Cleaning after shooting moly coated bullets

[fwyflyr]

I'm shooting S&W 625 w/4" barrel, 230 gr Bear Creek Moly coated bullet. I'm having trouble getting the moly coating cleaned out of the barrel and the frame. Any suggestions?

[Round_Gun_Shooter]

I'm shooting S&W 625 w/4" barrel, 230 gr Bear Creek Moly coated bullet. I'm having trouble getting the moly coating cleaned out of the barrel and the frame. Any suggestions?

First thought was if you are cleaning you are not shooting enough

MPro 7 seems to work when I use Precision bullets and when I clean.

[Bubber]

fwyflyr, I hardly ever worry about the barrel, but once in a while I will use the J-B bore cleaning compound from Brownells on my cylinders. I get them from the match goody bag at the matches. And as Round gun shooter says the Mpro 7 works great on all the carbon build up you can get. Or just shoot it till it comes out.

[71Commander]

We're suppose to clean them?

[SA Friday]

mix 50% white vinegar and 50% hydro peroxide. plug the barrel on one side and fill the barrel with the mixture. let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Then run a brush through it. Everything will come right out. You can pull the cylinder, strip it and soak it exactly the same and then brush the holes with equal results.

[sargenv]

When I was shooting the moly coated stuff, I would not ever clean the barrel. I think I had about 2500 rounds through it beofre I bothered cleaning the gun. If it is seasoned with Moly, why take out the seasoning?

[CocoBolo]

Ok, I know something about all this. I used that magic formula of puroxide and vinegar, after which I ordered a new barrel for the gun as it pitted the steel. I probably forgot to set my stop watch and left it soak more than 15 minutes, the recommended max. I will say the moly was gone but it had orange peel like a bad paint job.

At this point I was sure that the barrel had been the issue with the accumulation of moly and lead, wrong. No matter what I shot the loads in I had the same problem.

Cure was a Hornady expander die, when loading moly bullets you must be careful to flare the case enough that the moly is not cut while inserting the bullet. After changing to a good expander and using a taper crimp I can shoot 200 in a match and the barrel is still very clean.

Back to the cleaning. I tried every chemical product on the market, wasted a lot of money and time. The best method is to use a jag and to wrap it in a ChoreBoy, or wrap a wire brush, I used the copper choreboy rather than the stainless steel one. Just take an old pair of sissors cut a piece and wrap it round a jag and send it thru a few times and it is clean.

If your barrel is rough on the inside this can also contribute to build up, get some flitz and polish it a bit. I use JB Bore Paste when the barrel is very dirty, makes it shine like a mirror, yes it is abbrasive but so are all those thousands of bullets I'm shooting..

[FLL1911]

At the time I was using Bear Creek, Precision and Materblaster moly bullets, I used to clean my 1911 and STI with kerosene (a very good, inexpensive solvent and degreaser) and a toothbrush for the exterior, and a cleaning patch inside the barrel, until it came almost clean (it comes light gray). Then Hoppe’s #9 inside the barrel for a few minutes. Cleaning patches after that – worked pretty well.

P.S. kerosene is safe for any gun and it does not evaporate like mineral spirits, which in most cases can be used as gun cleaning and degreaser substitute, but I never use it to cleaning after moly bullets. You can get kerosene at Lowe’s.

[ffl]

mix 50% white vinegar and 50% hydro peroxide. plug the barrel on one side and fill the barrel with the mixture. let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Then run a brush through it. Everything will come right out. You can pull the cylinder, strip it and soak it exactly the same and then brush the holes with equal results.

DO NOT USE THIS FOR MORE THAN RECOMMENDED ABOVE AS IT WILL PITT EVEN STAINLESS STEEL IF LEFT TO LONG. VERY CORROSIVE

I have a friend that did this to his 1911 barrel. had to send gun to factory for installation of a new barrel

[pskys2]

Precision and Master Blaster Bullets are not the same coating. I'm not sure about Bear Creek but it sounds a lot like Masterblasters.

Precision will leave a coating but it's not bad and doesn't seem to build up once it's on. I used to use them in my 1911 and Revo until they flattened the noses.

Masterblasters would leave a HARD lead/moly coating that just kept building until the bore was smooth, and that was after only 100 rounds! It was aggravating in my 1911's, but managable for practice. But in a Revo it was horrible, the forcing cone would fill up and the rifling would look like a shotgun barrel very quickly.

I used a Lewis Lead Remover and then Shooters Choice Bore Cleaner and it cleaned the worst out, fired a bunch of Jacketed and cleaned again.

Some Moly/Poly Coatings are worse than lead and I tried half a dozen different powders.

I'd stick with Jacketed/Plated or straight lead, or Precision Moly Bullets. Be careful of the others.

[el pres]

Plated bullets !! About at match worth ...

[kaiserb]

http://www.choreboyscrubbers.com/metal.htm

Available at Krogers and Walgreens... Make sure you buy the "Copper" one as it will peel the lead and moly out of the barrels and chambers without doing damage.

[HighVelocity]

After 5 or 6k rounds of 200gr Bear Creek Moly's down the pipe of my SS blaster, I have never had any issues. I'll drag a boresnake through it once in a while for grins but otherwise, nothing down the bore but more bullets. There's obviously build up in the bore but it has not had any effect on performance. I can still get a 50 yard headshot with it.

[kaiserb]

After 5 or 6k rounds of 200gr Bear Creek Moly's down the pipe of my SS blaster, I have never had any issues. I'll drag a boresnake through it once in a while for grins but otherwise, nothing down the bore but more bullets. There's obviously build up in the bore but it has not had any effect on performance. I can still get a 50 yard headshot with it.

I think it is the 17 gallons of Mobil 1 you have on your revolver that may be a factor.

[HighVelocity]

After 5 or 6k rounds of 200gr Bear Creek Moly's down the pipe of my SS blaster, I have never had any issues. I'll drag a boresnake through it once in a while for grins but otherwise, nothing down the bore but more bullets. There's obviously build up in the bore but it has not had any effect on performance. I can still get a 50 yard headshot with it.

I think it is the 17 gallons of Mobil 1 you have on your revolver that may be a factor.

If you're not cleaning your glasses after every stage, you're not using enough oil.

[jmax]

I suspect the loading technique as I use Bear Creek moly coated in my 625, 627's and an old M15 w/o leading or moly crud. Look at case belling and taper crimp to correct this problem.

[Carmoney]

I think it is the 17 gallons of Mobil 1 you have on your revolver that may be a factor.

If you're not cleaning your glasses after every stage, you're not using enough oil.

Whoa, Nelly.

Mobil 1 is the right lube, but it should be used very sparingly in a quality revolver. And whatever you do, keep it out from under the extractor star.

[johnb]

I've used Bear Creek in my 625's and 627's without a leading or build up problem for several years. I rarely need to scrub out the bore and usually use the Carmoney method of bore cleaning which is shooting some jacketed stuff through them. As was suggested earlier, maybe try to bell the cases a bit more.

[jmax]

Mobil 1 is the right lube, but it should be used very sparingly in a quality revolver. And whatever you do, keep it out from under the extractor star.

There are stars in the sky, there are stars in Hollywood, there are star fish and the Star of David but there ain't no stars in Smith revolvers, there are extractors and ratchets, so quoted one of my S&W armorer instructors. Gunsmiths should be precise in their language, especially with an ESQ after their name

Edited June 15, 2009 by jmax

[20nickels]

Mobil 1 is the right lube, but it should be used very sparingly in a quality revolver. And whatever you do, keep it out from under the extractor star.

There are stars in the sky, there are stars in Hollywood, there are star fish and the Star of David but there ain't no stars in Smith revolvers, there are extractors and ratchets, so quoted one of my S&W armorer instructors. Gunsmiths should be precise in their language, especially with an ESQ after their name

"ain't" ain't a word.

Kroil, It's about the only thing that will take the moly bullet coating from inside of a rifle barrel.

[Carmoney]

There are stars in the sky, there are stars in Hollywood, there are star fish and the Star of David but there ain't no stars in Smith revolvers, there are extractors and ratchets, so quoted one of my S&W armorer instructors.

I can think of several examples of revolver part names that have developed widespread use despite never being sanctioned by the manufacturer. The purists will always make sure to remind everyone those aren't "grips"--they're "stocks." And that's not a "frame-mounted firing pin" on your 25-2 for heaven's sake--it's a "hammer nose." Says so right there on the factory parts list--see???

I suspect the same thing happens in virtually every field of endeavor, every technical area of study, and every profession. And there's always going to be some pedantic little prick around (like the S&W armorer's instructor you mentioned) who derives much more pleasure from issuing corrections than he does communicating the information that really matters.

[Jaxshooter]

I shoot Precision 230 gr Black bullets in my 625s and Single Stacks. I can get the coating from them out by running a moonclip or magazine with Zero JHPs thru it.

[jmax]

Actually Mike language should be precise especially in law enforcement and that was the point that he made. The factory instructors were very experienced and excellent instructors. My goodness leaping to conclusions again.

[coldchar]

mix 50% white vinegar and 50% hydro peroxide. plug the barrel on one side and fill the barrel with the mixture. let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Then run a brush through it. Everything will come right out. You can pull the cylinder, strip it and soak it exactly the same and then brush the holes with equal results.

I was told not to get that mixture near any bluing you like.

[GrumpyOne]

From what research I have done, a while back it was discovered (in long guns anyway) that not cleaning the Moly coating from the inside of the barrel was a leading cause of pitting in the lands and grooves. It seems that after shooting a bunch of moly bullets, the coating builds up on the inside of the barrel, but doesn't completely adhere to the surface. What was determined to be causing the pitting was that after shooting many rounds, then just putting in the gun in a case, the moisture in the case was drawn by convection (just like your air conditioner coils dripping cold water, even though it's 100 degrees outside) to the space between the moly coating and the lands and grooves, as the moly coating would cool quicker than the steel of the barrel. Scared me enough that I won't shoot moly bullets anymore.....JHP's for me.