I just came across this. For all of you bullet casters,

Since you were good enough to send me a sample of Microlon products, I thought I owned you an explanation of why I wanted to try your products and the results of my tests; especially since my interests may be something you never intended for Microlon treatment.



I own a small bullet casting company, Montana Bullet Works, and I specialize in providing the most perfect cast bullets that human hands can make. My customers, you see, are primarily competitors in long range rifle shooting with what's commonly called "Buffalo Rifles". It's a very demanding sport, as we commonly shoot at distances up to and beyond 1,000 yards. You can't cast the quality bullets that my customers expect by machine, so I cast mine by hand, one at a time.



For my bullets to be perfect, my technique and molds have to be perfect. The most daunting challenge that I face, is keeping my molds "factory new" while still casting hundreds of thousands of bullets with them. I cast primarily with steel or iron molds. To keep these molds new, they have to be handled carefully, of course, but they also have to be kept free of rust and accumulated lead particles. Rust on the inside of the mold is virtually impossible to remove and can ruin the mold or result in bullets that are pitted looking or not completely filled out. Lead particles can lead to all kinds of problems, depending on where they are deposited. The most common place is between the top face of the mold and the sprue plate. During long casting sessions, I have to stop and clean the accumulated lead off, or the base of the bullet will be adversely affected. Lead accumulation within the mold cavities themselves, can cause poor

fill out and out of round bullets and can be difficult to remove.



Up till now, the only way to guarantee rust free molds, is to oil them while in storage. Any oil on a mold will prevent it from casting good bullets. Thus, the oil has to be removed when the molds are taken out of storage before they can be used. This is a time consuming and messy process.



The mold also has to be kept clean of lead particles. For about a year, I have been use a Moly spray, sold by Lyman, to treat the top of the mold and the sprue plate. This does help to resist lead formation on these surfaces, but doesn't totally eliminate it. It also isn't a permanent fix and has to be applied before every casting session. In addition, I cannot use the Moly to protect the inside surfaces and cavities of the mold. The Moly spray forms a definite surface layer which causes stippled bullet surfaces and plays hell with bullet diameter.



Therefore, my hopes were that Microlon would accomplish the following things.

1. With treatment, would prevent my molds from rusting, without resorting to oil. And I mean the entire mold, inside and out.

2. Would help lubricate the moving parts of the mold, to prevent galling and wear, instead of using lubricating agents.

3. Would eliminate or demonstrably reduce the accumulation of lead particles on and inside the mold.



Based on the information that you supplied, I had high hopes that Microlon would help me achieve all of these goals.



For my experiment, I completely cleaned one mold of all lead, using the Outers Lead Out system. It wasn't designed for this, but I make it work. The mold was then washed clean of the Lead Out chemicals, soaked in Lacquer thinner and dried. I then applied Microlon with a small brush, patted away any pooled liquid and let it dry for 24 hours. My "control" molds, where two other similar molds that were treated as mentioned above, with Moly spray.



I then cast bullets with all three molds, using my standard procedure, non-stop, for 8 hours. Each mold cast about 700 bullets and the alloy was kept at a relatively constant 725 degrees.



Results:



The Microlon treated mold cast perfect bullets right from the start. There was no sign that there was any oil or volatile components in the mold cavities. There was no discernible lead accumulation within the cavities. There was a very small amount of lead that occasionally appeared on the top of the mold and sprue plate, but this came off easily. The Moly treated molds also accumulated lead in the same area, but more often and to a greater degree. The Moly treated molds also required more effort to remove the lead and the Moly was probably removed with the effort. The molds were not retreated, however, during the casting session.



I re-treated the one mold with Microlon after the completion of the casting session and after the mold was cool. I also retreated the other two "control" molds with the Moly spray. The following day, I repeated the entire process during another 8 hour casting session, and the results were similar, if not slightly better. The Microlon treated mold continued to cast perfect bullets with even less lead accumulation. I also did not have to use any additional lubricant on the Microlon treated mold, as I did on the other two.



In summary, I'm delighted with the way Microlon worked. I can't, of course tell you about any benefits in rust prevention, but I have no doubt that Microlon will work as advertised in this matter. I'm confident that Microlon Gun Juice will protect my molds from rust, prevent galling and wear without requiring additional lubricants , and reduce if not eliminate lead particle accumulation. I honestly couldn't ask for more from one product. I haven't tried Gun Juice on my aluminum molds, but I expect to see similar results. Because aluminum is more porous, I intend to treat these molds several times with Gun Juice



I am wondering, Mike, if I should treat the molds with Gun Juice more than once. In the literature you provided, it stated that the outside or firearms should be treated four times. I will be buying more Gun Juice, as I have about 180 bullet molds currently in inventory. Where can I purchase additional product?



Mike, you have my permission to use my testimonial. If I can be of any additional assistance, please don't hesitate to contact. And yes, I do intend to use Gun Juice on my guns too!



Thanks again for the samples.



Dave Jennings

Montana Bullet Works

We actually use Microlon as an anti-seize/dry film lubricant on the threads of a certain connector assembly for the Nuclear power industry. It's pretty good stuff. I bought some at the gun show a couple of years ago but haven't used any of it as yet.

Doc

Back to the loads for my Hi-Wall. I had a pretty clean burn with no powder particulate. The rifle was very easy to clean once I got home, requiring only four patches. I was very careful to look and feel for signs of leading. The bore was very smooth from breech to muzzle and the SPG lubricant that is on the bullets is working very nicely. I am processing brass right now for some more loads and once I get my brass all cleaned up, sized and flared, I will load up fifty pieces with twenty eight grains and play with them! I don't have any long range experience yet, so the only evidence of the heavy and long bullets tumbling from my one in twenty twist rate, is from what I have read and heard. Maybe these 480's are the way to go for me. Montana Bullet works has a 470 grain Snover that I think I would like to try as well. See you all Sunday?

My Best
Doc

Lumpy checks my calendar and shows up when I am out of town...

You all notice that the RR shoot is on our weekend also?

Are we going to shoot long guns long distance this sunday? (1/17/16)

Shucks. OK thanks.

You must mean Rusty, cuz I was there LOL. Had a great time too. Some new faces (to me). I like shooting in that area, didn't feel like I was standing on a hillside all day.

Well, that were truly a fine match day if there ever was one! Now that you guys have seen my Hi-Wall, let me tell you a bit about how I got it. We had decided to have it at our Cowboy table, at the Friends of NRA dinner banquet in 2010, I believe it was. For the life of me, I can't remember what game of chance it was that a body needed to play to get an opportunity to win but, I do remember that I played a hundred bucks worth because I wanted that Hi-Wall. There was an Uberti Cattleman revolver, in .357, a cowboy themed, framed print, and one other item, for the Cowgirls, from Montana Silversmiths, to round out the prizes for this table. I was across the room, running the Penny Raffle, which was our biggest money maker, keeping me very busy. Once the games were closing and the winners were being drawn I kept right on selling tickets at the Penny Raffle as we had a big line of people still eager for a chance. I tried hard to listen once they started calling the winning numbers for the games that I was in on. There was also a Card Raffle that was for a Ruger Sherriff's model Vaquero in .44 Special and I was really after that as well. Anyway, no joy on the Sherriff's model so all of my focus was on the Cowboy Table. The first ticket was pulled and the number read.......... it wasn't me, but the guy who won it went up and picked the Cattleman revolver! The next ticket was drawn, and the number read, and low and behold it was yours truly who held that one! I almost ran up there to grab that Hi-Wall! I remember that it was so expensive at $925 cost to the FNRA that I had to fill out a 1099 form for it. I had it for a pretty good spell before getting a chance to shoot it but I love this rifle. I know that it doesn't get consideration, along side of the Sharps, as a Buffalo Rifle, because it came to the party much too late for that, but I am proud and pleased to have it none the less. I hope to be able to shoot it for many years to come. I believe that I will try twenty eight grains of H4198 next, but I am considering moving to a much slower powder, one that fills the case all the way just as it gives 1250FPS. That will really decrease extreme spread.

All My Best
Doc

I must have been looking the other way cuz I didn't get to see it.
I'm sure looking forward to a rifle shoot side match one day.
I agree with Lumpy, once you shoot black it's hard to go back to the modern stuff.

We could post a pic on the website so's you can admire it anytime!

Nobody can write like Doc but here goes. 191 shooters but you would never know it. The match ran smooth as always. Top shooter did 10 stages in 156 seconds. I think that was 20 seconds ahead of second place! I picked up 6th place in gunfighter and got my picture taken! Made some new friends and got a lot of great tips on my new category. As you know pistol muzzle control is my biggest challenge but I shot 316 seconds with 9 match misses.....whew! Yep, I left 45 seconds on the table. Pretty happy with my raw times. All but one under 30 seconds with fastest at 22 seconds. I love this match. A lot of SoCal shooters and believe it or not some folk knew of Lumpy! I apologized for you LG. Maybe more of you can make it next year. I have some pics and a few videos for next time I see ya'll. As always ifn' yer interested in cowboy.....wait, that's Doc's line!

220 was the max this year. If it is not raining camping is great. on gravel right next to the range. This year that area was not open but there is a VFW a mile or so away for free dry camping. We stayed about 15 miles away at a campground cuz we didnt know about the VFW.

Rain. But you could go in my truck. Plenty of room.

Sounds like you had a great time Rusty, and did really, really well! Great way to make a showing for the HDC's! The ladies are putting together some Valentine's stages for our upcoming match, but I will make sure, if you remind me, to put a couple of Gunfighter friendly stages in for March. I don't mean to be stubborn Lumpy, but I do intend to continue my efforts with smokeless powder in the Hi-Wall. That Big Sky #1046 looks real interesting and I just might have to give that one a try.

My Best
Doc

Sounds like a sick day for me

Preliminary information points to us having the range for May this year. What do you guys think about a side match day? We could take the entire day to shoot long range, all three categories. That would allow plenty of time for sighters and whatnot. What do you guys think?

Doc

So now I gotta go buy a 45-70?

Why do you think I sent you that Turner's ad Rusty? To make sure that my "forum fingers" was workin! In all seriousness, SASS rule XYZ490 clearly states that all members shall own and participate in the active use of at least one 45-70!

My Best
Doc

Glad to know I have help spending my money!

I like the same rifle without the fanciness for $625. Is that smokeless, BP or both?

Strange-My 1982, '94 Marlin in .44mag shoots cast bullets just fine with smokeless powder.
The Ballard style rifling is much better for BP ammo.
LG

I had better try shooting my old. Roling block at 500, a lot of the matches shoot at 100. 200. 300.
I hope we don't shoot off hand cuz my rifle weighs around 12lbs
Actin curly

Use the benches and get out of the Sun.
LG

Be prepared to drive'm in with a hammer.
LG

Check over on the side match forum for conversation regarding crossed sticks, etc.

Doc