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Moly Coating bullets, anyone doing it?
- Thread starter FM12
- Start date
Boron Nitride is out there and is expensive. Around $85 per pound. Have not tryed it yet but looks promising. David Tubb is using it with reported good result.
Moly in my application does allow for velocity increases of around 100fps, reduced pressure signs at higher powder charges and easier cleaning. I guess in my experience moly at least gave me a mental boost of confidence. I have not experienced any of the bad stuff that some tout about moly like corrosion in the barrel. However it must be noted that you cannot switch back to nekid bullets after using moly without completely removing the moly from the barrel. There is also a "settling in" period of maybe 20 shots when moly is used the first time. These shots are depositing moly in the barrel. I also "pre treat" my barrels with a mixture of Denatured Alchohol and moly powder mixed on a patch a few minutes prior to a range session.
Good shooting.
Moly in my application does allow for velocity increases of around 100fps, reduced pressure signs at higher powder charges and easier cleaning. I guess in my experience moly at least gave me a mental boost of confidence. I have not experienced any of the bad stuff that some tout about moly like corrosion in the barrel. However it must be noted that you cannot switch back to nekid bullets after using moly without completely removing the moly from the barrel. There is also a "settling in" period of maybe 20 shots when moly is used the first time. These shots are depositing moly in the barrel. I also "pre treat" my barrels with a mixture of Denatured Alchohol and moly powder mixed on a patch a few minutes prior to a range session.
Good shooting.
I think this was basically a good idea that hadn't been thought out and tested enough, and was therefore difficult to implement. It became a short lived fad, and like all fads, it died out.
But when someone finds an easy and cheap, and non-messy way to do it, it will be back. Unless something better comes aslong in the meantime.
But when someone finds an easy and cheap, and non-messy way to do it, it will be back. Unless something better comes aslong in the meantime.
I've found it valuable in two circumstances. One is a barrel that fouls badly. When I first started shooting in service rifle matches, I had a military Garand barrel that would foul so badly that accuracy was visibly deteriorating during the 600 yard slow fire stage. It took hours to clean. Moly stopped that problem.
The other is long range shooting (800-1200 yards). Moly bullets typically show a slightly higher ballistic coefficient than their plain counterparts, which means a little less sensitivity to wind drift at long range. There were a number of novel theories to explain this when the data first appeared, but Walt Berger seems to have figured it out. He discovered that the lube simply makes it easier for a bullet to slip into alignment with the bore on firing. Leaving the muzzle slightly misaligned (tilted) has to be recovered from through gyroscopic stabilization. While that is happening, drag is slightly greater.
Tilt also affects accuracy, but reports on accuracy improvement with Moly have been mixed. I think this is most often because someone starts with a sweetspot load developed for a plain bullet, then simply substitutes the moly bullet, not realizing it will alter his barrel time and require him to find a new sweet spot load.
I have never seen any of the corrosion problems or other complaints the circulate about moly. I have heard that when the rush to moly was at its peadk, some unscrupuous cheap kits were produce with moly recovered from stamping operations that contained free iron. That, in turn, initiated rust. I have also run into the tendency (you need a borescope to see it) of the moly to mix with carbon and build up where the chamber neck steps down to the freebore diameter. I have also found, though, that either Slip 2000 Carbon Killer or Gunzilla will soften it and allow it to be easily removed.
The other is long range shooting (800-1200 yards). Moly bullets typically show a slightly higher ballistic coefficient than their plain counterparts, which means a little less sensitivity to wind drift at long range. There were a number of novel theories to explain this when the data first appeared, but Walt Berger seems to have figured it out. He discovered that the lube simply makes it easier for a bullet to slip into alignment with the bore on firing. Leaving the muzzle slightly misaligned (tilted) has to be recovered from through gyroscopic stabilization. While that is happening, drag is slightly greater.
Tilt also affects accuracy, but reports on accuracy improvement with Moly have been mixed. I think this is most often because someone starts with a sweetspot load developed for a plain bullet, then simply substitutes the moly bullet, not realizing it will alter his barrel time and require him to find a new sweet spot load.
I have never seen any of the corrosion problems or other complaints the circulate about moly. I have heard that when the rush to moly was at its peadk, some unscrupuous cheap kits were produce with moly recovered from stamping operations that contained free iron. That, in turn, initiated rust. I have also run into the tendency (you need a borescope to see it) of the moly to mix with carbon and build up where the chamber neck steps down to the freebore diameter. I have also found, though, that either Slip 2000 Carbon Killer or Gunzilla will soften it and allow it to be easily removed.