Ballistol oil stinks bad

I think it's got a sweet, earthy licorice smell. It's actually grown on me a whole lot.

Yes there are MANY alternative patch lubes. Near any natural animal or plant fat, for starters.
 
I live in south Mississippi and I can do that without doing anything.
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I had taken my muzzleloader along with two revolvers to the range and ended up staying all day. I cleaned up my revolvers and left the rifle 'til morning as I had read of a couple of CAS shooters claiming they didn't clean their guns immediately. The next morning I spent hours trying to get the patches clean freaking out thinking I ruined my barrel that quickly. And my rifle was stored indoors where the humidity certainly isn't as high. That barrel was in bad shape in just about 12 hours.
 
Reminds me I need to order some Ballistol. Anyone have any favorite places to order it from?

I use a generic windex watered down with water to clean my revolvers followed by WD40.

When home, I'll shoot C&B revolvers almost everyday for a week and then clean them. Store them in my unheated uncooled garage. No issues yet.
 
When home, I'll shoot C&B revolvers almost everyday for a week and then clean them. Store them in my unheated uncooled garage. No issues yet.
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I assume you forgo any form of wipe down or application of anything?

What type of powder(s) are you using?

The powder my rifle had been fed was Pyrodex, which I know is more corrosive than about anything else, but BP isn't exactly worry-free. Triple 7 on the other hand isn't anywhere near as bad as either according to the test that was down comparing the 3 after several days in a garage. With as bad as my barrel was after 1/2 a day indoors I'd assume BP would also have begun to rust as well.
 
Pyrodex's rep is undeserved. I once left a revolver uncleaned for nine days after shooting it with full loads of Pyro. I frequently go two or three days.
 
I just recently pickup up another 4" S&W and digging around in an old box of holsters in my garage, I found a holster to fit it. I set it on my workbench and after a few days decided to clean the holster up as it had green around the snaps and needed a good cleaning. I have a squirt can of Ballistol sitting by my bench, so I gave the holster a squirt or two and rubbed it down with a rag. Boy does it stink, and really didn't do much good. I don't know why I ever bought the stuff....I guess just since I'd heard it was so good.
 
Ballistol may have a somewhat disagreeable odor, however, it is not a strong odor that permeates the whole house when you use it. Hoppes and Kroil are the opposite. If I use either one of these, the room smells of those chemicals, I have learned to clean my guns outside when using these.
I can wipe the bores of my guns with Ballistol inside the house and not get in trouble with she who must be obeyed.
 
Exactly Hawg. Folks love to blame pyrdoex but in truth, its the person that last "cleaned" it. I've used hundreds of lbs of it over 18 years and its always been a great powder. Folks using pyrodex and having problems most likely are using bore butter as well.
 
Folks using pyrodex and having problems most likely are using bore butter as well.
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I use Bore Butter in the bore and chambers. I use whatever is handiest in the action and somewhat the same as an external wipe down but I prefer 3 in 1 oil for that. When I was little dad didn't use anything but 3 in 1 on his guns and to me they don't feel clean if they don't smell like 3 in 1.
 
Hey, medicine needs to taste bad in order to work, and gun cleaner needs to smell bad in order to work. That's just the way things work.;)
 
Ballistol has 2 smells to me. When it's first sprayed, it has a really objectionable odor that I would describe as a sort of a rotting/foul smell. After that initial smell wears off, it smells something like licorice which is not unpleasant at all to me.
 
Ballistol smells like somebody ate a pound of licorice and threw it up about 6 hours later. Sure does work good though.
 
I don't know exactly what is in Ballistol because what's in it is a trade secret, however, I strongly suspect that they use anise oil as the surfactant that causes the spontaneous emulsification when water is added. This is known as the Ouzo effect.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouzo_effect

Anise is the herb that gives licorice its flavor and that would account for the licorice odor of Ballistol.
 
Yeager Bomb - anyone?
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I really don't think Ballistol is a good substitute for Jägermeister, it's missing the important thing, alcohol.
And I'm not real keen on Red Bull either.

Just what I need right before an off hand rifle match, two cups of black coffee chased down with a Red Bull.:rolleyes:
 
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