Loading moly bullets??

[DRob]

Got several hundred .223 reloads recently when a friend passed away. A bunch of them are bullets treated with "moly". All of those are .7 gr or more over the max load in the Hodgdon manual. I trust his loads on everything else nut no nothing about loading moly'ed bullets. First inclination is to pull them all down and start over. Appreciate and info/advice. Thanks.

 

[Tactically Fat]

I know nothing... But is .7gr a worrisome amount? I'd almost wonder if he didn't have some kind of "tare" error on his scale or powder measure if things are that consistent?

Anyhow - back to the original question: ...is 0.7gr over max load a concern? Bolt gun? Gas gun?

 

[Leo]

I tried Moly bullets in the AR rifle for a summer. The chrono really did not show much difference and I got tired of the mess and effort. I do not think he would have needed more powder because the bullets were "slippery".

One thing that we do not think about is that some barrels are tighter than others.

I ran a new premium barrel every year on both my match rifle and my LR rifle. An admittedly hot load that ran almost 4000 rounds just fine last barrel flattened the primers and deform the case head once the barrel was changed to another brand. My AR service rifle ate them just fine. I pulled those down and started again. Barrel length will also affect timing in a gas gun like an AR, depending where the gas hole is located in the barrel.

 

[DRob]

.7gr is a worry to me only because it's .7gr over maximum! I never load anything to maximum, let alone over!
I should add that these loads were all in an ammo can marked "+ Max" so it was obviously intentional. They are also the only ones, out of thousands of reloads in several calibers that had moly bullets.

 

[natdscott]

0.7 grains in .223 is a sh**load, @Tactically Fat.

Think about it as a percentage of charge, and of case volume, and my truth will be understood.

This is also why friends don't let friends shoot .223 long range.

OP: Pull them, try to tumble that **** off, and reload.

Or trash them.

 

[DRob]

0.7 grains in .223 is a sh**load, @Tactically Fat.

Think about it as a percentage of charge, and of case volume, and my truth will be understood.

This is also why friends don't let friends shoot .223 long range.

OP: Pull them, try to tumble that **** off, and reload.

Or trash them.

Thanks. That's the kind of answer I was looking for. As opposed to answering a question with a question.

 

[ckcollins2003]

I've loaded a lot of .308 moly coated bullets in my days, never really noticed a big enough difference to keep paying for the coating. The load data should still be the same regardless of moly vs uncoated, as in, start low and work up.

As for the .7 grains over max charge, I've loaded cartridges up to 1.2 grains over max charge before seeing signs of over pressure. Would I just pick someones over max loads up and shoot them? No. There are plenty of factors that play into reloading when going over maximum listed charges, bullet seating depth and powder burn rate being the biggest. If the bullet isn't seated to SAAMI specs, but seated to sit close to the lands of a bolt gun, you could add more powder because there is more room in the case. With a slow burning powder, I wouldn't hesitate to work a load up to over .7 grains of max as long as it's not showing signs of over-pressure. If you're loading .7 grains over with a powder like Titegroup, you're in for a bad day.

Something to think about, but I'd definitely pull them and reload them to where you are comfortable.

 

[Robert Richardson]

Don't know what powder your friend used but, here is this.

223 Remington 55gr FMJ
RAMSHOT TAC POWDER
Maximum load : 25.8grs.

5.56 X45 NATO
RAMSHOT TAC POWDER
Maximum load : 27.3grs.

Just an example of the difference between 223 and 5.56.loads.
We're thy loaded for 223 Remington or mild 5.56 NATO ?

 

[Paul 7.62]

Moly had some real problems as it is hydroscopic and that can be rough on barrels as the rust starts under the moly coating on the barrel. I run HBN2 as a coating and I can get a few more fps but in .223 I can't get 7 tenths of a grain more powder.

 

[DRob]

Thanks Paul. I'm probably going to just pull 'em down, toss the bullets, and use the primed cases. Thankfully, I have the die for that job.

 

[DRob]

RR, they're all loaded with 2015.