right away will do the job.
Clark
Member
poor moly candidate: steel barrelled 30-06 fired 5 times a year in the rain forrest
good moly candidate: stainless barrelled 22-250 fired 300 times a day in the dessert
Why do I say this?
1) Because moly gives me lots of shots without loss of accuracy due to copper fouling.
2) Becuase a steel barrel shot with moly and left overnight in my car's trunk will have an oragnge red color to the bore. I must flush with baking soda and water to get the acid that moly makes with heat out of there. Oil has no preventive properties with this problem.
good moly candidate: stainless barrelled 22-250 fired 300 times a day in the dessert
Why do I say this?
1) Because moly gives me lots of shots without loss of accuracy due to copper fouling.
2) Becuase a steel barrel shot with moly and left overnight in my car's trunk will have an oragnge red color to the bore. I must flush with baking soda and water to get the acid that moly makes with heat out of there. Oil has no preventive properties with this problem.
swifter
Member
Clark,
Thank you. You are the first person who, reporting a "moly problem" that included little things like "what, how, why..."
I've been trying to accumulate data on moly problems, but few will even respond to a direct question. that gives me some cause-and-effect, and a possible solution.
Tom
Thank you. You are the first person who, reporting a "moly problem" that included little things like "what, how, why..."
I've been trying to accumulate data on moly problems, but few will even respond to a direct question. that gives me some cause-and-effect, and a possible solution.
Tom
For my .45 ACP loads, I've been using Bear Creek moly coated bullets in 200g LSWC. These use no other lube - there isn't even a lube groove in their mold.
I have had very good luck with these - clean and accurate, with no buildup.
My experience is that you do lose velocity compared to regular LSWC published data. I am not sure how safe it is to push the powder load to compensate. Since I'm just punching paper, I don't worry about the velocity loss.
I have had very good luck with these - clean and accurate, with no buildup.
My experience is that you do lose velocity compared to regular LSWC published data. I am not sure how safe it is to push the powder load to compensate. Since I'm just punching paper, I don't worry about the velocity loss.
Paul "Fitz" Jones
Moderator - Emeritus
Moly
Moly is just another nasty that years down the road doctors and old folks will say we should have known better to handle and breathe the powder and the residue in the air when shooting it and it can then be like asbestos is now.
John Paul
Moly is just another nasty that years down the road doctors and old folks will say we should have known better to handle and breathe the powder and the residue in the air when shooting it and it can then be like asbestos is now.
John Paul
Lacking empirical evidence, I have to call that one.
Ok, for one thing, we're not snorting the stuff, Paul. Far from it.
And by the time we die of moly ingestion, the lead poisoning from shooting all those rounds will have driven us totally and irreversably mad.
Everything can be dangerous if not used properly. Hell, there are Material Data Safety Sheets on good old H2O, for Chrissakes!
Feed enough diet cola to rats in a test environment, they die of cancer.
An Air Force recruit died of acute water poisoning during confidence training.
"Put yo brain in a turtle's haid, he peck out his a**" is a famous saying.
Life today is a matter of risk management. McDonald's will kill you. Mom always told me I'd go blind from doing a certain something. Flying is inherently dangerous. If all the Chinese farted at once, the rotation of the earth would be affected. At what point are we supposed to be so scared of everyday events we just don't walk outside, for fear of meeting an untimely demise?
And yes, I know about the lead poisoning bit that scared the bejeezus out of our esteemed moderator. I've cast my own bullets for just over a decade, and was always on my toes for signs of the affliction, my yearly flight physicals show no increase in lead content or other heavy metals.
Now I'm supposed to be scared of moly coating my rifle bullets - based on what? Did they force some lab mice to snort the stuff?
Ok, for one thing, we're not snorting the stuff, Paul. Far from it.
And by the time we die of moly ingestion, the lead poisoning from shooting all those rounds will have driven us totally and irreversably mad.
Everything can be dangerous if not used properly. Hell, there are Material Data Safety Sheets on good old H2O, for Chrissakes!
Feed enough diet cola to rats in a test environment, they die of cancer.
An Air Force recruit died of acute water poisoning during confidence training.
"Put yo brain in a turtle's haid, he peck out his a**" is a famous saying.
Life today is a matter of risk management. McDonald's will kill you. Mom always told me I'd go blind from doing a certain something. Flying is inherently dangerous. If all the Chinese farted at once, the rotation of the earth would be affected. At what point are we supposed to be so scared of everyday events we just don't walk outside, for fear of meeting an untimely demise?
And yes, I know about the lead poisoning bit that scared the bejeezus out of our esteemed moderator. I've cast my own bullets for just over a decade, and was always on my toes for signs of the affliction, my yearly flight physicals show no increase in lead content or other heavy metals.
Now I'm supposed to be scared of moly coating my rifle bullets - based on what? Did they force some lab mice to snort the stuff?
Robert inOregon
Member
Results from the bench scene using Moly are mixed.
Latest rage is coating bullets with NP3 and the like. Some have gone back to using Danzac (not the greatest stuff in the world either. If left in the barrel, it will draw moister and we know what happens then.)
Latest rage is coating bullets with NP3 and the like. Some have gone back to using Danzac (not the greatest stuff in the world either. If left in the barrel, it will draw moister and we know what happens then.)
Clark
Member
I have not had any physical problems from the 25 cent Berger moly bullets.
I HAVE suffered 'being stoned" from Hoppe's spray moly. I tried holding my breath, but the stuff got me everytime I sprayed. Also the bullets I sprayed looked speckled, unlit the shiny fine finnish on the factory moly bullets.
I would say the "being stoned" from the aerosol carrier was as bad as shooting fiber glass resin with a chopper or spraying tolene paint.
I HAVE suffered 'being stoned" from Hoppe's spray moly. I tried holding my breath, but the stuff got me everytime I sprayed. Also the bullets I sprayed looked speckled, unlit the shiny fine finnish on the factory moly bullets.
I would say the "being stoned" from the aerosol carrier was as bad as shooting fiber glass resin with a chopper or spraying tolene paint.
bedlamite
Member
Research has shown that the State of California causes cancer in labratory animals.
Moly particles are small enough to get deep into your lungs but they are not soluable, and scar tissue forms around them. It's very similar to asbestos, though long term effects are unknown. I plan on not finding out for myself. As you said, it's all about risk managment. Dust masks are cheap, wear one.
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