Moly-Coated bullets.... The good & the bad

[birdhunter88]

I am new to this sport and have a general knowledge of rifles and ammo. My questions deal with moly coated bullets. Whats the good and the bad with using moly ?

Some articles and forums that I have read stated that they help cut down on barrel wear and increase accuracy. But at the same time I have read that it also may screw up the inside of your barrel. Am I getting conflicting info or have I just confused myself ?

I have a Tikka T3 Stainless Lite .243 with a Bushnell Legend 5-15x40 scope and have been shooting factory Federal Ammo through it to break it in and have no intentions at this time to get into reloading. The main use that this rifle will see is for coyote hunting. Most shots will most likey be taken at 200 yards or less. But I also want the capabilities to take even longer shots across open corn and bean fields when and if the opportunity exist.

If I start using a moly coated rounds do I still clean the barrel like I have been doing with the other rounds that I have been using or should I do something different.

I hope my questions don't sound to stupid or elementary but I am real curious if I should treat my rifle any different depending on the rounds. I really like my Tikka and don't want to screw it up.

Thanks in advance for any advice or info you could give me.

bird

 

[chris matthews]

I'm afraid you'll get the same answer here.
Some people love 'em and some hate 'em.
There is no black and white answer on what to do with moly.
The best answer I feel is give 'em a try and if they work for you in your system, great. If your are currently shooting naked bullets and getting along fine, then don't bother with moly unless you want to experiment.
I will say that I believe most of the world tried moly when it was the "rage" and found most of it's claims to be false or it brought some unique "side effects". Upon this the majority went back to naked bullets. But you will find some that shoot moly, it actually kinda seems to be caliber dependant more than anything. There a few calibers that moly seems to work well with such as the PPCs, WSMs and a few varmint calibers. However that doesn't mean these calibers won't work without moly.
See, I warned that the moly issue was wishy-washy!!!

 

[dbhostler]

I moly everything, have for six or seven years. No reports of problems, but I shoot out of mainly custom bbls. I also don't fire lots of rounds unless required to in timed fire. I don't wax my bullets after moly coating, have heard the wax is the cause of the build-up in bbls. I use the Necco moly in a vibrating case cleaner. Works for me.
db

 

[snicl1]

Been moly coating for years too. I don't like cleaning every 20-30 rounds (I used to have to when shooting naked bullets or the groups opened up). I can go 100 rounds w/o cleaning and still keep 'em sub MOA. Besides, I haven't experienced any downside to it yet. I don't have a borescope, but as long as my barrel's performance hasn't diminished, I figure I'm okay.

Hope this helps.

Chris.

 

[chris matthews]

Not to start a ****ing match, but I can go over 100 rds in my rifles (some custom and some factory barrels) without losing accuracy and without an excessive amount of fouling. And I do have a borescope.
That's the neat thing about this- it works for dbhostler and cynical, but I get along just fine without it....
Ain't neither one of are systems right or wrong but they work well for us.

 

[Mysticplayer]

I am a moly user too. I shoot mostly production grade barrels and many surplus rifles. here the moly has shown significant benefits.

As a high pressure lubricant, it helps when bores are rough. Doesn't eliminate fouling, never did, but does allow you to reach normal vel without excessive pressures.

I have not found any negatives so use it in all my rifles from 22 to 338. I don't wax as I feel this is a possible fouling problem area. I use the Midway tumbler system - simple and easy.

As a rule, I try not to clean my bores and only do so when accuracy falls off or they are subject to rain/rust. I find that from production/surplus to match barrels, I shoot a lot (over 100rds in some cases) without any drop in accuracy.

Jerry

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Count me in as another moly user. I've been using the NECO method in a vibratory polisher for many years.

I moly coat all the bullets for my varmint rigs but don't bother to coat any big game bullets.

Moly DEFINATELY (IMO)

reduces stress on bullet jackets. This can be very important when shooting thin jacketed bullets in a fast twist barrel.

A well seasoned moly barrel does resist the build-up of copper fouling but I don't take that out of context and clean regularely anyway. I'm not to sure about the benefits of moly in a rough factory barrel. If you moly coat a file it will still be abrasive.

Lastly, I shoot a wildcat that is WAY overbored. The rifle has never seen a naked bullet. After a considerable number of rounds, the throat was measured and found to have only receeded about .001". I'm not sure what to attribute this to but many moly shooters claim that moly reduces throat erosion too.

Actually, some guys claim that moly can cure the common cold but I just found that it makes my tounge black.

VH

Forgot to mention, here is a good place for some additional info on moly bullets.

moly bullet shooting

[ 07-06-2004: Message edited by: Varmint Hunter ]

 

[birdhunter88]

Thanks guys.... great info. I appreciate all your comments on moly.

bird

 

[Guest]

Can I hijack this thread and ask another question? Does the barrell have to be prepped for molly in any way? If it's new unfired factory barrell

Joe

 

[Varmint Hunter]

A clean barrel is all that you need. No fouling of any kind. Some guys swab the bore with moly paste, spray or what-have-you. I have never found this to be necessary and I have many rifle barrels that shoot moly bullets exclusively.

VH

 

[Coyote Hunter]

Like Varmite Hunter, I too have been using the NECO Kit for many yrs now, all my rifles shoot the gray bullets now.

I use a bore mop and spray it with Ms Moly, with the barrel farily warm I then run the mop a few times thru the barrel. Let set a couple minutes, then do it again, it now has a good coat of moly for the first shot.
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Zod