Ballistol????

[Ferret]

I got through a good shooting session today and met another BP Revolver shooter. Whilst we were talking, I mentioned that I had to scoot back home to clean the revolvers. At this he pulled out a spray bottle full of milky liquid and started to spray his remmies inside and out. I asked him what it was and was told that it was a mix of 1 part Ballistol to 3 parts water. He also pointed out that it dissolves black powder residue on contact and he doesnt have to clean his guns immediately, just leaves this stuff on for 30 mins and then wipes the revolvers off and swabs the barrel before spraying the whole thing down with neat Ballistol and then wiping down again.
I waited 30 mins and got to look at his revolvers after he wiped them. I couldnt see any fouling at all.

Does anyone have any experience with this Ballistol? Is it any good? Does it really do such a good job?

 

[Duncaninfrance]

Does anyone have any experience with this Ballistol? Is it any good? Does it really do such a good job?

I keep hearing the word so I would also be most interested in some FACTS about it.
Duncan

 

[Manyirons]

Stuff works, but hasan odor on it that just churns my gut! Gotta go out when tha MANN uses some, HATE the odor!

 

[Coot]

http://ballistol.com/

Yes it does work very well...my wife used to complain about the smell until it unfroze a valve on her very expensive trumpet.

 

[Mark whiz]

I have to warn you about Ballistol. I does work well as a cleaner but be very wary of it as an oil or preservative.

About 4 years ago I had to try the stuff based on ads and what people were saying. After one day at the range where I had fired about every piece in my arsensel, I cleaned all the gunslike normal and then used Ballistol as a final cleaner and preservative. One week later, while competing in an air rifle competiton, my son's rifle started shooting ALL over the place. Upon inspection I found the bore Full of surface rust. And you guessed it, it was one of the pieces I had used ballistol on.
After I got home, I looked down the bores of every piece I had used it on and every single one had light surface rust. So I spent the rest of the day scrubbing down every bore with bore paste to clean them up. Fortunately, no damage was done to any of my "toys", but if I hadn't shot any of them for a couple weeks and didn't see what was going on - everyone of them would have been ruined.

TO this day I don't know what happened to cause the rust. LOTS of people swear by the stuff and have never seen what I had. I don't doubt their experiences with it, but I sure don't doubt what happened to me either.

SO, I still have a couple bottles of it left. I will NEVER use it as a cleaner or lube in any gun bore again. But I do use it to wipe down stocks and I use it in small amounts in my homemade wad & patch lubricant. But I clean REALLY well after shooting that conconction and lube with a good oil for preservation.

 

[Ferret]

Just got a bottle (16fl oz uncut) and started to clean out my Remmie with it after another few cylinders.
1/ spray this stuff on the cylinder pin before shooting and after a couple of cylinders were shot, didnt have even the slightest problem of gumming.
2/ sprayed this stuff neat on all parts and down the bore after shooting. Left it 30 mins and the black crud just wiped off. I was amazed.

Gonna try this as a cleaner and do some serious thinking about it, it works fantastic, but, yeah..... stinks like hell. Wife walked into the garage and thought that the cats had been in there and had a party!

 

[Plink]

Ballistol is pretty amazing stuff. I'm a relative newcomer to it. I wish I knew about it decades ago.

I use it as a black powder solvent and patch lube. I use it as a general lubricant and wood treatment too. I haven't wanted to trust it as a primary rust preventative and since I have a lot of CorrosionX around, I use that to wipe metal down with before storage.

I haven't noticed any rusting on my regular shooters that get treated with Ballistol, but they generaly get shot and cleaned every week or two. I don't know that I'd trust any oil that mixes with water, as a rust preventative.

 

[gmatov]

2/ sprayed this stuff neat on all parts and down the bore after shooting. Left it 30 mins and the black crud just wiped off. I was amazed.

I take my pistols home and clean right now in hot soapy water, less than half an hour of soaking. What are you saying, you bought a 7 buck 6 ounce spray can of a "presoak", like for your dishwasher?

MY black crud ALWAYS washes off with the first touch of water, with or without soap in it.

Mebbe you should ask the wife if you could use the dishwasher. Just take off the grips, put the whole thing in, wait a couple hours till the heat dry cycle is done, grease and go shoot. Hell, gto buy a cheap one for the garage. You don't like the hardship of cleaning, do the easiest alternative.

Cheers,

George

 

[Plink]

I used to use hot soapy water on mine too. I always hated it. Ballistol just works better for me. It has made cleaning a lot less of a chore. Best part is if I don't have time to clean immediately after shooting, no biggy. There's no rust and the fouling stays soft. To each their own.

 

[Ferret]

I agree Plink... sometimes there just aint a choice in 'get home and clean immediately'. Hell.. recently I have been lucky if i can get to the revolvers the next day and clean them. The Ballistol seems to be keeping the crud soft and the corrosion out until i can get to them for a good clean.
Its amazing how many different things are out there... from Dawn to Ballistol and everything else. I am a creature who likes to try them all.. grin.

 

[swdon]

ballistol

ballistol sounds good. where can i find some swdon have a good day

 

[Ferret]

I just found that you can order it direct from their website http://www.ballistol.com/

 

[JNewell]

I will throw out a datapoint. Due to extensive remodeling/renovation/repair in our house a couple of years ago, I had to relocate quite a few muzzleloading long arms.* The only secure storage was in the trunk of a car that I garage for the winter. The garage is unheated and I can tell you that unprotected steel does rust. I didn't want to get petroleum-based materials on the metal, much less the wood, so I rubbed them down with a cloth soaked in Ballistol, slipped them into cloth sleeves and crossed my fingers. There was not a trace or hint of rust on any of them, which I think is a pretty positive data point on Ballistol.

* These were too long to fit into a safe.

 

[gmatov]

Ferret,

Man, you are taking the "gots to clean immediately" too seriously.

They don't GOTTA be cleaned RIGHT NOW. They are not gonna fuse into a chunk of rust if you don't get to it within hours of shooting. If you are shooting good BP, you won't even have any chlorides in the residue TO rust anything.

Hell's bells, rinse in the closest creek, or the closest barrel of water, or slosh with a bottle of water. Hit 'er the next day. Or, if it a multi day shoot, while it's hot, spray with window cleaner or anything else in a spray bottle.

Pyrodex IS more corrosive, so squirt it a little more often.

Cheers,

George

 

[The Sicilian]

I use piss, it works great and it's free!