Moly-coated bullet questions

[16in50calNavalRifle]

Have been considering picking up some Bear Creek moly-coated bullets to try. Not a steal in terms of price, but comparable to online cast bullet sources when shipping is included. I have a few practical questions about the bullets - I have searched this forum and another major one online, yet have not really found clear answers to my questions.

First, does using them for reloading involve any particular adjustments, especially clean-up tasks, compared to regular cast bullets? I know the coating is a dry lube, I'm just wondering whether it tends to foul up the seating die or imposes other cleaning burdens on the reloader. This is not a deal-breaker, as I already deal with case lube for 30 carbine and 9mm, and some die-fouling issues due to the lube from regular cast bullets.

Second, similar question for gun-cleaning: anything about moly bullets that changes the typical cleaning process I already use for regular cast or jacketed ammo?

Third, I assume loading data for these bullets is the same as for similar weight/shape cast bullets. They seem to come in typical weights and bullet styles.

Thanks to anyone who has used Bear Creek or similar bullets and can address these questions.

[tdg]

HI
Have used these and other moly coated bullets off and on for years
Really can't tell any difference between moly and non coated

[Whiterabbit]

To shoot moly IMO you want the moly in your barrel. It's a bastard to clean out. Once it's in there most other deposition falls right out. But you dont get to pick and choose when you want that moly in there unless you've got the time to scrub it out!

[Revoman]

It does not gum up your reloading set up at all, the moly pretty much stays put, except a little will rub off onto your fingers....at least Bear Creeks. I dunno about any others.

I have heard about the scrubbing required to remove the moly from your barrel, but if that's what you shoot, why would you scrub it all out?

You didn't mention if these were for handgun or rifles. I use for handguns and have had very good results in 9mm, 38 special, 40 and 45, no issues what so ever.

Loading data I believe should use jacketed data as they are slicker than the ordinary lead and thus require different data, although not too different. As always start low and work your way up to what you like.

Bear Creek also gives breaks on pricing after meeting the quota, 20 boxes save 5%, 50 boxes save 10% and also free shipping on orders over $110 I believe. You can buy direct. 209.874.4322 is the number.

[16in50calNavalRifle]

Thanks all for your comments.

Revoman, you're right, I forgot to note that this is for handgun - 9mm, 38, 45ACP.

As for bore fouling, you raise a good point. I would expect to continue to shoot a mix of bullets - cast and jacketed. And, if I go ahead with Bear Creek, moly will be added to the mix. I don't know if there would be any need to clean any moly residuce from the bore - at least in terms of any effect on other kinds of rounds.

The only thing I've seen on bore cleaning is a brief reference in the Lyman 49 manual to using Kroil to clean moly from rifle bores.

If I could buy fewer than 500 at a time, of course, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a few and try them.

[Whiterabbit]

I have heard about the scrubbing required to remove the moly from your barrel, but if that's what you shoot, why would you scrub it all out?

I wouldn't. Big if though. If I had a range queen and only shot moly and didn't cast my own, I'd probably only shoot moly through it. Just scrub the CRAP out of it to get a nice clean new-metal shiney bore then let the moly do its thing. I'd probably never have to clean the bore again after the first couple hundred rounds.

[leros]

I was using Rainer lead free plated bullets for 45acp and 9mm for a long time and shooting two and three times a week at the range and then a match during the week and on a weekend makes lead costs add up. I changed to Bear Creek about a year ago and my lead costs now literally half of what they were shooting the Rainiers.

I like Bear Creek bullets a lot and have had zero problems with them, well not zero problems. The only problems I have are how slick they are when loading them (I use a Dillon 650), they are very slippery between the fingers! The other problem I had was a leaded barrel in my carry gun, a Glock 26. I fixed this problem by installing a KKM barrel and problem solved. I was warned about the OEM Glock barrels leading up but I went ahead and tried it once at the range when I bought it shooting 200 Bear Creeks through it and it was a PITA to clean.

I mainly shoot 45acp, probably triple the amount as compared to 9mm. I shoot a Les Baer with a Cart barrel and the rifling looks fantastic and that's with 1000's of rounds through it. I recently broke a Briley Spherical bushing on my Baer but I don't think it was the fault of the Bear Creeks, I think it was just from "using" the gun.

I'm getting ready to build a Glock open gun with a compensated barrel for 3 Gun. I'm planning on running Bear Creek bullets in it also but they will be shot through a KKM barrel as well so I don't foresee any issues. The Bear Creek bullets are a great value for the money and if I can save on reloading costs that means I can shoot more. I buy them by the 1000's and get them locally so I save on shipping which is sweet. BTW, I also load these for a friend in 9mm for a Sig and he has no problems with them.

[bohoki]

i used bear creek bullets up till when they went to 6 cents each then i started casting my own now i think they run like 10 cents each and every cast bullet i make i say thats a dime i just made

i loved the 200gn swc it works in my glock21 ,1911 , baby eagle

the lee lube i use builds up on my seater and every now and then a bullet will come out with a half moon of what looks like earwax attached

never had any residue with bear creeks

[sargenv]

I'm not sure why you'd use data for jacketed.. I have been using bear creeks on and off for about 15 years. 40, 45, 38, 9mm. I load using lead data since these are slicker and softer than jacketed.

Give an example, my current minor load for ICORE is 4.6 gr of Solo 1000 with a 158 LRN (bear creek) sized to .358" and it will give me a PF of 130 which is about 822 fps.

I loaded some 150 gr Jacketed Noslers recently using the exact same everything and the PF dropped to 112 (746 fps). Jacketed bullets have more friction and need a larger powder charge to get to the same velocity as the Moly coated lead stuff.

I will likely have to bump my powder charge .5-.8 gr to get the same velocity as the bear creeks. This is common. Lead bullets in general are softer and do not require as much powder to get to the same velocity as Jacketed does.

The Moly coated stuff is even slicker (it is a baked on coating, this directly from the manufacturer) so you may have to use a bit less powder than even hard cast.

Personally, I never clean the bore of my pistols. If there is no leading present, why bother cleaning an already sesoned bore if it is giving you the accuracy you desire? I have fired quite literally thousands of rounds through my barrels and have not had any detrimental effect on accuracy.

I too started casting after lead prices went up and use a different method of tumble lubing, but I still don't clean the bore of my pistols unless I've changed something in the alloy and it leads up the bore. The other reason for casting is that no one was making the shape I wanted for the 40 S&W for revolvers, it was all truncated cone or flat point and I needed a long round nose.

[scarville]

Bear Creek is still in business?

[sargenv]

I hope so, they said they would donate 25,000 bullets for the Golden Bullet Norcal section prize table

[scarville]

'K. I hadn't heard anything about them for a couple of years.

[Latigo]

You don't have to srub anything. Wipe Out Bore Foam will do it clean and easy.
I wrote this one a couple of years ago. It might help.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is our process. Your's will vary, but this has proven itself for us.

Moly Impact Coating:

If you projectiles are to be Meplat trimmed and Pointed, do it now.

Moly is something we're using in a projectile dedicated AR10 Custom Build rifle with a Walther 17-4 S/S, Electro Polished bore. If you're going to use Moly you absolutely must remove any and all traces of copper from your bore. Degreasing the projectiles is critical. Dawn or a like soap,100 projectiles or more in a plastic collander. Place the collander in a bowl large enough to contain it and add Dawn soap and very hot water. Use your hands if you can stand it, or use a plastic bristled dish scrubber and run it back and forth through the projectiles with a swirling scrubbing action.



Remove the collander from the bowl and rinse well with very hot water. Place a large, clean thick Terry towel on the counter and gently dump the projectiles onto the first 1/3rd of the towel. Do not touch the projectiles from this point on other than with latex or like gloves unless your hands are scrubbed clean and free of body oils. Human body oil is as bad as motor oil. I use the disposable hospital latex gloves. They come in a box of 100 and they're thin and super cheap. Your clean hands are ok for spreading them out on the towel. After that use gloves. Spread the projectiles out flat in a close group and let them sit for 15 minutes. Lift up the towel by the edges and roll them into the next 1/3rd area. Repeat



Everyone and his brother has a methodology and most involve small pill bottles in the tumbler suspended with corncob media or the far less desireable Thumbler's Tumbler. I don't.
Method A: I use large 16oz plastic straightwalled jars with a slight taper toward the bottom with screw on lids, and not inside the tumbler in in the media. We use one of our shop made 1/2" thick Sintra tops, made to fit the tumbler/vibrator. Two or four holes (depending on the model) are cut to accept the jars.

NOTE! We do NOT sell these.

[Latigo]

Method B: All four jars are spaced evenly around the shaft on their sides, blocked with dense foam.
Place .177 Dawn washed steel BBs in the bottom 1/4 of each jar. Add two heaping teaspoons of Lab Grade Moly in each and seal the jars. Vibrate for three full hours pausing at the 1 1/2 hour mark to remove them from the vibrator top and shake up and down vigorously a few times. Replace them snugly and continue vibrating to 3 hours.











Place 50 to 75 .30 caliber (or whatever, untouched by human hands) clean projectiles in each of the four jars, add a very liberal 2 to 3 Tsp. of Moly and vibrate for three hours. Within reason, you cannot use too much Moly. The unused Moly simply stays in the jar and keeps working on the next batch. Moly does not penetrate the copper jacket like hBN, so unused Moly simply sloughs off the projectile when its sufficiently coarted. The jars contained in the Dillon impact coat the projectiles easily 4 times harder and faster than in a pill bottle suspended inside the tumbler in media.



We bought the Sierra Moly coated SMKs to compare to our process. Sierra's and Tubb's seem to be identical in coating. It took almost half again as much effort to scratch ours as it did the Sierras. Our process was given to us by our AR10s builder. He impact coats some 2,000 projectiles a week for his Security Contract buyers of his rifles and for EDM. He uses 4 of the Commercial Dillon Tumbler/Vibrators. He had been using two large plastic mayonnaise jars taped to the tops of his Dillons until we got involved. We supplied him with our custom Sintra made tops and that's all he uses now.

[Latigo]

The final super important factor in finishing our bullets came from our AR10 builder. Heat. So much heat that you can barely touch the bullets when the process it done. Our vibrator tops are 1/2" thick flat black Sintra (Expanded PVC), and black absorbs heat like crazy. Our heat sources are large Halogen Body Shop lamps. You have to experiment with distance above the jars to get it right. Too close and you'll soften or melt the jars. Too far and you don't get enough heat. We place them at 45 degrees to the top on either side. If you can find a better or different heat source that works, go for it. Whatever works for you.

Use a large slotted spoon to remove the impact coated projectiles from the jars and transfer them immediately to a dry, thick Terry-Cloth towel.. Grip the towel by both ends, fold them closed and roll the projectiles back and forth in the towel about 8 to 12 times. They're going to come out a bright, rich silver/pewter color and the Moly coat will be very difficult to scratch other than with a steel implement like a screwdriver. You shouldn't be able to remove any at all with your fingernail. They're going to be dead smooth looking with no blotchiness at all.

Terry Towel tumbled.



100 finished ICPs