Bullet Lube

[Dirtrax]

You will likely need To go 2% higher in your powder charge. This has held true for me in both 5.56mm and 7mm Practical. The process is simple. I personally find it worth the effort but I could see why others wouldn't. I have found that for the hBN to "settle in" takes around 6 rounds. Others experience less. It's an inexpensive experiment so go for it. Nothing is permanently changed so there's nothing to lose except $20-$50.

 

[David Emerson]

No, moly is a coating. HBN is an impact plating process. It sticks to nothing. You have to beat it into the pores if the metal. Not messy like molly. Be careful, once you go to the dark side you may never go back.

I have a funny story about moly. The wife and I were going to town for some drinks and a dance. So I thought. I will just put the vibrator tumbler on the kitchen table and screw the lid down and they will be done by the time we get back. We got back home about 1am and the thumb screw came loose and the whole kitchen had a coating of fine black dust. Guess who was Betty the cleaner? And the bedroom was a little cool for awhile too. Hahahahaha

 

[David Emerson]

HBN is easy to apply once you have a system. It is worth the effort and is effective as others have stated. I only use it in competition rifles that go through a lot of rounds and those that tend to build-up with copper easily. Cannot switch back and forth as coated rounds will group differently but generally HBN are more consistent for me. For good results you need to clean the jackets well with alcohol. I dry them after cleaning with compressed air. I have found room temperature is fine and do not apply heat. I place 500 in something like a large peanut butter jar along with some stainless steel shot/media and a teaspoon (first time with clean media, after that just sprinkle a little in each time) of HBN. Too much HBN in your bottle will cause it to not apply evenly. Secure the lid with some electrical tape and place the bottle in in a vibratory tumbler. Let it run for an hour an separate from media (your normal method for separating brass/media will work). I the pour the coated pills into an old sock and roll them around a few time to remove the excess powder for a more uniform look and pour them back into the original box.
Clean the barrel well to remove all copper and carbon and run an HBN/ alcohol soaked pad through the barrel (let dry) prior to the first shot. Like was said by Orange Dust, you may never go back.

The only thing I am hesitant about are exposed lead tip bullets. The tumbling beats the lead tips into a needle point. At least when I tried it with moly

 

[J E Custom]

I have been thinking about this bullet weld all day. It has to be dissimilar metal corrosion. So. Then I thought. Some guys sonic clean or use solution with stainless pins. Brass gets very clean and as new. I think the cleaner the brass is the worse it would be. Anybody ever experiment with cases that had been shot and never cleaned vs the super clean cases?

I have tried almost every bullet coating known to man and found them to be a lot of trouble for no gain. The minute a cartridge is fired the case and neck expands before the bullet is clear of the case mouth. If you look at a fired case, the neck will have some blackening from the powder on the very end of the neck, the rest of the neck will look like the rest of the case unless something is wrong with the load.

If it stuck, the neck and some of the shoulder would be blackened. I see the term bullet weld used all the time and the bullet cant weld it's self to the case. It may get stuck from time. but it cant effect the velocity in a negative way but potentially improve the ignition like crimping into a cannelure.

The negative I found with coatings was that they build build up in the barrel over time and make it hard to clean it back to white metal (No fouling of any kind).

These were just My observations and the reason I believe in a clean bullet and neck/case for consistency

J E CUSTOM

 

[Orange Dust]

Ive done it. They will turn grey. Plastic tip or hp does work better

 

[fiftybmg]

I see the term bullet weld used all the time and the bullet cant weld it's self to the case. It may get stuck from time.

I received an old box of 30-06 hunting ammo. The box was mixed factory from PMP, so I decided to pull them and reload. I use a cam-lock puller on a Redding, and it took maximum force to seperate a few of those bullets from the brass.

 

[J E Custom]

I totally agree that it is more difficult to pull them, But when the round fires and the neck expands/releases them it is a different situation.

I have used a lot of military ammo and as I said I found very little if any difference in the zero if they were not moved in the case.

Just My appearances with old ammo.

PS: it doesn't look like your bullet puller dies fit the bullet very well because it is damaging the bullet.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Bill28]

Speaking of this bullet welding. Have any of you used or tried Hornady one shot resizing lube in your necks and let it dry before loading? And if yes what were your results?

I've been using one shot for a couple hundred rounds and wait till fully dried and having good consistent results