I've heard there is a cancer warning on it, and also that it is not carcinogenic. ???
Howdy
Where do these rumors come from? Notice what the can says. No Carcinogens. Notice too that it is not healthy to swallow it, no matter what you may have heard on the internet. Look what it says on the back of the can.
I have used Ballistol for many years. I only shoot Black Powder in cartridges these days, so I cannot comment on using it as a patch lube. My normal cleaning routine, after I have cleaned my guns with my favorite water based cleaning solution, is to run a patch soaked with Ballistol down the bore and chambers of a revolver, down the bore of a rifle. Then I follow up with patch only moistened with Ballistol to soak up the excess. I make sure to leave a nice thin coating of Ballistol in the bore and chambers. I also squirt some down inside the mechanism.
Here is what I have learned over the years.
Black Powder fouling is no where near as corrosive as most people think. It was the combination of BP fouling AND corrosive primers that caused most of the corrosion in the past. We don't use corrosive primers anymore, and BP fouling all by itself is not as corrosive as most people think.
Here is another thing I have learned over the years. Yes, BP fouling is hygroscopic, which means it will absorb water vapor from the air. But the trick is, treat it like a sponge. If you saturate BP fouling with oil, it loses its ability to absorb moisture from the air. Just like a sponge that has been saturated with water, the fouling that is saturated with oil cannot absorb any water from the air. My experience is that BP fouling that has been soaked with oil DOES NOT cause corrosion.
I also don't make an effort to remove every last molecule of BP fouling from the bore. I fell for the fiction when I first got involved with BP cartridges that a shiny, new bore would be best because it would be difficult to clean all the fouling out of a pitted old bore. I have lots of old guns with pitted bores now, and I shoot them with Black Powder. After a reasonable effort at cleaning, with several patches of my favorite water based BP fouling solvent I call it quits and coat the bore with Ballistol as I have described above. Yes, there is still tiny amounts of fouling in the thousands of pits of an old pitted bore. Guess What? The Ballistol soaking the fouling in the pits completely prevents any rust from happening. It gets just as humid here in New England as anywhere else.
No, I have not tried testing Ballistol with a salt spray. I don't live near the ocean, and my experience is that Ballistol does a good job of preventing rust. My guns sit all winter in my safe when we are not shooting cowboy. There is never any rust in them when I go to my first match in the spring.
One other thing. In my experience there are better solvents for Smokeless powder than Ballistol. A bunch of years ago I did a test with Hoppes #9 and Ballistol cleaning a 1911 fouled with modern powder. The Hoppes #9 actually cleaned the gun better than Ballistol, it is a stronger solvent and dissolved the fouling better than Ballistol with less elbow grease. For Smokeless I still use Hoppes #9 (because my Dad used it). For BP, I use a water based solvent, it is cheaper than cleaning with straight Ballistol. Then I finish up with Ballistol to prevent rust.
Yes, it is greasy. I wash my hands with soap when I am done to wash away the greasy Ballistol.