Moly or not

[murf205]

I just ran across a pinch of some of Lyman moly lube. I didn't have a lot of luck with it IIRC in loading handgun ammo. Soooo, what is the verdict on moly.? I've heard that it is a real pita to clean out of the barrels on rifles once it gets impregnated. What are your views on it, yay or nay?

[Outpost75]

Absolutely not!

[murf205]

I said some very unkind things about it when trying to get all of it out of my Lyman 450.

[Ben]

Get it on a white shirt and see what your wife says about it ?

[Maven]

The above comments mirror my experience with it as well. However, it is a good bullet lube, but not better than various Alox-based lubes or Felix Lube, especially if you factor in its price.

[Winger Ed.]

The moly fad has passed..... and for good reasons.
Now the current fad is powder coating.

[gnostic]

I've used moly on both cast and jacketed bullets for years, with great results. What is it that doesn't work for you? I almost never clean my guns and get zero leading or copper fouling. In the past 50 + years, I've never cleaned out my Lyman or RCBS sizers....

[john.k]

Moly and just about anything is a good bullet lube ......might be worth trying the flake boron nitride ...supposed to better than moly....and not black .

[metricmonkeywrench]

I have the Moly in one of my sizers, either for .38 or 9mm. Seems to work just fine and the guns clean up just like everything else. I don't try to clean them out to change lubes, I just add the new stick of whatever I choose and continue on. It does make for some funny looking lube patterns as the lubes push around each other and eventually purges out.

In the Lyman Lubes as far as I know the Moly and the Alox are the only ones that will flow at room temp, everything else pretty much needs heat. As such these two softer lubes reside in my Lyman 45's.

[gunther]

Mirror Lube was what got me started. It's moly-graphite, from what I've read since. Worked very well for 38's and 45's. A Ruger Old Army has thrived on Ford moly EP tube grease since about 1980. If you can get through a NMLRA pistol agg in 45 minutes, and place , it'll do. It also works finger-dabbed on as-cast rifle bullets.

[Bigslug]

It's worth noting that impact-plating moly onto a jacketed bullet and mixing moly into a grease/wax bullet lube are two TOTALLY different things.

When Dad and I were shooting Highpower seriously in the '90's, we were moly-coating our jacketed bullets with the Neco process and found that it seemed to help uniform velocities and safely allowed for a little bit hotter charge. We never did experience the "excess of moly plating the bore" that others have claimed. At any rate, we abandoned the process some years ago.

As for adding it to a grease lube matrix? Considering what a bullet lube is supposed to do - act as an ablative sealing gasket to prevent gas blow-by - I can't imagine it bringing anything useful to an already good lube, unless it somehow helps the lube ring flip off the bullet evenly at the muzzle. That said, it's not going to hurt anything.

[Smoke4320]

yes all the rage in long range competitions in the 90's. I tryed it once yes it did see a slight gain in consistency but not enough in my mind to put up with the cleanup time if you got it on anything else and believe me you would

[gwpercle]

It was all the rage but ... didn't pan out to be all it was supposed to be .

Here is a simple , two ingredient lube that works for boolits , handgun and rifle to about 2,000 fps . old school ... 1 part Lithium grease + 3 parts Beeswax = Lithi-Bee Lube .
I use Lucas Red-N-Tacky Lithium Grease and clean beeswax from a local Beekeeper .

The original recipe I got from the maker ( Garth Choate ) was :
8 lbs Lithium grease + 24 pounds Beeswax ! I cut it down to fit my crockpot 1 / 3 pounds and melt and stire in the crockpot ... takes two or three meltings and blendings with a wire whisk to get a homogenized blend / mix . The grease doesn't melt so it needs stirring to get incorporated and it works better when three melting , stirring and let cool sessions are done .
It is good lube against leading ...but it is beeswax and grease and a mite smokey ...
But I like it .
Garth says to keep a Fire Extinguisher handy when making this ... if the big batch reaches the flash point ... things get busy ... best do it outside too !
Gary

[john.k]

I have no claims about jacketed bullets..........however I am a big fan of MoS2 in lubes of all kinds.,with the xception of engine and gearbox oils ........it has been demonstrated to settle and pack in ball and roller bearings .

[SimonSorenKam]

I have an old recipe that worked well with my 577/.450 casting. It's valvoline tube grease, vegetable shortening (crisco) and bee's wax. Valvtablewax. Works great in my trapdoor, Martini-Henry, Snider, and hopefully on .58 Miller.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I've used moly, molybdenum disulfide, NECO process with jacketed bullets, getting excellent accuracy, maybe a bit more velocity and better first shot into group results. Moly in bullet lube is not a big issue, with different result than the 'moly plating/embedding' process on jacketed bullets, but good results. The hygroscopic nature of moly on a steel surface can cause etching under humid or wet conditions, the biggest reason I stopped using moly plated jacketed bullets in 'hunting' rifles. As metal lube, on SLIDING surfaces, trigger/sear, bolt lockup, bolt ways is is outstanding, I really like it for trigger/sear and locking lugs in the right oil or grease. Due to the nature of the MoS molecule, it can score roller and ball bearings when it compressed by the roller or ball in the bearing if not in a grease base. It is non-toxic, can be dirty to work with, but it does not stain in its powder form. With all the available synthetic greases, both auto and firearms, moly can be avoided. I still use it here and there, but for jacketed bullet plating, I've gone to hex boron nitride.

[MUSTANG]

I have used the Lyman 2857272 Super Moly Bullet Lube off and on for years. I moved away from it 7 or 8 years ago because of the messy Black which can stain hands and other things around the bench area. Accuracy was on par with other "High Speed Lubes". Have been using Carnuba Red High Speed 2700+ Cast Bullet Lube over the last 7 to 8 years. Still have a couple of sticks of the Lyman Super Moly hanging out in the storage box of Lube Sticks.

It can still be found on a variety of web stores such as Midway, MidSouth, Amazon etc. I.e. Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Lyman-Reloading-Super-Moly-Bullet/dp/B001OPLP2M

[GONRA]

MostyLeverGuns - GONRA likes MoS2 too! !!
(Never used MoS2 for Bullet Lube,
just for frame rail sliding applications..... )

On new pistols just drizzle a little
(Tungsten Disulfide) WS2 into the rails.

And blast away.....