molly coating bullets ?

[cjmac]

So i know nothing about molly coating bullets. Whats the easiest way to do it ? I know a guy at the range that coats his, and it gets EVERYWHERE! its a mess. By the end of the day its all over his hands. WTF. I hope it will help with the one gun that has a factory barrel

 

[chkunz]

So i know nothing about molly coating bullets. Whats the easiest way to do it ? I know a guy at the range that coats his, and it gets EVERYWHERE! its a mess. By the end of the day its all over his hands. WTF. I hope it will help with the one gun that has a factory barrel

I do not shoot molly coated bullets but I know a lot of folks that do that I respect their opinions and they claim very positive results. When molly became all the thing about 20 years ago the only option was to do the coating yourself. All the issues with doing the coating myself did not appeal to me at the time so I did not go with them. Now you can buy bullets already coated and skip the do it your self route for a few dollars per 500 bullets. If I were a new shooter today I would shoot moly coated bullets but I would buy them already coated. But first I would look into the new coating that some folks say is better than molly. This reminds me of the comedian that said recently, "Can we all just agree to skip what comes after blue Ray?"

 

[cjmac]

Iv thought of getting them already coated . But some of the bullets i want dont come coated i dont think,ill have to look. I know the sierra 60gr flat base HP doesn't. Ill have to do it. Even when thay come already coated are thay still nasty ? Iv den told to get lyman super molly and use in a tumbler and done.

 

[WillyTP]

If you have an old rock tumbler or can buy a cheap one, I would suggest wet coating. Take the tumbling bucket, put in the bullets you want to coat. Make sure the bullets are clean and oil free. Then put just enough water to cover the bullets and add your moly powder. I normally let mine tumble for a couple of hours. Then remove them and dry them off on an old towel. I also use spray wax on mine. When they are on the towel, spray them let it sit for a little time then buff them in the towel. Hope this helps? It's not bad or hard to do, save the moly water in a sealed jug for the next time you coat and you also won't have any waste. This way is not messy and I've not had any come off while loading or shooting.

 

[cjmac]

Nice ... whats the best way to clean bullets first ?

 

[WillyTP]

I Just wash them with a degreaser in the bathroom sink. Hope my wife doesn't read this 😄!

 

[tenring]

Wash them first in denatured alcohol. Pour enuf in a pan to cover all bullets, then strain it out. Place wet bullets in a double paper towel. Rub the bullets reasonably dry. Do not touch any. Put a very small amount of moly in a threaded jar (I use old RX bottles)
and duct tape the lid. Put the filled bottle in your tumbler, let it on for 2-3 hours. Bullets should come out nice and slippery. Wipe them with paper or cloth towel, and put them in boxes. Easy to do. Do not add wax.

 

[cjmac]

If you dont add wax, but use the wet tumbling method will the moly come off on your handa wen your are loading them

 

[Immike]

If you dont add wax, but use the wet tumbling method will the moly come off on your handa wen your are loading them

No it doesn't. I use the wet method also and the wax is not necessary at all. The wax is a mess for the seater dies also and has to be removed often. Skip it with wet method. If you pull a bullet that has wet application you will be hard pressed to tell it has been pulled. The dry will come right off when pulled and it will be obvious.

 

[kentcroy]

I'm not wanting to hijack this thread, but I use WS2, tungsten disulfide, it's dry and has roughly 50% more lubricosity and 50% higher working temp than moly, and in the long run much cheaper and easier to use too. I was able to get a 1lb "sample", of .6 micron WS2 from a firm in Canada for $60 with shipping, enough to plate 7000lbs worth of bullets, I then got a set of plastic mixing bowls and a colander with round holes in it, two boxes of BBs, and a new cheap vibratory tumbler. I first washed the BBs with ordinary lacquer thiner in one of the mixing bowls, once dried put them in the tumbler, note: tumbler is used only for this process, to the BBs I added one grain WS2 per pound of BBs, then tumbled for an hour or so to completely plate them. I then added 100 bullets, also washed in lacquer thinner, and one grain of WS2 per pound of the bullets. The BBs pound the powder onto the bullets plating them in about an hour and a half. With the colander with the round holes, I think the holes are about 3/16" in size, I separated the BBs from the bullets. They come out black and very dull looking, and need to be polished, so into to an old hunting sock I put them, gently rubbing them around on a tablet top until they come out shiney and ready to load. The coating does not come off easy, but you might get some on your fingers as you load, but not too bad. My mentor at the time, an NRA record holder at 600yds, suggested I try this, I'm glad he did. On a side note, to get the same velocity with a given load an increase of charge is needed, it's best to slowly work up till you get back up to the speed you need for your known accurate load, this is true for any coated bullet.
Now, why did I say all this? Because I have had none of the problems associated with moly or HBN, and barrel cleaning after a 60+ round match is a breeze compared to naked bullets in my experience as a NRA Mid Range High Master. Good luck with what ever you go with, and keep an open mind and do some research, might save you some time and money, besides putting less wear and tear on your expensive barrels.
Kent

 

[Changeling]

Hi Kent. What are the problems associated with using HBN, I think that is the abbreviation for Boron Nitride?

I know nothing basically about the subject !

 

[kentcroy]

I remember someone talking about HBN causing build up on the bore, much like moly with wax coating, not possitve on that though, I think HBN is a good product, but from a cost perspective I think it's costlier than WS2, for $60 I got a lifetime supply. Google was my guide for finding a wealth of info, the guys here have years of experience on such matters too!
Kent

 

[snakepit]

Maybe Nomad47 will give us a post. I know he is very knowledgeable about HBN.

 

[Brians356]

I don't have a tumbler, but here's the po' folk's method, which doesn't make a mess:

Get a small empty plastic vitamin bottle. (I suggest the ones of white opaque plastic.) Fill it ~90% with bullets, put in a "pinch" of dry moly powder (using a little scrap of cardstock or what have you as a dipper - not your fingers!), close it tightly, use duct tape to make darned sure the lid won't come off, and to seal it so no powder can leak out (not shown in photo), then wrap the bottle securely in foam cushioning, and tumble it in your clothes dryer on "air only" or "cool" mode for 1 hour.

I found some blocks of foam material out of a shipping box, and cut a bottle-shaped hollow in two of them, then sandwiched the pill bottle between the halves and wrapped it securely with duct tape. I can reuse the same bottle and foam surround over and over. It bounces around harmlessly in the clothes dryer.

Note: A surprisingly small amount of moly powder goes a long way. After the bullets are removed, and are well coated, there will remain a significant amount of moly in the bottle, probably enough to do the next batch(es) without adding any. YMMV.

You could also use the pill bottle in a regular tumbler, to keep from contaminating it with moly powder. Wrapping it completely with a couple of layers of duct tape would probably suffice.

 

[kentcroy]

This is the tumbler I bought, works great.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/587176/frankford-arsenal-quick-n-ez-case-tumbler-110-volt?cm_vc=ProductFinding
Kent

 

[averh2o]

I think I'd spend the money for a tumbler, way cheaper than divorce court. if my wife caught me using the dryer I'd be dead meat.

 

[Brians356]

I think I'd spend the money for a tumbler, way cheaper than divorce court. if my wife caught me using the dryer I'd be dead meat.

Wife? Does not compute here. 8)

 

[cjmac]

So who makes moly, and where is a good place to get it .the only one iv found is lyman super moly

 

[Brians356]

So who makes moly, and where is a good place to get it .the only one iv found is lyman super moly

I've got enough powder to last forever, as I don't use it much anymore. I could send you some in a pinch. Are you sure Midway or Brownells don't carry the powder? (Not paste type stuff.)

 

[Immike]

I think I'd spend the money for a tumbler, way cheaper than divorce court. if my wife caught me using the dryer I'd be dead meat.

Wife? Does not compute here. 8)

Before my sentence (23 yrs as of yesterday) I used my dryer to tumble some hides I was trying to tan. Lol I miss those days.