[amamnn]

I was shooting in AZ when the Moly craze hit there. Like a lot of other BR shooters I looked into it and decided to give it a try. Result 1 was that my muzzle velocity went down a bit. Yes, I said DOWN. Turns out that a Moly coated bullet enters the lands more easily so start pressures are not held as long resulting in the velocity drop. Since this drop could not be controlled there was variance and a slight opening up of groups shot at 300 + yards. Result 2 was that I could shoot longer between cleanings. However, I did not like the variance in the groups so I went to moly paste applied in the barrel and was happy with that for years, getting the benefit of moly without the problem.

I moved to WA. Remember the song "Who's Sorry Now?" Nevermind. Experienced BR shooters here were appalled that I would even put moly in the same room with an expensive match rifle, let alone put it IN the barrel!!!!!! There have been lots of corrosion problems with moly bullets or moly paste applied to a barrel that was less than 100% clean when there is a lot of moisture to get into the mix of chemicals that all mill around in your chamber and barrel when you shoot. I've tapered off using any moly at all now.

You will undoubtedly hear from hunters and plinkers that moly is good stuff and all the problems are just so much eyewash. I will only say that I have seen through the bore scope what moly can do to a throat and barrel. Remember that serious match shooters will run through more rounds in one match than a lot of hunters shoot all year long. If you allow for practice, there are match shooters running more rounds through a gun than most hunters will shoot in a lifetime. Match barrels are going to heat up more, too. So, moly problems will appear in a match rifle sooner than a hunting rifle usually. Match shooters are a lot more likely to have a bore scope and use it. Match rifles are mostly of calibers that are more quickly and obviously affected by tiny pits in the barrel.

It could be that you cleaned your rifle perfectly before after shooting in the desert and the moly did exactly what it is supposed to do: bond with the steel and make a nice slick surface in your barrel. Or it could be that you missed some gunk and the moly plated right over it and also trapped a few water molecules as well and as the rifle sits in your safe waiting for next year's elk hunt, sulfuric acid is forming tiny pockets of corrosion in your gun. It might not show up as degraded performance in a large bore hunting rifle for years, depending upon how many pockets were formed. Personally, in this environment here in the drizzle capitol of the USA, I'm not taking any chances.