Molybdenum disulfide

[BOOGIE the oily]

Yeah, I know what you must be thinking: Another damn moly thread! why won't these people do a search before posting?

I did do a search, and I read a lot of threads about the subject. But all of them are either about moly coating bullets, or about using moly grease. My question is different.

Now, there are tons of threads about moly coating bullets, and, while moly build-up inside the barrel is a known issue, and the main reason not to do it (besides the mess), the lubricating properties of the stuff are undeniable, and, unlike graphite, it doesn't seem to have any major drawbacks to be used in a gun.

So my question is: What if, instead of coating the bullets, we just rub the moly powder inside the barrel? That is, actually, the way it's meant to be used, and it would allow us to build it up in a controlled way, while at the same time keeping our hands (and everything else) pretty clean.

So what do you guys think?

[SmokinTom]

I think you should try it and let us know how it works out for you.

[Laz]

moly build-up inside the barrel is a known issue

That being the case, wouldn't coating the inside of the barrel introduce much, much more of the substance than coating single bullets?

[Lexspeed]

I was introduced to MollyD while in the USN in the early 70's it was used effectively to grease the rotor heads on SH-3 helicopters that I flew in. Hey, it worked fine on my 1971 MG Midgets knock-off wheel hub spines, too. But, my gun barrels? No, thanks. It just sounds like a bad idea to me. Let's us know how it works for you.

[BOOGIE the oily]

That being the case, wouldn't coating the inside of the barrel introduce much, much more of the substance than coating single bullets?

Good point.
Could be. For what I read (or what I understood of what I read), the problem comes because of the accumulation of moly, after shooting hundreds, or maybe thousands of rounds. Seems like, once deposited, cleaning the moly off the barrel is a difficult task, so it keeps on piling up until it starts raising the barrel's internal pressure, and then... kaboom!
So, the way I see it, if you were to manually deposit the powdered moly in the barrel as needed, even if the resulting coat is thicker than what one coated bullet would leave behind, you wouldn't have that cumulative effect. On the contrary: each bullet you fire would strip some of the moly off, instead of adding to it. And the result could be not only some extra protection for the rifling, but also maybe some extra bullet velocity...

[RickB]

I've never seen a moly-coated pistol bullet, as much as the phrase "moly coated" is thrown around.
Coated, "black bullets" have a polymer coating that contains moly, but when I asked a local maker of black bullets, he said his coating contained twelve ingredients, one of which was moly.
True moly coated bullets are conventional jacketed rifle bullets tumbled in moly powder, and I've never seen pistol bullets treated like that?

[10-96]

If the moly idea appeals to you for barrel coating, look at what's been done with HBN- Hexagonal Boron Nitride. I've been tinkering around with it, and haven't found any negatives yet. It's so much cleaner and less labor intensive than moly.

I took an idea from David Tubb and changed it a bit. I suspend the HBN in 95% alcohol and swab the barrel after every shot for 10 shots. Mr. Tubb sells a system of pre-treated bullets. I'm sure that works great, but I can't convince myself that all of the barrel gets evenly coated. Wherein swabbing the barrel (and letting it dry) gives an even coating from front to back. From what I can tell, what doesn't get implanted into the pores of the barrel gets blown out with the gas, carbon, etc.

[SHR970]

Using strictly the powdered form won't do you much good. You won't get anything resembling even application and it won't hang around properly so it can be 'adhered' to the surface.

Now mixing it in with a light carrier oil and applying it with a patch will help solve those issues.

This is how I apply moly to MY barrels.

[BOOGIE the oily]

I've never seen a moly-coated pistol bullet, as much as the phrase "moly coated" is thrown around.

Well, they don't use it anymore, but if you do a search in the cast boolits forum, there were a lot of people doing it. They used wax, I think, to make the moly powder stick to the bullet.
Either way, AFAIK, they did it to cast lead bullets, not jacketed ones.

If the moly idea appeals to you for barrel coating, look at what's been done with HBN- Hexagonal Boron Nitride. I've been tinkering around with it, and haven't found any negatives yet. It's so much cleaner and less labor intensive than moly.

I took an idea from David Tubb and changed it a bit. I suspend the HBN in 95% alcohol and swab the barrel after every shot for 10 shots. Mr. Tubb sells a system of pre-treated bullets. I'm sure that works great, but I can't convince myself that all of the barrel gets evenly coated. Wherein swabbing the barrel (and letting it dry) gives an even coating from front to back. From what I can tell, what doesn't get implanted into the pores of the barrel gets blown out with the gas, carbon, etc.

Now, THAT'S interesting. Thank you. Any other details you can add? I'll see if I can get HBN in here. If I can't, I can always try your method with the moly...

Using strictly the powdered form won't do you much good. You won't get anything resembling even application and it won't hang around properly so it can be 'adhered' to the surface.

Now mixing it in with a light carrier oil and applying it with a patch will help solve those issues.

This is how I apply moly to MY barrels.

Another interesting idea. Thank you.

I guess I have some experimenting to do. Can't wait to get my gun, and start working...