What about Moly-Fusion? (Evaluation of Moly-Fusion from Shooter Solutions)

Dedicated firearm enthusiasts seek to maintain their pets as much as possible and frequently seek to enhance performance from them. This can range from trying different factory loads to specific handloads or fitting aftermarket parts. We seek to use and enjoy our favorite firearms but want them to last forever. Understanding that "forever" is a long time for a regularly and heavily used firearm, we seek to at least extend its life as much as possible.  Proper cleaning and lubrication is one aspect of our effort for a "fountain of youth" effect for our guns.

Today's market holds a myriad of lubes, oils, solvents, and other products intended to help us take care of our guns.  One of the more unique I have seen is Moly-Fusion and it is marketed and sold by Shooter Solutions (www.shootersolutions.com).  Moly-Fusion reduces friction between moving parts, provides corrosion resistance, and reduces fouling in barrels.

Last month I received a sample of this product from Mr. Jonathan Doege with the understanding that I would do an "up or down report" based on my observations of this product and how well it did…or did not perform for me. Mr. Doege understood the possible implications of this, sent the Moly-Fusion, and told me to write up what I found.  In other words, when faced with the prospect that the product could get a negative write up if it didn't perform, he did not back down or withdraw the offer.  It appeared that he had faith in his product. I like that.  You have to understand that a time or two, some have retracted requests for product reviews when it became clear that the report would be an "it is what it is and this is what it did" review.  Mr. Doege didn't flinch in the slightest.

What is Moly-Fusion? : In the accompanying information pamphlet and directions, Moly-Fusion is described as a "conversion surface treatment" and not simply a lubricant or chemical film merely coating the surface of the gun metal. It becomes part of the steel itself be this the barrel interior or a moving part. This occurs via what is called a covalent bond. (The American Heritage Dictionary defines this as "A chemical bond formed by the sharing of one or more electrons, esp. pairs of electrons, between atoms.")

As I understand it, Moly-Fusion alters the surface of the steel and does not simply coat it.  Treated surfaces are much smoother and more resistant to rust or corrosion. While it acts like a lube, it approaches the task by improving the surface of the metal being treated. It is not merely a coating of Moly-disulfide and it does not contain powdered metal of any kind.  It combines with the existing gun steel. (It does not weaken it in any form or fashion.)

Most shooters are neither chemists nor physicists and are primarily interested in how well a product does or does not work. For shooters wanting more detailed information on the "how" and "why" of Moly-fusion, just click on this link:

http://www.shootersolutions.com/molyfusion1.html

In this case the important question for them is not so much how it works but that it works and this article's approach will be in that vein.

Test 1: Revolver Action: The vehicle chosen for this test was an old S&W Model 10 snub that was manufactured in the 60's. The action is well broken in as I've shot the gun quite a bit and it was not new when I got it.  That said, this particular revolver was not shot as much as others I own. The means that the mating surfaces of the action parts should be more consistent than on a brand new gun that has only been test fired at the factory.  As I understand it while Moly-Fusion may "fill in" the surface metal's "holes", it is at a molecular level.  In other words, we do not get any perceptible build up or dimensional changes. A surface that is already smoothed out where it interacts with another part's surface is more likely to remain that way through use.  A new surface may have rough spots that when treated with Moly-Fusion.  Let us assume we have a high spot on such a part and that this part has been treated with this product.  As the high spot wears down and levels up, the exposed surface will not be treated with Moly-Fusion. A surface that is already "happy" with other surfaces it works with will remain smoother longer after treatment.  The surface would have to wear away to remove the treatment.  While all things wear, I'll go ahead and say that this stuff does reduce friction significantly and that such wear will be greatly reduced.

Following the instructions for use, I cleaned and thoroughly degreased all of the internals of the revolver.  I then heated them to approximately 110 degrees using a small oven.  I mixed the Moly-Fusion treatment oil and the paste into a very malleable mixture.  This was at an ambient temperature of approximately 74 degrees.  After applying the Moly-Fusion to the parts, I let them sit an hour or so and cleaned them with plain old gun oil, I believe it was Rem-Oil in this case.  After reassembling the revolver, I dry fired it much the rest of the day off and on.  The next day the process was repeated and again on a third.  No other efforts at smoothing the action were made and after the final treatment, I removed the Rem-Oil so that the only agent at work was Moly-Fusion.

 Here you see the containers of Moly-Fusion Treatment Oil (left) and the pure Moly-Fusion paste that came in my sample.  The oil is a 12% concentrate of Moly-Fusion and very easy to apply. It does take longer to achieve best results than when using the paste but is convenient.  I mixed the two at about 1 part Treatment Oil to 3 parts Paste for a very workable mixture to coat parts. The internals of the pictured S&W Model 10 were treated.

I do not have sophisticated measuring devices, but the action on this revolver is smoother, considerably smoother, and enough smoother that I consider the time applying Moly-Fusion as well spent. The application of Moly-Fusion has made an already good action better. I am very pleased with the result and frankly, it is better than expected. I am not saying that applying this product is a substitute for a competent professional's trigger job.  I am saying that this product noticeably smoothed the existing action. More treatments very well might lend greater smoothness but I have not yet applied more than what has been mentioned so I cannot say for sure from personal experience.

Test 2: Browning Hi Power Friction Test on Magazine Disconnect: While none of my Hi Powers have the magazine disconnectors in place, I reinstalled one to explore possibilities for Moly-Fusion.  As Hi Power fans can attest, this part frequently prevents empty magazines from dropping free when the magazine release is depressed. It can also result in a heavier and grittier feeling trigger pull.  This is because the magazine disconnect plunger rubs against the face of the inserted magazine. There can also be rough contact between the plunger shaft and the sides of the hole in the rear of the trigger that it rides in.

The first thing I did was take a magazine "safety" plunger and smooth the surface with 2000-grit sandpaper. I then put it back into the trigger and reassembled the pistol.  Next, magazines were inserted and released until those were found that did not rub against the frame and would either not fall free when the magazine release was depressed or would fall but a fraction of an inch. (The slide was locked back so that the magazine follower was not applying any spring tension that might help propel the magazine out of the well.) When I had 5 magazines that demonstrated "wanting" to fall free but being able to do so solely because of the magazine disconnector's contact with them, I disassembled the pistol again and removed the plunger. It was cleaned and degreased and then heated to about 110 degrees and Moly-Fusion was applied in the same mixture as for the revolver. After waiting an hour or so, I repeated the process, and then again. I treated not only the flat that contacts the magazine face but the surfaces of the shaft that rides in the trigger as well to see if this might help remove felt grittiness in the trigger pull.

Cutting to the chase all of the magazines now fell free of the gun. Before applying Moly-Fusion they would not do this.  Whether this constituted three treatments or just repeating one treatment three times, it did reduce friction between the plunger face and the magazines.  It seems logical that one could treat the front of the magazine bodies as well and were I going to use the magazine disconnect, I probably would.

I did not notice as much of a felt improvement in the Hi Power trigger pull after treatment.  I suspect that this is due to rough spots inside the trigger where the magazine disconnect rides.  They were not treated nor smoothed. Were I to have cleaned up the surfaces of inside the trigger where it is drilled out to accept the disconnect, treated them, and pushed the plunger back and forth several hundred times, and then cleaned and retreated, I bet it would have.

Here is the Hi Power magazine disconnector plunger and spring. I cleaned up the surface where it contacts the front of the magazine as well as the sides of the cylindrical shaft that rides in the rear of the trigger. This picture was taken before any smoothing was done.  Careful examination will show rough spots.  It stands to reason that the interior walls of the hole in which this part works is similar in texture and would need to be smoothed for best results. I did not do that and the trigger pull after treatment was not noticeably improved.  This does not mean that the Moly-Fusion didn't work.  It probably means that the roughness of the existing parts' surfaces were bad enough to mask any improvement.  Magazines that had refused to fall free before now dropped from the pistol when the magazine release was pressed.  This might be of use for Hi Power fans using the gun with this device in place.

Test 3: Interior Barrel Treatment: For this test, I used a clean but used 3" S&W Model 64 revolver.  This has been a particularly fine performing .38 Special for a good while and I have chronographed quite a few factory loads through it and have data that remains remarkably consistent.  Changes from the use of Moly-Fusion should be apparent and easy to spot.

I have shot this revolver quite a bit with both jacketed factory and handloads as well as with lead bullets. It did not lead much at all before applying Moly-Fusion to the bore.

Before using the Moly-Fusion, I chronographed ammunition to be tested before and after treatment and used the same lot numbers.

The barrel was thoroughly cleaned and degreased. I then heated the barrel to about 100 degrees and pushed clean patches covered with Moly-Fusion paste and but a few drops of Treatment Oil through the bore. I re-coated each patch with the mixture before putting it through the bore with a tight-fitting jag.  This was done 3 times.  I let the Moly-Fusion sit in the bore a couple of hours before cleaning.  I then fired 100 more rounds of the same ammunition and repeated the treatment process.  This was done 3 complete times for a total of three treatments after 300 rounds of the Federal ammunition.

In the following charts, all data is in ft/sec. Under the last three columns there are two figures creating what looks like a fraction.  The top figure is the data before treatment with Moly-Fusion.  The bottom figure is after.  All figures are based on 10 shots fired approximately 10' from the chronograph screens.

Here are the results.

Chronograph Data: S&W Model 64 w/3" Barrel

In each case there was a slight increase in velocity.  Do not automatically assume that this is always the case.  It does appear that the Moly-Fusion is resulting in less friction for the bullet but this does not always mean that bullet speed will be higher.  Less friction/resistance can mean lower velocities.  Which we get depends on a number of factors such as just how rough might the barrel have originally been as well as the dimensions on that exact barrel.  There is a "sweet spot" in which optimum pressures and friction/resistance result in highest velocities for a given length barrel.  Exactly how one finds this spot I do not know. Notice also that both extreme spreads and standard deviations were reduced. This does not mean that we will see tighter groups with the handgun as none of the standard deviations were excessive at all, but it is nice to get increased shot-to-shot consistency. Competition rifle shooters frequently obsess on such as they can see the difference with their extremely precise rifles at the distances they shoot.

I did notice that clean up was easier after the barrel had been treated with Moly-Fusion.  This barrel was never difficult to clean and seems to have been pretty smooth from the factory as well as my shooting but clean up was easier.

Moly-Fusion paste was used to treat the interior of my revolver barrel.  Before using Moly-Fusion (or any other product), be sure to read the instructions. Moly-Fusion in this instance resulted in slightly increased average velocities from the 3" thirty-eight with both jacketed ammunition as well as with lead.

Conclusion & Observations: Does the Moly-Fusion work or is it sucker bait? Based upon what I have been able to see, it is good stuff and it does work.  While I do not have any long-term experience with it, I sincerely expect to get more as I intend to keep using this product.  It appears to do what is claimed for it.

Is there any down side to this product?  The only thing I can think of is that it is not as quick to apply as some folks might prefer. Treatments take a little time. I also found the instructions a little hard to understand, at least initially.  They contain lots of information and some aspects of the product can get overlooked.

The impression I got is that rifle shooters are using Moly-Fusion more than we handgunners are, but this handgun fan will be using it more and more.

If you intend to give this product a try, let me suggest reading the instructions.  Moly-Fusion should not be used on locking lugs, barrel chambers, or slide rails.  The maker advises that this is due to its extreme friction-reducing characteristics and that a heavier recoil spring may be needed if used on lugs or rails.  Extraction problems may occur if used in barrel chambers.  Use the product as intended.

In this review, I did not get into extreme detail on how to apply Moly-Fusion or try and describe its physical characteristics.  This has been very well covered at www.shootersolutions.com and there's little reason for me to parrot what has already been provided in extreme detail.  Interested persons can also find contact information there as well as pricing.

I believe Moly-Fusion is good stuff.

Best.