Ballistol rust or no?

[stude 283]

After watching the debate on this and other forums on the orange stain on the first patch down the bore after long storage I decided to go to the source for the facts.The following is the response from Patric Polumbo of Ballistol USA.


Ballistol is not water soluble, Ballistol emulsifies with water. This means that Ballistol maintains its properties in the presence of water; water soluble would change the properties of the product. Ballistol will continue to prevent rust in the presence of water at only 5% Ballistol / water. When Ballistol is emulsified with water, and the moisture evaporates, Ballistol is left on the surface. It’s a simple test, stick a nail in a cup of water, stick another nail in a cup of 5% Ballistol / water. The nail in 5% Ballistol will not rust.

If you are seeing rust after cleaning with Ballistol, the firearm was not properly cleaned. Ballistol needs to be emulsified with water 25% Ballistol / 75% water to properly neutralize and flush the black powder residue. Once the firearm has been thoroughly flushed, go back over the entire firearm with straight Ballistol.

I have seen Ballistol turn every color of the rainbow after sitting for extended periods of time. The product continues to clean even when left in the barrel or on the surface to protect. After sitting in a barrel that shoots modern ammo, my patches generally are green or green/blue. In my black powder firearms, they are almost always brown, reddish/brown. I have never seen rust in a barrel that was coated with Ballistol. No matter how well we think we clean our firearms, Ballistol always seems to find some junk left behind. What appears to be rust is usually residue left in the barrel that the Ballistol found and neutralized. There is even a good chance the Ballistol is removing thin layers of old oxidation from the firearm not being properly cleaned prior to the use of Ballistol.

We have had no reported cases of Ballistol causing firearms to rust.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Best regards,

Patrick Palumbo
Washington Trading Co, Inc
BALLISTOL USA

 

[AZbpBurner]

Ballistol is wonderful stuff. In fact it has a large cult following who go off in a snit when you contradict all the wondrous claims attach to it.

Ballistol is largely mineral oil (baby oil) plus some organics and an odd alcohol. Apparently they all combine to produce wondrous and near magical properties.

The more you believe, the better the stuff works.

As with most materials used in muzzleloading, a persons' preference of a particular material or procedure is the best there is. Of course that holds true for the myriad of opinions and options the legion of folks hold in high regard.

 

[necchi]

Well, he's obviously selling the stuff right?
I use Ballistol, but not as a rust preventive treatment simply because there are better items for rust prevention available.

I smear it around on my revolvers pretty heavy and I haven't had any problem with them, but I use them differently than my rifles and I don't like my rifles treated like that.

I do believe this statement;

We have had no reported cases of Ballistol causing firearms to rust.

Of course Ballistol doesn't cause rust, but it's piss poor at preventing it when compared to other products.

Ya always get into dicey territory when the topic is rust prevention.
There is no "One Way" that works best.
Bottom line when caring for firearms is vigilance.
And most folks have figured out a style/technique that works for them with the product of their choice as a matter of time and experience with the stuff they choose to use.

Again, all I can say is there is better stuff than Ballistol for rust prevention.

 

[rodwha]

"...all I can say is there is better stuff than Ballistol for rust prevention."

What would you recommend?

I began by listening to people talk about WD-40, which seemed odd, but my guns didn't sit long before I used them again.

Now I've been using Ballistol, and I like it except for the pricey spray can.

Once I find it in non aerosol cans I'll likely try it as patch lube too.

But if there's something much better I'd like to hear about it and now why it is better.

 

[jamesthomas]

Try RIG gun grease for long term storage, It works for me down here in the humid south. But it takes a bit to get it out with a alcohol patch. I use enough so it comes out the touchhole of my flintlock.

 

[TFoley]

After watching the debate on this and other forums on the orange stain on the first patch down the bore after long storage I decided to go to the source for the facts.The following is the response from Patric Polumbo of Ballistol USA.

Ballistol is not water soluble, Ballistol emulsifies with water. This means that Ballistol maintains its properties in the presence of water; water soluble would change the properties of the product. Ballistol will continue to prevent rust in the presence of water at only 5% Ballistol / water. When Ballistol is emulsified with water, and the moisture evaporates, Ballistol is left on the surface. It’s a simple test, stick a nail in a cup of water, stick another nail in a cup of 5% Ballistol / water. The nail in 5% Ballistol will not rust.

If you are seeing rust after cleaning with Ballistol, the firearm was not properly cleaned. Ballistol needs to be emulsified with water 25% Ballistol / 75% water to properly neutralize and flush the black powder residue. Once the firearm has been thoroughly flushed, go back over the entire firearm with straight Ballistol.

I have seen Ballistol turn every color of the rainbow after sitting for extended periods of time. The product continues to clean even when left in the barrel or on the surface to protect. After sitting in a barrel that shoots modern ammo, my patches generally are green or green/blue. In my black powder firearms, they are almost always brown, reddish/brown. I have never seen rust in a barrel that was coated with Ballistol. No matter how well we think we clean our firearms, Ballistol always seems to find some junk left behind. What appears to be rust is usually residue left in the barrel that the Ballistol found and neutralized. There is even a good chance the Ballistol is removing thin layers of old oxidation from the firearm not being properly cleaned prior to the use of Ballistol.

We have had no reported cases of Ballistol causing firearms to rust.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Best regards,

Patrick Palumbo
Washington Trading Co, Inc
BALLISTOL USA

Great and infirmative post. I'd like to use it on a couple of other sites relating to firearms, please.

tac VCRAI.com

 

[matt denison]

"Ballistol is largely mineral oil (baby oil) plus some organics and an odd alcohol." And wet dog hair, smelly mouldy sweat socks, blue cheese and baby puke.

I can't get past the smell of it long enough to use it.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Great and infirmative post. I'd like to use it on a couple of other sites relating to firearms, please.

I beg you to not spread around that post as it is misleading. Do some searches here and on other forums. Ballistol is not a good protector against rust. It is a very fine cleaner and lubricant. I use it. But other measures must be taken to prevent rust.

 

[stude 283]

Rifleman,
With all due respect you are the one who prompted the email to ballistol.You tried the product once,got an orange patch and proclaimed it rust.I know you exclaimed you know what rust looks like!
When I acquire a used gun and clean with ballistol I do get an orange to brown patch the first time down after sitting for a period of time.It stops after 4 or 5 cleanings indicating whatever it is is cleaned up.I get tired of see you so vehemently knock a product thousands have used successfully after 1 trial.No one I know of has ever had a problem with rust on outside of gun with ballistol,so why would it rust the bore.Clean up a rusty old barrel, clean with ballistol for a while and then report back.

 

[rodwha]

I love the smell and have been trying to figure out how to incorporate it into my deodorant!

 

[necchi]

Rig
Eezox
Barricade
I use:
Hoppes#9 and LPS II
,,,,,
The hang is these are full petroleum and require cleaning/removal with a oil solvent if/when used in a bore.
Basically Gun Oil.

Again it's hard to say with any care regime that an individual uses what's good or bad, what's the best and what's not???

Some guy's swear by WD40 and buy it by the case. That stuff hasn't touched my guns in over 35yrs, and I don't have any rust.

I've only recently got into playing with revolvers (3yrs?) and I've been using Ballistol for cleaning those and a sloppy wipe down for storage and I haven't had any problem. So it's kind of an experiment with Ballistol for me.

I'm very comfortable using the oil's I've been using for the past 30yrs, my routine is easy for me and it works to keep my guns rust free. I guess at this point with 15 ML guns to care for I'm reluctant to change a proven technique.

Like I said, the best corrosion protection is vigilance.

There are several test's out there, but few with Ballistol, here's two with Ballistol showing it'self well in the second test.
http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments.html

 

[David W.]

I've never had a rust issue, and Ballistol is all I use.

In fact, the first time I used it, my patches came out dirty. Now, I can run a patch down the barrel at any time, and they come out clean.

Great and infirmative post. I'd like to use it on a couple of other sites relating to firearms, please.

I beg you to not spread around that post as it is misleading. Do some searches here and on other forums. Ballistol is not a good protector against rust. It is a very fine cleaner and lubricant. I use it. But other measures must be taken to prevent rust.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Clean up a rusty old barrel, clean with ballistol for a while and then report back.

After you get over making this personal, do a search here. I did tests w/Ballistol and bare barrel. It does not protect from rust worth a hoot.

 

[Zonie]

I also tried Ballistol once.

2 weeks later a light coating of rust had formed in the barrels. Bare in mind, I live in an area where the humidity seldom gets above 50 percent.
My barrels, before using the Ballistol were squeaky clean as all of my barrels are before I apply a rust protectorate.

Following this incident I went back to using Sheath, now called Barricade and I've never had any rust issues with any of my guns.

Oh. The reason the Ballistol guy has not heard of a problem with rust is I didn't think telling them was worth the cost of a stamp.

 

[bpd303]

I had the same problem, but it didn't take weeks for the rust to appear. I also did not send Ballistol my problem (complaint) just changed to Barricade and not a problem since and use Ballistol for other applications.
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/280346/post/1284154/hl//fromsearch/1/

 

[frogwalking]

I use Ballistol when cleaning my firearm. If I plan on shooting within a few days, I wipe it down with the stuff and set it back. If I think I might not go out again for a while, I wipe her down inside and out with RIG, Rust Inhibiting Grease. It does not lubricate very well, but is great for preventing rust.

 

[Billnpatti]

Barricade is far better as a rust preventive than either Ballistol or WD-40. I love both products for the purposes for which they were intended but they are not good rust preventives. Both will provide some degree of rust prevention but not long term protection. There are several better products available for rust prevention. My preference is Barricade but RemOil is pretty good as is 3 in 1 oil.

 

[stude 283]

I'm wondering how many so quick to respond in the negative actually read the response from Mr Polumbo?
He did not deny the orange or brown patch after starting ballistol use.He only tried to explain it as I asked.
When starting to use ballistol on a used black powder gun you will get a discolored patch for several cleanings,but it does stop and patches are clean after that. Ballistol is a penetrant which maybe pulling up something sealed under the heavier oils used.I do not claim to know for sure what it is,but this was just an attempt to explain why some have problems and thousands of others use religiously and have none.
I would like to know if anyone has actually seen rust in their barrel after using ballistol or just panicked at the sight of a rusty looking patch and stopped use?

 

[David W.]

That's the results I get from Ballistol. I have never personally seen rust. I can't understand why others do.

I'm wondering how many so quick to respond in the negative actually read the response from Mr Polumbo?
He did not deny the orange or brown patch after starting ballistol use.He only tried to explain it as I asked.
When starting to use ballistol on a used black powder gun you will get a discolored patch for several cleanings,but it does stop and patches are clean after that. Ballistol is a penetrant which maybe pulling up something sealed under the heavier oils used.I do not claim to know for sure what it is,but this was just an attempt to explain why some have problems and thousands of others use religiously and have none.
I would like to know if anyone has actually seen rust in their barrel after using ballistol or just panicked at the sight of a rusty looking patch and stopped use?

 

[Zonie]

I fully read Mr. Palumbo's comments.

Perhaps I misused the Ballistol. Rather than applying a watered down 25% Ballistol 75% water solution I used the stuff straight.

Somehow putting a solution of 75 percent water into the barrel I just cleaned and then dried with numerous dry patches doesn't seem wise to me.

As for solutions that can penetrate steel, the only ones I'm familiar with will eat into the metal by dissolving it.

I guess I'm from the "Once bitten, twice shy" camp so rather than trying it again I'll just stick with Barricade. It worked first time and every time afterwards.