Thinking about trying Balostol.

[CoalCrackerAl]

How do you folks who use it like it?

 

[GBExpat]

I bought some 20+ years ago to try and was not terribly impressed. Many folks had touted it for its ability to reliably remove the potassium chloride residue remaining from shooting chlorate-primered milsurp ammo. I was amused to find directions on the bottle instructing that for bore cleaning the Ballistol should be mixed with water (so it was the water providing the salt-removal).

I finally decided that the fundamental thing about Ballistol that makes it so appealing to some is that it can be safely used to (mildly) clean & preserve the whole wood & steel firearm as well as its leather sling.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Many like it because it is water based. It has a cult like following in the black powder community.

 

[Fireb@ll]

I find it to be a quality product as a light weight, general purpose oil. I was introduced to it while stationed in Germany. I am not a competitive or high volume shooter but I do shoot rifle, pistol, and shotguns. I don’t fire military weapons often anymore and when I do, I use the provided CLP.

Ballistol has legendary status in Germany as a lubricant, cleaner, wood and leather preservative, disinfectant, and cooking oil. Yes, cooking. It was developed for the German military for multi-use. I have first hand accounts of Soldiers using it as a cooking oil and as a lineament for horse and soldier in WWII.

It’s probably not any better than Hoppe’s or any other gun oil. It’s probably not as good a lubricant as CLP. It is biodegradable, so
It fits in with the new, cool, “green” products.

As a cleaner it’s only “ok.” I still use Hoppe’s #9 or home brewed “Ed’s Red” as a solvent.

I use it, I like it. It’s affordable priced and it does not deteriorate over time if kept sealed.

 

[Jimster]

All I use.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Thanks for the replies. I use Rem-oil as a general CLP. Been for the longest time. I have no complaints about it. I did try break free CLP. It didn't seam much different.

 

[Obturation]

It works well and adds potentially some protective residue . stinks. Bad. Bad enough that my wife banned it from the house.
I took it to work as sometimes I'll clean guns in my downtime. I was keeping the ballistol under my rolling cart , one day I was smelling something nasty . something had pushed the button and unloaded an entire aerosol can down there, everyone complained of the stank for a couple weeks. Not really worth it to me. But it works

 

[Ohen Cepel]

It has been my go to for decades now. Does many jobs well, but few excellent. However, I like it as it is very hard to hurt things with it. Have seen many nice guns messed up with the wrong cleaners/solvents used on them or too much oil soaked into the stock.

So, for me, it is a great option and likely most of what I use for the next few decades. (wonder if they could embalm me with it?)

 

[sparkyv]

I've not been impressed with Ballistol. Hoppes #9 is my Huckleberry.

As a cleaner it’s only “ok.” I still use Hoppe’s #9

 

[.38 Special]

It works well as a powder solvent - but a lot of things do. It's worthless on metallic fouling, so far as I can tell. And yeah, it does smell weird, though it grows on some people.

I use quite a bit of it for BP guns. "Moose milk" is fairly famous in that world, generally being some mixture of Ballistol and water. I often clean percussion revolvers by removing the grips and dunking the whole gun in hot moose milk for a while. It's about the easiest cleaning routine there is.

For smokeless guns I use it to remove powder fouling, both externally and from bores and chambers. It also works as a short term preservative, though if longer storage is called for I use grease designed for the job.

 

[troy fairweather]

I like using it, especially for bp. But the smell makes my stomach sour for some reason.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I too like Hoppes #9 oil and bore cleaner. I also like Hoppes elite for a quick clean. But i think #9 is the cats meow for an overnight soak.

 

[Buzznrose]

Whenever someone starts a “is Ballistol good” conversation, I link to this thread:

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...llistol-a-survival-story.751644/#post-9467760

 

[Ethan Verity]

I use it exclusively for my black powder guns, however I wouldn't let a drop of it touch my smokeless guns. It's a sub-par CLP at best, I only use it for black powder since it's miscible in water which makes cleaning off the heavy black powder crud easy under the sink with water - followed up with another application of the Ballistol.

I don't clean my smokeless guns with water, so a water miscible oil isn't needed.. nor is that really a good thing, it won't last very long or protect the steel very well in general if moisture so easily washes it off. I use Seal1 CLP for them, which is infinitely better in every way.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

That was a great read Buzznrose.

 

[TheFrontRange]

I started using after seeing Hickok45 tout it on his videos. The stuff smells like feet to me (LOL) but it also works well.

 

[film495]

seems to work fine. smells strong like spoiled licorice, not sure how to explain it. as a foaming cleaner I like it, use it to clean out trigger groups, and if I'm going to let something sit for a while, I tend to use it. it is on the shelf, but I use Hoppes and other solvents more. I liked having it when I just wanted to clean up an old leather sling and it did a nice job. It has its place on the shelf.

 

[Zygodactyl]

I use it for black powder guns and for corrosive primed ammunition. I keep hearing about the nasty smell, but I've never noticed it being offensive. Some WWII bore cleaners would gag a magot.

 

[Roverguy]

I use it on my black powder firearms and nothing else. In that role, I love it. I don’t tend to use it for smokeless firearms, though for no explicable reason.

 

[Walkalong]

It's ok as an oil, stinks, I have options I like better for cleaning, and options I much prefer for lubing.

 

[Rule3]

The most over hyped gun cleaning oil ever! Alone with Kroil

It is just mineral oil that smells really odd.

 

[Spug]

I use it often and like it. I don't even really mind the smell, except it kind of makes me gag for some reason if I get a whiff of the aerosol, kind of like troy suggests in his post. I turn my head and take a step aside for a few seconds if I'm spraying it.

I use lots of awful chemicals fairly regularly: brake cleaner, carb cleaner, acetone, gasoline, etc. and of course Hoppe's which I find has a really nice aroma. I try though to avoid or take steps to minimize exposure to really toxic stuff, toluene, MEK, volatile epoxies etc. and the fact that Ballistol is not really toxic is a plus for me, and the fact that it can be used on wood and leather is a plus.

 

[Frulk]

I like it. Smells fine to me. Course I grew up eating well aged Limburger so there is that. Good all around product ( in my estimation) to have sitting on the firearm cleaning bench. Right next to the Hoppes #9, Rem Oil, CPL etc. etc.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

My sense of smell went south a long time ago. My ENT could not help either. Im going to try some. I did see Hicok45 clean his AR and lube it with it. Some say it smells minty. Im going to get the pump bottle. Amazon has 2 bottle with a pump sprayer for 37.50

 

[243winxb]

Have not used.

The SDS info-

Ballistol contains the following ingredients:
Mineral Oil
Potassium Oleate
Ammonium Oleate
Oleic Acid
Benzyl Alcohol
Amyl Alcohol
Isobutyl Alcohol
Benzyl Acetate
Anethole
Isohexane (aerosol only)