Experience or thoughts on Bear Creek lead bullet coating process?|Winchester Shooting and Hunting|Forum|Winchester Collector

Brooksy – perhaps you are referring to “moly” coating?  I got into that about 20 years ago – back when I was shooting many more high power rifles (e.g. wildcats) with jacketed bullets.  I bought the equipment, powder, tumbled the bullets…. and in hindsight wish I had never messed with it.  I don’t think I benefitted and the expense, work involved, mess involved, is something I wished I had never tried.  Looking back (mainly what I do these days) was that branch of my interest area that involved high power rifles. Bullets were a serious consideration.  I had many custom rifles, many of them wildcat cartridges.  To name a few:  .257 Ackley Improved, .270 Ackley Magnum, .270 Gibbs/.280 Ackley Improved (switch barrel rifle), 8×57 Improved, 8mm Gibbs, .375 Taylor, .416 Taylor, .450 Watts Magnum, .460 Heavy Express Magnum, .510 Wells magnum.  These are not old obsolete lever cartridges of course, but there was a clear vintage theme.  I feel ok mentioning them here as some were built on Winchester actions .  This was during a younger era in my life. I made much more frequent range trips and every rifle I mentioned (and more) made range trips and some were hunted.  I also had a whole lot better recoil tolerance back then.

I apologize for the digression but the thought of moly coating bullets triggered a trip down memory lane for me.

Back to Bear Creek bullets, after I made my original post last night, I got to thinking about the Bear Creek Supply logo (the bear and the pine tree).  I thought to myself, “where I have seen that logo?”  This prompted me to go into my loading room and sure enough, there was a box of 500 Bear Creek 118 grain .32-20 bullets.  The box was not full either.  So, I’ve been using them  I either didn’t realize how different they were or I forgot.  I must not have known the details about them as surely I would have remembered that I no longer needed to clean my .32-20 rifles.  In looking through my load data, I see they shot exceptionally well in a 28-inch barreled .32-20 Marlin M1894 rifle I had.  Sadly, I no longer have that rifle.  

Here is more from the Bear Creek site:

Our customers have fired thousands of  rounds through various guns without ever cleaning the bore, or needing to. When you use our bullets and the right load combination, you’ll be surprised at how clean the bore stays. Run a dry patch or two through it after use and you might never need to do anything else. You can brush the bore with a brass brush, but this is usually unnecessary.

For these reasons, one of the biggest advantages of using BCS bullets is cleanliness. Clean to handle, clean to load, clean to use. The small amount of black you get on your fingers is harmless, and this molybdenum-disulfide washes off easily and is a good reminder that using BCS bullets will keep everything else clean.  

​Another advantage of  BCS coated bullets is lack of wear on the barrel. Jacketed bullets will eventually wear out a barrel. It is common for competitive shooters to realize accuracy loss at around 10,000 rounds of jacketed ammo and barrel replacement by 30,000 rnds. Lead bullets, coated or uncoated, will never wear out a barrel. 

​About 1990, we recognized the great desire that many other handloaders had to load ammunition for obsolete cartridges. We shared that desire and we shared the frustration of not being able to find bullets to load in such rounds. We bought out a retiring bullet maker. Subsequently, using his equipment and coating process, and by adding an array of new and unique equipment, we have been able to offer a wide selection of bullets for such cartridges. We understand the importance of sticking with original designs, nose shapes and diameters, in order to work well in old guns. We have been very creative with our product line and have added many unique bullet designs.  As time permits, we keep expanding the BCS line to cover more and more applications. If you don’t see what you need, call us with a request (209)-874-4322. 

If these bullets have been arrived since 1990, they’re not some new-fangled flash in the pan. I’m feeling inspired to order a few boxes in different sizes.  Thoughts from others?  I can’t say I enjoy cleaning bores… not having to do so anymore is not without appeal.

Edit – I should include a link to their site.  They have an impressive array of hard to find obsolete bullets.  I have a Remington-Keene .43 Spanish and a .41 Long Colt revolver – and they supply bullets for each.  They have a 325 grain bullet for the .405 WCF that looks quite interesting.  Also, a bullet for the .351 SL and many others.

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Brooksy said
Interesting. Sounds almost too good to be true, however it never hurts to try something new. I was cleaning one of my schuetzen rifles yesterday in 25 20ss and I must say I never did get a clean patch out of it. I finally got bored and quit. i’ll be shooting it again today anyway…..

  

You just hit on where my main motivation lies.  I’ve done the same thing – clean and clean a bore and at the end, no clean patch   And I’ve used a quite the variety of cleaners.  I’m not saying this happens on every rifle, but often enough.