Ballistol

C

cowboys1062

New member
I have read that alot of you use Ballistol for cleaning muzzleloaders and cb pistols. I have never heard of this stuff. Do you use it as a cleaner or do you use it to lubercate with. Instead of using bore butter can I use Ballistoll to swab my barrel with as a rust protectant in between shoot times. Is it good to leave in the barrel when muzzleloader is not in use and stored away. I also want to know where can you buy Ballistol at? Can I use it inplace of bore butter. Respectfully, cowboys1062
 
I have tried Ballistol but find not water with a drop of Dawn dishwashing detergent works just as well for a lot less money.
 
No, it will not replace "Bore Butter" as a bullet lube
It's a cleaner and rust preventative

If you're using real BP, hot soapy water is still the best thing, even though it's messy

Windex also works well as a cleaner
 
I've not heard of it being used as a cleaner.

For cleaning I use warm/hot water with Dawn. A bore mop is your friend!

I use Ballistol as a gun oil/protectant, though it needs to be reapplied after several months of sitting in my rifle. The pistols seem to last a bit longer.

I've also tried what I've been told about it also neutralizing the corrosiveness of powders. A nice wipe down and a liberal amount down the barrel And I sat it in my humid TX garage over night with no ill effects. It can buy you some time if you are short on it.

There are people who make patch lube with it called Moose Milk. It's water soluble and it's mixed 10:1. I've yet to try this. I'm not sure about it being used on wads, but I'd think it might work, though there may very well be better lubes.

I've only been able to find it in a small aerosol can from Dixie or online from Amazon. The non aerosol is much thicker and goes much further. The can is in my shooting box now.

I use Gatofeo's #1 lube for my wads and bullets. It is a recipe found by Gatofeo in a very old magazine and it was used for outside lubed bullets. It's quite simple and much cheaper than premade stuff.

All amounts by weight:
1 part mutton tallow (I get mine from Dixie)
1 part paraffin was (Gulf Wax)
1/2 part beeswax (Dixie or now farmer's market)

Use a double boiler method to melt together. I used an old mason jar that was chipped.

The excess I poured into a soap mold and cut that into 6 blocks. I've been lubing my bullets by hand using the block as a crayon, but it's losing its fun factor. I don't want to pan lube as I don't want lube on the base or in the rebated portion that slips into the chamber prior to seating.

I buy lengths of hard felt from Durofelt.

I bought 2 custom wad punches from a retired machinist from another forum. $10 + shipping and works great. He also makes other things. I tried the cheap Harbor Freight punches but they wouldn't even cut through felt!
 
I have used Ballistol extensively, and tried it for numerous things.
It is an oil, and will not replace a grease. Where a thicker grease consistency is needed, use the grease. I still used a grease on the cylinder pin of percussion revolvers, for instance. Bore butter iirc.
It will clean. However, soap and water for blackpowder is cheaper, and still faster. There is one cleaning use that Ballistol does give. If shooting a lot, such as a Cas match, and you get home and just don't feel like cleaning, Ballistol will save you. Just spray some down the bore, and a light coat on the whole outside. You just want complete coverage. You can wait as long as you like, so long as it is at least 2-3 days minimum. Then, skip the soap and water, just push clean patches through, and wipe the outside. About the third patch will come out clean. It will clean more fouling out of a smokeless gun after hoppes will no longer get anything out.
I used to just wet them and clean a couple days later every so often. Once, came home with wife sick, sprayed them and took her to the hospital. They ended up removing her appendix. Anyway, forgot the guns on the table for over a month, two percussion revolvers, a winchester, and a shotgun. They were all fine. I was using goex blackpowder.
It will also neutralize corrosive priming from surplus ammo. In fact, it was developed in Germany during Wwii for cleaning corrosive priming from guns.
Never used it as a bullet lube, or patch lube. I would think it's not heavy enough for that.
It is a good protectant. Keeps finger prints from rusting. Will mix with water, water evaporates, Ballistol still left behind. Cleans better if mixed with hydrogen peroxide, but not really better than soap and water. A little dawn and as hot of water as I could stand were always my favorite.
 
it works pretty well.

1) I use it to clean and protect M/L's when I'm done at the range. Keeps the powder residue from setting in and start to eating my metal. I cut it with distilled water, 3:1 ration or thin enough to spray. Some folks cut it thinner than that. ... ;)

2) I don't use it for patch lube as that service goes to the bore butter. Bore butter is a lousy lubricant for parts and protecting metal. ... ;)

3) Ballistol gives me a little time to do my shop cleaning and lubing.


Be Safe !!!
 
What GunFixr said +1. BP revolvers are soooo much easier to clean when they're sprayed down with Balistol & let sit for two or three days.
 
I've never been able to even get a 1:10 Ballistol/water mix let alone the 1:3 or 1:7 others have used. At 1:10 I always end up with a separated layer of undissolved Ballistol equalling about half what I started with. However, I add a little Dawn detergent to the mix and it's a nice, soapy moose milk I use for spraying down my chambers, barrel, Q-tips etc for initial cleaning/wetting of the fouling.

I think Ballistol even predates WWI as a German bore cleaner.

I've also used other water soluble oils like cutting oil as a substitute for Ballistol. It is much cheaper but may not have as much neutralization effect on fouling.

I typically douche everything from a pump spray bottle of the moose milk, swab/brush/wipe chambers/bore/frame,nipples then spray rinse away the crud with another pump bottle of all weather 20/10 windshield cleaner ($2-3/gallon) then dry with a 3rd spray bottle of 70-99% alcohol. A can of compressed air can speed up the drying if in a hurry but hot dry summer air does a wonderful job for free.
 
I like Ballistol. Definitely dissolves BP gunk.

Cleans better if mixed with hydrogen peroxide
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Just be aware that HP will harm wood. Ballistol by itself is good for wood. And leather, and metal. :)

Steve
 
Supposedly it is even to use for medicinal purposes from boils to wounds if you read the early literature on it. Originally formulated for the pre WWI German Army.
 
Good stuff !!!

I've never been able to even get a 1:10 Ballistol/water mix let alone the 1:3 or 1:7 others have used.
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I mix it on the rich side but thin enough to squirt out of a spray bottle. I have never used it full strength. It has some interesting properties of which I have never fully exploited. Bought mine from Midway in a spray can and 16oz container. Looks like it will last longer than me .... :)

Be Safe !!!
 
One thing I have noticed about Ballistol is if it is left out (i.e. slop on the can rim) eventually something evaporates or oxidizes and you get a sludgy accumulation. A stable oily solution would remain the same consistency after exposure to air.
 
I've noticed the sludgy thing as well.
I don't use the hydrogen peroxide/Ballistol mix, I had made some and tried it. While it worked, you couldn't make up a big jug and keep it, the peroxide "went bad" or something, and just became weirdly thinned Ballistol.
A friends wife used to spray it on houseplants mixed with water, said it helped them. I do not know the ratio, they are divorced. She also directly applied it to sunburn she had, and said it helped a lot. It's also supposed to be food grade safe.
I would be very cautious of using cutting oil on any firearm. Many cutting oils contain added sulphur, which is hygroscopic, and corrosive.
 
One thing dish soap and water won't do is protect against rust.

A 1/10 mix of Ballistol and water can be used for general cleaning of black powder guns, it'll flush away all the powder salts and when it dries you get a nice light coat of Ballistol oil to prevent corrosion.

It's a time saver, and I use it a lot.
 
Have you read the bit on the can under the "uses" bit for Animals?
It says:- "Ballistol is ideally suited for the care of dogs coats and paws and for cleaning their outer ears. It is useful for the manes, tail hairs and hooves of horses".

Nothing like that on WD40 I notice....
but I did used to think that Duck Tape was for sticking on Ducks, I was devastated when I found out it was actually called DUCT Tape!!!

Which brings me to the Kiwi universal panacea to fix anything with 2 items (you must have heard this before)....
If it doesn't move and it should.... WD40
If it moves and it shouldn't do..... Duct tape.

They also are great believers in "Percussive Maintenance"...
i.e. beat the s*** out of it 'till it starts working.
And if you're having trouble putting a screw in something then you probably need a bigger hammer.

Cheers
Gaz
 
ballistol is FAR from being a rust preventative.

If it mixes with water " moisture lets say" how in the world do you think its going to protect against rust? It doesnt!

Ballistol gave some info that when you run a patch down your bore and it comes out a rusty color, dont worry! Its just the product bringing up rust thats embedded in the barrel of course!

I tried that and ran more bore camera down the bore... It was RUST, not ballistol pulling anything up.

I lube all my bores with Barricade.

Once I use up the ballistol while flushing my bore out, thats it. No more.
 
To each his own. I have used Ballistol moosemilk to clean and full strength for lube and rust protection on my CAS firearms for 20 years. No rust anywhere. My only complaint is I'm not real fond of the smell.
 
If it mixes with water " moisture lets say" how in the world do you think its going to protect against rust? It doesnt!
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Ballistol does not mix with the water. It makes an emulsion. This is the same thing as oil and vinegar salad dressing. If you shake it up you get tiny droplets of the oil distributed in the vinegar, but they do not actually mix because they are not soluble in one another.

I always oil my bores, though.

Steve
 
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