Has anyone tried both, if so does one perform better?

I like the ceramic.
Used steel balls for a while and the surface was pinged on some of my bullets. probably did'nt hurt any thing but the sure looked bad.
The ceramic media that i use is a small cylinder that is cut on an angle

I dropped the moly coated ceramic media on the floor and then tried to clean it but can't.It is no longer giving the bullets a smooth coating.I just did a box of tsx bullets and I don't know if I am going to shoot them because it looks as if they make have grit in their coatings.I guess I need some new ceramic media.I don't know how I can clean it.

I haven't tried Ceramic, so I can't comment on it.

I just use regular old copper plated "BBs" and they have always done well for me. Easy to find and inexpensive too. You might try a box of 500-1000 while deciding how to clean the Ceramics.

Speaking of that, how about tumbling it in some clean Corn Cob Media. If that doesn't clean it up, add some regular old Car Wax or DuPont #7 Polishing Compound. If it doesn't work, you are only out a bit of Corn Cob and time.

Never heard of using ceramic before. I'm not surprised that it got dirty. The ceramic is porous and will "load up" if not kept continuously flushed. Of course, you can't be flushing while molycoating.

If your tumbler is also rated for wet service, you might try putting some water and Dawn dish soap in the tumbler and let it run. Don't put in too much of either water or soap. The idea is not to stop the tumble action. If you flood it or use too much soap, it will just set there and buzz and won't clean. You will have to rince the dirty water out and repeat several times if, in fact, it will clean at all. Molly is hard to get off anything. To get it out of ceramic pores will be a real trick.

Yes, the ceramic will imbed some grit. The grit comes from the grinding of the dry ceramic. It was never intended to be used dry. Used with a wet flush, any grit is always washed away with all the other dirt, etc.

You guys should do yourselves a favor and check into the Midway system. Basically it's a couple extra tumbler bowls and Moly. The bowls are one each for lead tipped and hollow pointed bullets. The amazing thing is You don't need media! I called Midway's tech and talked to them about it and they said that they did test and found you didn't need media. I wouldn't beleive them until I tried it myself, but it works great.
All you have to do is pour the bullets straight out of the box pour a couple teaspoons of moly over them and start tumbling. I do it for 30 minutes, 2 sessions of 15 minutes each. Line a collander with paper towels and dump the bullets in roll them around a bit and bingo perfectly Moly'd bullets.
One of my good buddies tried several of the different systems including the expensive NECO one and kept asking how I got my Moly to look so good. He couldn't beleive how good the simple no-media Midway system worked. He has since bought one and has also used it to great success.
If you are using media you are spending more money and time than you need to. I know it sounds too good to be true but it's no BS. Try the Midway system and you too will see what I mean. At $31.49 it's an absolute steal!

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=610434


.....................DJ

I'v never used any. The bullets provide all the peening action needed.

What method do the professionals or bullet makers use?

shootaway, they use media, but I accidentally used my Lyman system once without the media (which is ceramic) and as DJ said the bullets alone with the moly worked flawlessly.

I've used the media since, but I have proven it isn't needed....

I think you would need to do more than 50 bullets at a time not to use media.Hotcore,I tried cleaning the ceramic in corn cob media and found it too long to seperate.I figure it will take me 8 more hours of back-breaking labour to finish.I ended up throwing it all away.Ceramic looked scratched, dented and deformed with only a few uses.

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
...Hotcore,I tried cleaning the ceramic in corn cob media and found it too long to seperate.I figure it will take me 8 more hours of back-breaking labour to finish.I ended up throwing it all away.

Ah-ha, always a problem. Just separated some Red Onion Seed this week from their tops. It was a bit trying at times, but I placed them in a large pan and tossed them in the air maybe 2"-3" and the Chaff is light enough to settle on the top and edges. That made it relatively easy to remove from the Seed.

I would think that would work for the Corn Cob and Ceramic, but I've not tried it.
---

When I separate the BBs from the bullets I use a Plastic Spaghetti "Fork". It is curved a bit and the BBs will run right down the tines and off into the tumbler.

Have considered using a Colander with the holes opened up just a bit to let the BBs through.

But, the best might be to just use a "magnet" to pick up the BBs. I've not tried it, so I don't have any Experience on how big a mess the "potential" happens to be.

When I do Moly Coat, I generally do about 300 Bullets at a time and have a couple of different sizes going together, in the BBs. For example, you can do 0.224", 0.308" and 0.358" bullets all at the same time and have no difficulty at all telling which ones go together.

And I occasionally do some 7mms in with the 0.308"s, but I'm careful to make sure one size is a Boat Tail and the other a Flat Base.

quote:

Ceramic looked scratched, dented and deformed with only a few uses.

That is totally different than what I'd expected. I would have expected the Ceramic to "crack or break" before it would dent or deform. Must be a different Ceramic Material than what I'm thinking about.

Best of luck to you.

Shootaway, I often do just 50 bullets at a time without the media. Try it before you waste 8hrs........ ..........DJ

dj,50 in what size bowl? I have those orange lyman bowls that are around 8 inches.How much moly powder would I need to put in?Do you use a plastic jar to put them in and then put the whole thing in the bowl?

Here's a picture of the kit:

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=610434

Just dump them in the bowl sprinkle a couple teaspoons of their Moly over them.
I run them for about 15 minutes, let them rest for 10 and then run them for another 15 minutes or so.
A colander is handy for sifting the excess moly off. Then roll them around on some paper towels. Good luck, let me know how it works...........DJ

It seems that you just want me to buy one from there.

I used to moly in the bowls from Midway but ran into some problems for what ever reason. The moly would cake up on the sides of the bowl and the bullets came out with too much moly on them. I was able to clean off most of the excess in a cloth bag, but the outcome was less than what I desired.

Not sure where I picked up the hint. But I now use the large vitamin containers to apply moly. I fill the container about half full of bullets and add about a half a TEASPOON of moly and place it in the bowl and tumble for 20 to 30 minutes. I have been doing this for over a year now and the results have never been better.

You can dump your media out and use the same bowl for applying moly. After application, dump the media back in.

Two large vitamin containers fit in the normal size bowls.

Oh ya, one more important thing. This method doesn't create near the "racket" as the last one.

Jim

thanks pdhntr1!

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
It seems that you just want me to buy one from there.

What a stupid comment. I have no connection whatsoever with Midway. I was simply trying to be helpful to you which is a mistake I won't repeat. I should have known better than try and say something sensible to the "Ballerina" shooter....................DJ

you were caught red handed pantsless