Alsatian

I looked at some Black Hills Gold .30-06 cartridges yesterday that had Barnes bullets in them. These bullets were blue. What is the deal with the blue on these bullets? What is that stuff -- paint or some other substance? Does this stuff rub off in the rifle barrel and how do you remove it if so?

I'm sure this is a rudimentary question, but I have not used these bullets before and so am in the dark.

mossy33oak

I dont use Barnes but I think the Blue coating is Moly.......a lubricant that is supposed to extend barrel life

*scientific name is something like Molybdenum Disulfide?? I think.

Alsatian

I visited the Barnes web site. I think the bullets were actually Barnes XLC bullets. The Triple Shock -- which is what I wanted -- is NOT blue. The XLC IS blue, and the material is some sort of lubricant that they claim lowers pressures -- hence you can add extra powder to boost velocities without excessive pressures, within limits of course. They claim the blue bullets do not leave a deposit in the barrel.

Well, I didn't buy the cartridges and I'm glad I didn't. I'm looking to try some commercial loads for an elk hunting trip in the fall and wanted to see how the 180 grain Barnes Triple Shock performed out of my rifles. I picked up some Remington loaded with 180 grain Core-Lokt Ultras and some Black Hills Gold loaded with 180 grain Nosler Accubonds. I'll hope those shoot well.

bigiron

I had great luck with the xlc's. I never noticed it making the barrel any dirtyer then it would normal. The accubond you choosed should be a winner

Rebel Hog

MoS2

stubblejumper

The blue coating on the xlc does reduce friction,but it is not themoly coating that is used on many bullets..

eldeguello

I believe the Barnes coating on the XLC's is a proprietary coating of some type, and is not the "standard" moly coating that some use. The moly coating does indeed leave a wash in the bore, which builds up and may eventually be detrimental to accuracy. This crud is also kinda difficult to remove, as I understand it. I once used a moly-type "paint-on" cast bullet lube on some bullets i shot in a Ruger No. 3 .30/40 Krag. This stuff totally prevented leading, but accuracy deteriorated, and it was hell getting it out. It even made accuracy poor with jacketed bullets! I did eventually succeed in getting the accuracy back in that gun, but it took a while,a lot of Shooter's Choice, patches, and elbow grease.

The Barnes blue coating is supposed to provide all the "benefits" of a moly-type coating with none of the drawbacks. I believe this coating was originated to reduce the excessive copper fouling that some complained of regarding the original "X" bullets. The TSX apparently does not foul to a great degree due to the big reduction in bearing surface vs the old "X" designs, so the coating is not needed.