Dumping Ballistol and Gun Oil

[mkabe]

Nope, I started using RIG back in the 70's.

At the time I was living in a house without air conditioning and the heat and humidity would rust a gun in a day no matter what oil you used, and if you handled one of them for any reason you had better just touch the wood or the next day your rusty finger prints would show up on the metal.

I had a gunsmith friend tell me about RIG and all those problems went away, I have never been without it since.

I believe ya, I was just kidding you.
Is Rig an oil (liquid), a grease or paste?
PS: Just found it, it’s a grease. So how do you get it into the mechanism, ie. lock, etc?

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Petroleum oils = sludge

For us that like labels, T/C No.13 Bore cleaner.

The DYI folks Stumpy's Moose milk.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I’ve used petroleum based oils for more than 40 years to protect the bore and exterior on muzzle loaders. It’s so bad my 50 is sludged down to a 36 and I’m trying to get it to a 32.

Really, petroleum is fine for lubricating moving parts and rust protection in the bore and on the exterior. I don’t slop it on but use it sparingly. I also don’t use it as a patch lube.

 

[skwerleater]

I believe ya, I was just kidding you.
Is Rig an oil (liquid), a grease or paste?
PS: Just found it, it’s a grease. So how do you get it into the mechanism, ie. lock, etc?

RIG is a thin, or light grease type preservative. I use it to wipe down the lock inside n out, but prefer a couple drops of oil on the tumbler/ sear.

 

[JohnMcbride]

I'm usually well stocked, but at the point where my cleaning supplies are running low. I shoot multiple long and short BP arms quite often and therefore clean a lot of guns and go through a fair amount of cleaning and lubricating products. I've been buying Balllitol (love it) and various brands of designated gun oil for years, but like all things gun-related, even cleaning supplies are now overpriced. I'm on a quest to maximize the money spent on the enjoyable part of the hobby - shooting, as opposed to the unenjoyable parts - like cleaning.

I don't have time to mix my own concoctions, currently clean with hot water, abandoned the need for bore butter and other excessively priced solutions years ago, and use a coating of oil to protect bores and chambers from rust. So, I'm no purist and not in need of ideas on that end. However, I'm looking to replace Ballistol and gun oil with bulk products to advance my quest - like 0W synthetic motor at $8 a quart as an example.

What bulk and readily available products do you use for cleaning and lubricating?

Im 22. When I first got into muzzle loading I watch old timers on YouTube, they told me I needed ballistol, dawn dish soap, brake cleaner, boiling water, all sorts of manure. Well. One day, I learned quick just by using common sense. "What did our ancestors use" simple. Tow and water. Not even hot water. I use cold water from the sink, I scrub out the bore and once a patch comes out still white, I add some simple oil (if I had bear grease or sperm whale oil I'd use it) use it on my lock too. Never had a bit of rust form in my bore. Give it a try, if it doesn't work for you then go back to all the stuff but it doesn't get cheaper than tap water and patches.

 

[Will]

This is 2023 and I believe there have been a few improvements since 1840.

 

[Greenjoytj]

There are a few gun oil products tested.

https://dayattherange.com/?page_id=3667
Amazing some many products test nearly identical. Only a few product excel in specific test areas.

 

[Will]

There are several tests that have been done like this and each one has different winners.

 

[French Colonial]

This is 2023 and I believe there have been a few improvements since 1840.

Yes, some people use them, and some people use the improvements to firearms, but I do not own any percussion rifles!

Flintlocks forever!!!!

 

[Will]

Yes, some people use them, and some people use the improvements to firearms, but I do not own any percussion rifles!

Flintlocks forever!!!!

Lucky stiff !

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

For those of us who are not terrified to put gun oil and the like in our bores, there are a few products Im aware of that work for keeping rust at bay. Sheath/Barricade we know about, Hoppe's gun oil, CLP, and G96 gun product we know about, and the last and most current in the non-gun products list of fighting words is Mobile 1 synthetic engine oil and Fluid Film rust preventative fluid. The Mobile 1 is talked about alot on gun forums as a great lube and rust preventer and a whole lot cheaper by the ounce than products labeled for specialty gun use. I have tried them all at one time or another on various types of guns and they all do the job that we ask of them. The very worse I can say is that it takes me a couple extra minutes to run an alcohol swab in my ML bore before loading, but heck, I was doing that with non-petroleum lubes anyway. 6 of one, a half dozen of the other.

 

[Ghost23]

I use clp, synthetic motor oil mixed with atf. The clp takes more gunk out of the bore even after cleaning with moose milk and all the other concoctions.

 

[rkg1]

Oldwood, like your idea and have been thinking of doing something very similar now I know I will do it. I use Fluid Film for a barrel oil inside and out.

 

[Ghost23]

Oldwood, like your idea and have been thinking of doing something very similar now I know I will do it. I use Fluid Film for a barrel oil inside and out.

I like fluid film. But it stinks. Almost as bad as balistol and water.

 

[CEH]

I clean with water (not hot), then rubbing alcohol, then WD-40...After that, a light coat of your favorite oil, done...

I use dish soap and warm water!! Then after I put barrel standing in sink and pour HOT water thru it & it dries,quickly, throughly, then oil?
AM I MISSING SOMETHING OR WRONG USING HOT WATER??

 

[skwerleater]

That’s the basic process. Work a snug fitting patch up n down the bore with the soap and water. Flush with the hot water and throughly dry with clean patches. Then oil, done!

 

[Mad L]

This 2023 and lots of improvements have been made since the 1700s.
I think if we mine several tons of earth we can squeeze out a few quarts of the finest Cleaner, Lubricant, Preservative man kind has ever seen.
Then give it away Free and let everyone see how it is just as good as the old ways, but tell them it's "Better".
Once everyone is hooked and using it then put a price on it and keep raising the price every year, tell everyone their guns will rot if they don't keep using it because the old ways don't work anymore on modern materials.

 

[smoothshooter]

I'm usually well stocked, but at the point where my cleaning supplies are running low. I shoot multiple long and short BP arms quite often and therefore clean a lot of guns and go through a fair amount of cleaning and lubricating products. I've been buying Balllitol (love it) and various brands of designated gun oil for years, but like all things gun-related, even cleaning supplies are now overpriced. I'm on a quest to maximize the money spent on the enjoyable part of the hobby - shooting, as opposed to the unenjoyable parts - like cleaning.

I don't have time to mix my own concoctions, currently clean with hot water, abandoned the need for bore butter and other excessively priced solutions years ago, and use a coating of oil to protect bores and chambers from rust. So, I'm no purist and not in need of ideas on that end. However, I'm looking to replace Ballistol and gun oil with bulk products to advance my quest - like 0W synthetic motor at $8 a quart as an example.

What bulk and readily available products do you use for cleaning and lubricating?

If you can afford a lot of guns and the components to shoot them often, you can afford to buy good cleaning chemicals with proven track records that work well with BP and patch grease residue.
Don’t overlook 70% (must be 70% or a little less) Isopropyl alcohol for cleaning. Cheap and effective. Don’t forget to re-oil parts after cleaning. The alcohol will remove preservative oils along with the fouling.

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

If you can afford a lot of guns and the components to shoot them often, you can afford to buy good cleaning chemicals with proven track records that work well with BP and patch grease residue.
Don’t overlook 70% (must be 70% or a little less) Isopropyl alcohol for cleaning. Cheap and effective. Don’t forget to re-oil parts after cleaning. The alcohol will remove preservative oils along with the fouling.

Why 70% or less?

 

[Will]

Why 70% or less?

Water stops the corrosive properties of black powder residue. That's why we clean a muzzleloader with water. Since there is more water content in the 70% alcohol, it is more beneficial to promoting the cleaning properties of it. That's just my guess. I swab between shots with 71 % alcohol because that is what the wife brought home. I do have my own 91% alcohol but that is what I use to help dry my bore after cleaning it with water.