What brand of Moly coat is the best, I've heard some of the cheaper stuff can be hard on your barrels because of excess salt or sulfer content. Is this true??? Also how do you moly bullets for best results. I would like to moly a box of 50g Sierra soft nose varmiters. Thanks in advance for the info!!!

If you just want to do a few to try,the MsMoly aerosol might be your best bet,I think its right around $15 a can. For powdered the Neco is the purest,finest availble. http://www.neconos.com/shop/index.php?shop=1&cat=5&cart=9070
Under components all you need is a 2 oz container each of moly and carnuba.You don't need the BBs or ball bearings as the bullets will do the impacting.The carnuba keeps the moly from sloughing off. It actually takes quite a bit rubbing to wear it off the finished product.Everybody applys it somewhat diferently but heres how I do it.The main thing is cleanliness,even the oils from your fingers on the bullets will keep the moly from adhering. I use surgical gloves.
Degrease bullets,with a water soluble degreaser. Rinse well,and dry thoroughly.Put bullets in a plastic jar or pill bottle you'v degreased and dried. Add 1/4 teaspoon of moly,close tightly and tumble in your brass tumbler for 1 1/2 hours. Sift out the excess moly,you can re-use it.put the bullets in another clean container,add a small handfull of clean corn cob media and 1/2 teaspoon of carnuba.Tumble for no more than(IMPORTANT) 7-8 minutes,any more and the wax will likely clump.Burnish on an old towel and you'v got a mess of molied bullets that actually look better than any factory molied that I'v seen. Like I said,everyone does it somehat diferently,and you'll probably get a list of diferent methods,but this works for me.BTW be sure,if you'r only doing one jar of bullets,to put something of fairly equal weight on the opposite side of the tumbler as its easier on the motor. And its kind of noisy if you don't have media in it. Also you don't want to have the bullets stuffed tightly into the jar,you want them free enough to move around a bit. And you'll want to prep your bbl either with Moly Bore Cream or MsMoly. Thats a whole nother post.
Jeff

Bearcat....If your not sure that you'll like it or not, you could always start out with factory coated and not have to get to much invested before you find if your going to stay with it. I shoot Berger and Hornady moly for a couple $ a 100 and don't get to messy. Have had great performance and like the ability to shoot many rds. before cleaning. Comes in handy PD hunting. Think you'll like it no matter which route you take....KEN

Be forewarned, moly is not something to experiment with unless you do it properly. Make sure your barrel has ALL the copper removed prior to shooting moly bullets. Also follow a moly break in routine so that you uniformly burnish the barrel. Remember, your cleaning routine will change with a moly�ed bore.



I also recommend that you purchase coated bullets from the factory. You will save a lot of experimenting time. I have a whole rundown on moly shooting & cleaning. If you would like me to post it (very long) I will be happy to.

I shoot moly bullets now from the factory, but it seems like all the factory's want to supply in moly are the bullets that can see just before they hit the target and blow up about a quarter inch before impact (terrible hide bullets in other words) Seems like all the bullets that are avaiable that are good on hides (the sierra soft nose) you can't get with moly on them. Thats why I wanted to do it myself.

Zero:
Please explain the moly shooting/cleaning, burnishing deal for me, if you don't mind. I would appreciate the insight. Thanks everyone for the replys

Here you go:

Here are some moly basics:

I have shot molybdenum disulfide coated bullets for over 9 years. I have used moly in my target rifles, my varmint rifles, and my hunting rifles. Basically from a 6 PPC to a .450 Dakota. I was first introduced to moly by Walt Berger when I was actively shooting LR target competition. It was supposedly the "miracle cure" for frequent cleaning and accuracy stability. Based upon numerous testimonials at the range, I started purchasing coated bullets from Walt - He was one of the first to adopt the process for factory bullets.

Since this time, I have drawn a few observations.

1. Moly works best in small to medium calibers.
2. You should not use moly for the break-in process in factory bores - start after 100 rounds or so.
3. In premium bores, you can begin using moly from the start.
4. Moly significantly reduces throat erosion.
5. Moly reduces barrel heating by reducing friction.
6. Moly helps to calm extreme barrel harmonics.
7. Moly reduces chamber pressure and generally reduces velocity.
8. You will generally increase powder charge weight to make up for lost velocity.
9. Moly can allow for greater velocity while maintaining safe chamber pressure.
10. A chronograph is very important when working loads back to max velocity.
11. Using Moly Bore Prep is advisable in new/clean barrels.
12. Always start with a perfectly clean barrel - no copper traces at all.
13. Never shoot moly over copper.
14. It is OK to shoot copper over moly, but the copper must be removed before shooting moly again.
15. It takes 15 to 20 rounds to fully burnish the moly into a new barrel.
16. You should shoot 1 and clean till 15 to ensure no copper is trapped below the moly.
17. You should clean the barrel after EACH shooting session and use a corrosion preventative for storage.
18. Butch's Bore Shine is the best general bore cleaner for moly'ed barrels. Use a patch between strings and when finished with shooting for the day. Kroil works well to protect barrels for storage and also helps to control moly buildup. A 50/50 mix of Kroil and Shooters Choice works OK for general cleaning. Sweets, CR-10, & Montana X-Treme will strip moly from the bore. (Not sure about the New Wipe Out product). Every 100 to 200 rounds you should clean with JB Bore Paste & Montana X-Treme (or BBS) to remove throat fouling & moly buildup. Bore Tech�s Moly Magic also works well for removing moly.
19. Once stripped from the bore, you must re-burnish the barrel - 1 shot & clean till 15.
20. Moly fouling builds up most quickly in the throat area. This should be inspected often.
21. Moly will not turn a crappy factory barrel into a sub MOA bench wonder.
22. For competition and varmint shooters it saves a lot of cleaning time. The number of shots between cleaning increases by a factor of 5 times or better before accuracy suffers.
23. Laboratory grade moly is inert and it will not break down and form some mysterious acid, nor will it attract moisture. Millions of rounds and thousands of competition shooters have proven it to be safe. No proof to the contrary has ever been submitted.
24. There is no magic or voodoo behind moly. Sometimes it works and sometimes in identical guns it won�t.
25. Factory coated bullets are the quickest way to obtain moly bullets. Moly sprays do not work as well as the shot peening and wax method - long and messy. Berger, Nosler, Sierra, and many other manufacturers offer moly�ed bullets for any target/hunting application. There are also several professional coating folks who will coat any bullet for you.


Along with several fellow shooters at the club, I invested in a Hawkeye bore scope equipped with the light kit ($1,300 divided by 6 took the sting out of the cost!). I scope all my hunting rifles once a year and every few months on my high volume varmint and target guns. I monitor throat erosion, fouling, and barrel wear. I can report that moly does reduce barrel wear and has not damaged any gun that I have inspected. There were reports (range gossip) several years ago about ring stress fractures from shooting moly - I have never seen a picture of actual stress damage and I don't believe this exists. There was more range gossip that moly breaks down over time to form an acid - again this has never been proven. However, only use moly designed specifically for firearm applications (lab grade). There are several grades of molybdenum disulfide.

I have seen quite a few guns that did not respond to moly coated bullets. Larger bore guns are not as influenced by moly as the smaller bore rifles seem to be. I have found a few guns that did not like moly at all and accuracy suffered. Most factory barrels can be made to shoot moly well, however, they must be properly broken in prior to starting with moly. I have attempted to force several factory guns to shoot moly with poor results. I attribute this to rough barrels, poor harmonics, and stressed steel. One gun shot moly significantly better after being cryoed treated. Harmonics and barrel stress must play a factor.

In my opinion, moly is worth the try in small to medium bore target and varmint rifles. Make sure you start with an absolutely squeaky clean barrel. I use a little JB followed by a round of Montana X-Treme to ensure I am down to clean metal. Use a moly based bore prep and properly burnish the barrel. Only after 30 to 50 rounds will you be able to tell if your rifle is going to shoot moly well. It will take some load development work to maximize the benefits of moly. Using moly is no short cut. While you can stretch your aggressive cleaning cycles, it takes just as much time to work your loads and clean your bore as it does with naked bullets.

You must make a concerted effort to eeffectively use moly. Shooting 5 or 10 rounds will tell you nothing. If you do not start with a clean barrel and burnish the moly properly you will not find satisfactory results. I have seen too many people discredit moly simply because they did not follow the proper procedures. Accordingly, most folks just don�t want to mess with it - I don�t blame them one bit. If you don�t invest the proper time in moly, you will not see the payoff...

Moly Cleaning:

First thing to remember - using moly is no substitute for proper firearm cleaning and care. Somewhere along the way, someone incorrectly stated that you don�t need to clean moly�ed bore. If you want to avoid problems, then you need to properly clean your firearm even when shooting coated bullets.

Here are some guidelines:

Before you start cleaning, use a gun vice, always use a bore guide, use a one piece coated cleaning rod, and if you are using high ammonia based solvents use nylon brushed to apply solvent.

General Cleaning - When shooting moly coated bullets, the bore throat will generally be the first area to begin to show fouling. When you push a patch through the bore you can feel the roughness of throat fouling. This fouling happens between 50 and 150 rounds followed by a quick drop off in accuracy.

To control throat fouling, I use a few patches of Butch�s Bore Shine at the range every 20 rounds or so. I push a solvent patch through followed a few minutes later with a clean patch. Do this two or three times to control fouling between strings. If you do this, you can extend your aggressive cleaning to many hundred rounds.

Once finished for the day, I use more BBS and more patches to remove powder fouling. It is best to let the solvent soak for 30 minutes or more to loosen powder fouling followed by a few clean patches. The last few patches are with Kroil. Leave a light coat of Kroil in the bore for storage and store the rifle muzzle down for a day or so to ensure oil does not migrate back into the action. Prior to shooting, I push a few clean patches to remove Kroil and loose moly.

Periodic Full Clean -

1. Soak the bore for several hours to overnight with a powder/carbon solvent like Butch�s Bore Shine, Hoppe�s, Shooters Choice, Moly Magic, or Kroil. This will soften fouling. Next, soak a new bronze brush in solvent and make 15 passes (no short stroke).

2. Push several a solvent patches down the barrel. Do not scrub - fouling is abrasive and scrubbing back-and-forth can wear on a bore. Continue pushing patches down the bore until they come out clean.

3. If the powder fouling was very heavy, I will repeat steps 1 & 2. Copper fouling will generally come out with moly as long as there is not a lot of copper under the moly. Butch�s Bore Shine, Sweets, Montana X-Treme will remove any residual stubborn copper fouling. Follow directions and make sure you flood out any high ammonia content solvent with lots of oil patches. [I use WD-40 for this process and literally flood the bore with the muzzle down in a catch can. About 10 second squirt and a few patches will push all solvent from the bore. This is the only use of WD-40 on a firearm that I can recommend] Follow WD-40 with Hoppe�s to remove the oil.

4. Using an old brush, wrap a patch with a small amount JB Bore Paste on it. Make sure patch is tight but not so much resistence that you flex your cleaning rod. Make a minimum of 30 or more passes completely up and down the bore. Do not short stroke or scrub the bore with JB! Only use long, moderately slow strokes.

If you are not wanting to remove all the moly go lightly on the JB. Flush the bore and use a corrosion preventative for storage. If you want to remove most of the moly in order to go back to non-coated bullets then finish with steps 5 - 8.

5. Follow the JB with several Kroil soaked patches to remove fouling and JB. A flood of oil followed by a few more patches will ensure all the JB is out of the bore. Dry patch to make sure no indication of JB is left in the bore.

6. At this point you have removed all lose moly (90 - 95%). The only moly that remains is what has been burnished into the bore. To remove this, you must break the molecular bond. To do this, products like Moly Magic, Butch�s Bore Shine, or Kroil will complete the process. Moly Magic is the quickest, and Kroil is the slowest.

7. Soak the bore with one of the solvents in step 6. Let sit for several hours or more. I generally soak over night with the muzzle angles slightly below the action. Then I scrub using several rounds with a tight solvent patch with short strokes. Continue soak and scrub steps. The longer you allow the solvent to soak the easier the moly bond will be broken.

8. Finish with a high quality bore oil like Butch�s Gun Oil - my favorite. Remember, do not leave any Teflon based oils (BreakFree) in your bore. IF you use BreakFree in the bore, use a few patches with Hoppe�s solvent prior to shooting. Teflon is not something you want in your bore prior to shooting.

This method while long, will �safely� remove all traces of moly from your bore. Bore scope inspection confirms this method works with minimal abrasive contact. ANY moly left in your bore at this point will not adversely affect accuracy or cause any corrosion concern.