# Molybdenum disulfide



## BOOGIE_the_oily (May 8, 2017)

Yeah, I know what you must be thinking: OMG! 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?


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

I think that it probably wouldn't do a lot of good.
But trying it wouldn't hurt anything.

Maybe use a tight (oversize?) bore mop on the end of a cleaning rod, and dump the moly powder onto the mop. (Or roll the mop in a pile of powder.)
Then rub the mop back and forth through the barrel.
Finish the job with a push tip on the rod, and a tight patch, to polish the moly into the metal.

Truth is, it's much easier just to use jacketed or half-jacketed bullets.


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## BOOGIE_the_oily (May 8, 2017)

Thank you Steve. 
The reason I'm asking is because in the future, due to the cost of bullets here in Buenos Aires, I'm planning on reloading, and casting my own bullets. Now, because of that, I'm planning to join the cast boolits forum when the time comes, and I've been lurking over there for a few months already.
But the problem is the barrel of the gun I'm about to buy (Bersa Thunder 9 Pro XT) comes with polygonal rifling, and that seems to make bare lead bullets a no-no. 
For that reason, I've been reading a lot on powder coating the bullets (hitek coating is not available here), which seems to solve the leading issue on those barrels. And then I thought maybe adding some dry lube to the barrel could not only help minimize (or maybe even get rid of) leading, but it could also squeeze a few extra fps off the bullet, while at the same time protecting the rifling, given that, AFAIK, replacing a gun barrel in here is legally impossible. 
Now I know we can't use graphite, because it produces pitting in the barrel, but, at least for what I read, moly doesn't seem to have that problem.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Moly won't cure the leading problem, in a barrel with polygonal rifling.
You have to use jacketed bullets.

You won't like this: The best way to use lead bullets in your pistol is to find a groove-rifled barrel that fits it.
Do older Bersas have grooved rifling? Would the barrel from an older Bersa fit your gun? Or could such a barrel be modified to fit your gun?

Can't you import bullets (not complete cartridges) into Argentina?

You could buy the equipment needed, to make your own jacketed bullets from lead wire and metal sheet.
But that equipment is expensive, and making bullets with it is a very slow process.
It might be cheaper to buy commercially-made, jacketed-bullet cartridges.


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## BOOGIE_the_oily (May 8, 2017)

Sorry, probably my limited English is getting it the way here... 

The powder coating seems to take care of the leading issue. Many Glock owners swear by it.
The reason I thought about the moly is twofold: first, we can't get Hitek coating here (which is reputed to be very tough), and second, our powder coating availability is severely limited, and, if I know Argentinian businessmen, it's gonna be limited exclusively to the cheapest stuff. For those reasons, I thought moly could be of help, on one hand, because by lowering friction between the bullet and the barrel it could help preserve the coating's integrity, and also because it would keep grime (lead or anything else) from sticking to the barrel.

About the barrel, you're right: I don't like it. :anim_lol: 
The XT's barrel is match grade, and hand fitted. No way I'm gonna replace it. Either way, as far as I know, the law here doesn't allow it.

And about importing the bullets, between the limits imposed by law (I think 500 a year), the importing fees, and the extra fees for being "dangerous materials" (yeah, I know it's stupid), it'd be much more expensive than buying commercial cartridges.
Same with buying bullet making equipment, it's a non starter.
And finally, buying factory: if I wanted to buy 500 rds a month (and, for what I read, if I want to practice IDPA that'd be the least I'd need), I'd have to spend half my salary, only on ammo. 

So, no, believe me: casting my own bullets is my only choice. Either way, maybe it'd be enough with just powder coating them. But in case it's not, I'm curious to know if moly could be of help.


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## Blackhawkman (Apr 9, 2014)

Try cleaning the barrel with Ballistol. This helps keep "leading" down. Glock doesn't recommend shooting lead bullets in their polygonal rifled barrels. Lone Wolff Distributors sells replacement barrels for Glock pistols so you can shoot lead bullets. I too don't think shooting lead in a Glock is wise. Check out the web site for more info. Lone Wolff is in Idaho, USA. Lots of neat Glock stuff. fwiw


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## BOOGIE_the_oily (May 8, 2017)

Thank you Blackhawkman. Ballistol... hmmm. I was thinking of making myself some Hoppes #9. 
For what I read, Ballistol is mostly mineral oil, while Hoppes is kerosene and ethanol. Which one do you guys think is better?


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Ballistol is mineral oil plus a little ammonia.
Ballistol is "creepy," in that it insinuates itself into cracks and crevices, and ammonia is a mild copper solvent.

I wouldn't depend upon Ballistol alone, to remove lead from a pistol barrel.
But it would certainly be a great help, thanks to its "creepy" characteristic.

If you can order tools from a US supplier, for instance Brownells, you could buy a Lewis Lead Remover.
To see it, click on: BROWNELLS LEWIS LEAD REMOVER | Brownells
I can personally guarantee that it really works, particularly when used with Ballistol.

But...(and it's a BIG _but_)...I don't know whether it will do the job that polygonal rifling requires, and, even if it does the job well, I don't know how often you would have to use it on your pistol's barrel.


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## BOOGIE_the_oily (May 8, 2017)

Thank you Steve. Yeah, both Ballistol and Hoppes #9 have ammonia in them. 
I guess I'm getting ahead of myself here. 
Providing I can buy the gun in a couple of weeks, the way things are around here, I have between 2 and 3 months waiting period, and even then, first I'm gonna have to buy some factory ammo, so I can get the cases for reloading. 

Either way, thanks everybody for the help. This is why I love the Internet...:smt023:


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## Blackhawkman (Apr 9, 2014)

I use both Ballistol & Hoppe's #9, Both are good products. I agree with my friend Steve too. Good Luck and stay in touch!


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## BOOGIE_the_oily (May 8, 2017)

Thank you both! I will report back, once I get some hard data.


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## BZimm (Feb 29, 2016)

As I get more acquainted with reloading, my interests are wandering toward bullet casting. So far it amounts to a pile of research with no real empirical data. I'll get there.

This thread reminds me: What is it about the polygonal rifling that makes running uncoated bullets a problem? I can see the obvious difference when I inspect the barrel of a Glock against the barrel of a S&W revolver. But I don't get it. Any insights?


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## BOOGIE_the_oily (May 8, 2017)

From a purely mechanical POV (that means no experience whatsoever with guns), the explanation that makes more sense to me is that with traditional rifling, having live 90(ish) degree edges in the lands and grooves, the bullet doesn't make as good a seal against the bore as with polygonal rifling, so the bullet lube has more room to "escape" to the front of the bullet.
In any case, I'm not sure anybody has a real scientific response to that question. All I know is there's a bunch of documented cases (as much as anything on the internet can be "documented") of glocks blowing up due to lead build up, in just a few dozen shots.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

*BOOGIE*, I have only one question for you:
Why is your English better than my Spanish?
Phrased another way, because the truth is that I don't speak Spanish: Why is your English better than my French or German?

I am pretty good at speaking both, and better than pretty good in written French, but your written English is grammatically better, and idiomatically better, than my French will ever be.
I suppose that I could do fairly well, in a firearms forum in French (if were such a thing), but not as well as you are doing here.

How do you do it?


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## BOOGIE_the_oily (May 8, 2017)

And my answer to you would be...: probably because you never heard me speak...:anim_lol::smt033

On a more serious note, the main reason my English is better than your Spanish is very simple: for the almost 13 years I lived in the U.S., pretty much *every American* I've ever met took it upon themselves to help me out with it. 
Meanwhile, you could come live in my country anytime, and for as long as you want, and I can guarantee you, you'd be hard pressed to single out one person who'd ever gave you a hand without expecting something in return.
I said it before (not in here) many times, and I'll say it again. What sets the U.S. apart from pretty much every other country in the world is neither the "American dream", nor the "way of life". At least for me, what made my time in your country the best years of my life, bar none, is the American people.

And, of course, the corrector also helps...:anim_lol:


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

BOOGIE_the_oily said:


> ...you could come live in my country anytime, and for as long as you want, and I can guarantee you, you'd be hard pressed to single out one person who'd ever gave you a hand without expecting something in return...


...Yeah. But the beef, man. The beef!!!
Steaks, sweetbreads, kidneys, chops..._Viva Argentina_!

:drooling:


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## BOOGIE_the_oily (May 8, 2017)

Hey, tell me when you're coming, and I'll get the fire going.


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## BZimm (Feb 29, 2016)

Hmmm.........


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