Ballistol

[SDSmlf]

Lard or motor oil. Any fat based substance will protect. Why the hair splitting on this subject?

RIG and Barricade only now

Based on several favorable comments here and elsewhere on the web I purchased a can of Ballistol to try out as a bore cleaner.

OP, by Tom A Hawk, asked about bore cleaner, specifically Ballistol. How exactly are products like lard, motor oil, any fat based substance, RIG, Barricade, etc used as a bore cleaner for black powder?

 

[Paddywonka]

Saw this shooter,s video a couple of years ago. Never heard of Ballistol before, now it is all I use for my Parker Hale 1861 & 1860 rifles, Harpers Ferry pistol, Lymann Deerstalker, Pedersolli .45 Pennsylvania flinter, 1891 Trapdoor, 4 cap & ball revolvers,& half a dozen other black powder cartridge guns. Used to swear by Bore Butter, but some of my rifles shot,cleaned and put away for a year plus have shown no signs of any rust or corrosion. Live in any area where humidity can reach 100 % for weeks at times, and it has protected all my firearms including Webley revolvers to Ruger No 1 rifles. A real plus is it is very wood & leather friendly too. Still use Breakfree CLP, Hopps,FP10, G96,Barnes CR 10 when needed, but Ballistol does the rest. Been at this game for over 50 years & just wish I found it sooner. This fellas video around 23.25 started it all for me.

 

[wiksmo]

Appreciated your sharing this video, Paddywonka. Cool that your viewing of this Ballistol cleaning demo "started it all for you." I happen to watch Hickok45 quite often, but had not seen this one. Also like the approach to start my pistol cleaning with Ballistol at the reloading bench right after shooting. Then at home do the hot water clean.
Works for me.

Saw this shooter,s video a couple of years ago. Never heard of Ballistol before, now it is all I use for my Parker Hale 1861 & 1860 rifles, Harpers Ferry pistol, Lymann Deerstalker, Pedersolli .45 Pennsylvania flinter, 1891 Trapdoor, 4 cap & ball revolvers,& half a dozen other black powder cartridge guns. Used to swear by Bore Butter, but some of my rifles shot,cleaned and put away for a year plus have shown no signs of any rust or corrosion. Live in any area where humidity can reach 100 % for weeks at times, and it has protected all my firearms including Webley revolvers to Ruger No 1 rifles. A real plus is it is very wood & leather friendly too. Still use Breakfree CLP, Hopps,FP10, G96,Barnes CR 10 when needed, but Ballistol does the rest. Been at this game for over 50 years & just wish I found it sooner. This fellas video around 23.25 started it all for me.

 

[Howard Pippin]

Though I had been a member for some years, I just became a paying member this last year, so I didn't look at many of the posts throughout the last few years. For some reason I got interested in it this year, sent the money and have been following things quite a bit better. I had never heard of moose milk until this spring so thought I would try it. Like PaddyWonka, I had got along fine using wonder lube 1000 for cleaning, but accuracy was never great, Plenty good enough for shooting deer.I had never heard of Ballistol Either, so I bought some. This is just a comment on the odor. After smelling coyote bait, Beaver Caster and gut shot deer, I don't think the smell is bad at all. I must admit, I didn't ask my wife.
Squint

 

[azmntman]

She'll let you know

 

[AlanG]

That's an awful video- it's more of a video how NOT to clean a gun with Ballistol. Using both aerosol and a can of liquid Ballistol would put me in the poorhouse. The results he got would turn anyone off to Ballistol if you care about having a clean gun. The vast amount of patches he uses and is still pulling up filthy patches is ludicrous.

There is a reason why you mix 3 parts water to 1 part Ballistol for cleaning BP- you know- Ballistol itself recommends it! Imagine that- reading the directions on the can. Show me a business that would actually tell you to dilute their product 3x if it wasn't superior that way. Besides performance, one of the nice things about Ballistol is that you turn a 16 ounce can into at least 64 ounces. Mixing with water gives you all of the advantages water cleaning does plus what a solvent cleaner does plus an oil. If he had used a 3-1 mix, he would have been pulling clean patches by number 5. There's more, but you get the idea I'm sure.

Finally- I'm not a safety nut at all- but please don't shoot with the top of a can of Black Powder open. Even if you are 10 feet away it's not safe. With the cartridge type pour spout he uses at least put something over it after loading. And the first thing you do after your done shooting, cap the can before doing anything else- rant over!

 

[Paddywonka]

He is a great source to watch someone who enjoys shooting guns, maybe not an expert but who of us is. Like you I mix 3 to 1 for cleaning, finishing with full strength for protecting & it goes pretty far. Buy it by the gallon from Wisemen Trading & Supply in Alabama. Goes for $91 a gallon shipped, best price per ounce I found on the web. Bought my Breakfree CLP case that way a few years ago, my son (a shooter too) will inherit what is left. Back in the 70s I cleaned my surplus corrosive ammo SMLEs with GI bore cleaner. Man that stuff would ruin the linseed finish of the rifle before you could wipe it off.Buddy gave me some Youngs "303" Nitro Bore Cleaner, mixed it 3 or 4 parts to one, so much more friendly if it came in contact with wood. It was what the Brits cleaned their Holland & Holland, Rigby, other firearms with in the age of corrosive ammo. But Ballistol actually seems to bring out the grain & beauty of the wood. In 4 years of using, I have yet to see any negative effect on any rifles or pistol grips. Use it on old dried leather, even a few 100 year old French & British holsters. The only thing I use without gloves and my old dried out hands are even in better shape after using it on my front loaders. Still use , Hopps, CLP, copper removers as needed, but everything else is Ballistol. Not a gimmick guy, but if it works, I,m sold.