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Ballistol

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dave77
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Re: Ballistol

Post by dave77 » Fri Dec 15, 2017 5:28 pm

The Wiz wrote:Where would one find this other than Amazon?
https://ballistol.com/store_category/il/

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=ba ... un+cleaner

https://www.brownells.com/search/index. ... &ksubmit=y

https://www.midwayusa.com/s?targetLocat ... 26Ntpr%3D1

https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=Ballistol

If you've never used Ballistol before I'd recommend you buy the smallest quantity you can find the first time, some people like it's smell but I can't stand it.

I have a can of it I got several years ago and I won't even consider using it indoors.
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JEBar
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Re: Ballistol

Post by JEBar » Fri Dec 15, 2017 6:36 pm

it most certainly has a very unique smell ... that smell isn't one of my favorites but it doesn't really bother me .... I buy it by the quart
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dave77
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Re: Ballistol

Post by dave77 » Fri Dec 15, 2017 9:15 pm

People can really react differently to the same smell. I mostly use Hoppes # 9 for my gun cleaning and don't mind it's smell at all but have heard other people say they really hate it's smell. I have tried a few other cleaners but they don't seem to be any better than Hoppes.

There's so many different gun cleaners out there now that you could use a different one every week and it would take years to try them all.
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Mgr2
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Re: Ballistol

Post by Mgr2 » Mon Dec 18, 2017 5:00 am

Wife says that Ballistol smells like old socks :D, and she hates it. My sense of smell isn't like it was in my younger days so I can't say, however if my socks do smell like Ballistol I don't mind :lol:
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Les
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Re: Ballistol

Post by Les » Mon Dec 18, 2017 6:21 am

Mgr2 wrote:Wife says that Ballistol smells like old socks :D, and she hates it. My sense of smell isn't like it was in my younger days so I can't say, however if my socks do smell like Ballistol I don't mind :lol:
Just don't wipe your guns down with a sweaty sock instead of an oily cloth! :shock: :lol:
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henry22
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Re: Ballistol

Post by henry22 » Thu Jan 25, 2018 8:18 am

I'd like advice from older or experienced shooters. I bought my first rifle ever in October. A Henry H001M. I knew nothing about cleaning or how to care for a rifle, so I watch a lot of you tube videos, and the Henry care and maintenance video for my rifle etc.

After finding this video, "How To Clean Lever Guns" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f2Rl8k2q5o by GunBlue490, (who I think is a retired Connecticut policeman), I started to pay more attention. Without going into to much detail, he has a recurring theme about gun maintenance; that is, "We're cleaning STEEL, not a gun, but hardened gun steel". And he goes into great detail about the copper gilding metal on the bullet jacket that "conditions" the barrel, by filling in imperfections, like a painter spackles a wall. That this is not copper fouling, it's barrel condition and honing, and that the copper shouldn't be scoured out of the rifling, lands a grooves.

I love his common sense approach, yet I'm still slightly confused about when to use a "SOLVENT", how often, and when to use a rod and bore brush, or if I even need to use a bore brush at all for that matter.

Before I ever put the first round through my rifle, I swabbed the bore with a Hoppe's Viper boresnake moistened with WD-40, and pulled it through the bore twice. I followed up with a few drops of G96 oil on the orange looped portion of the boresnake, and pulled it through twice. There was a 1" black smudge on the orange part of the boresnake, and I thought "it's clean".

The first day fired the rifle, I put about 150 rounds through it. When I got home, I repeated the process above, let the rifle sit for a few minutes and put it away. My shoot/clean process is basically this - whether I put 20, or 120 rounds through the rifle:

• Open the action
• Stand the rifle on the muzzle end in a corner, with a shop towel underneath the muzzle, inside a margarine container and inside a cardboard box,
• Spray WD-40 with the straw inside the opening of the chamber, let it drip out the muzzle for a few minutes
• Spray WD-40 on the boresnake (in front of and on the 2 bronze brushes) - pull it through twice.
• Clean the bolt face, around the top of the carrier with Q-tips, inside the receiver cover
• A few drops of G96 complete gun oil on a Real Avid boresnake (the brush and aluminum portion were too wide for the width of the ejection port, so I cut off the brush, and tied a boot lace to the mop portion as a swab only) - and pull this through, wipe down the barrel, mag tube, and put the rifle away.

Recently, I've been using Ballistol as well - it was a Christmas gift. I'm not sure what works better, G96, Ballistol etc. When I shine a light down the barrel from the chamber, it looks like a gleaming mirror.

QUESTIONS:

1) SHOULD I be using Hoppe's 9 with a bronze brush and rod - EACH time I clean the rifle?

2) If I'm cleaning the rifle immediately after I've fired it, using only a boresnake, is this "enough"?

I just didn't want to get into needing a vise, a rod, cleaning brushes, jags etc.

Much thanks
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Henry88
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Re: Ballistol

Post by Henry88 » Thu Jan 25, 2018 10:36 am

Hey henry22,

I didn't watch the whole hour video just kind of sped through. But it was strange to see someone running a rod from the muzzle. On our H001s we are able to run from the breach and I would suggest doing so. I only run a rod a few times a year, the boresnake is probably monthly or so, also run from the breach.

BTW you can ask 100 shooters about rod material, snakes, solvents and lubes, and you will get 100 different perspectives.

I am curious, why WD40? I am a big fan, and keep several cans on hand, and use it on guns, but my understanding is it's purpose is water displacement and not lubrication or rust protection. I prefer Ballistol for that.

BTW after using Ballistol for a year of so, all my guns (steel and wood) have this wonderful sheen to them. They have never looked so good.

Good luck with your research, but I think your overthinking this. I'm sure you will find what works for you...

As for your questions, IMHO
1) No
2) Yes

Another video on cleaning lever actions, this time a Marlin 336

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ammsrq_zqdA
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GFK
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Re: Ballistol

Post by GFK » Thu Jan 25, 2018 11:42 am

This link below offers an idea of how cooper may play a role in a barrel:

https://www.shootingsoftware.com/fouling.htm

As for cleaning, I agree with Henry88 (100 people will give 100 perspectives). But, the cleaning outlined in the owner's manual is a starting point.
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clovishound
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Re: Ballistol

Post by clovishound » Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:12 pm

GFK wrote:This link below offers an idea of how cooper may play a role in a barrel:
I always thought that a cooper was essential in barrel making. :roll:

Perhaps modern manufacturing equipment has displaced the role of a cooper.
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GFK
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Re: Ballistol

Post by GFK » Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:31 pm

clovishound wrote:
GFK wrote:This link below offers an idea of how cooper may play a role in a barrel:
I always thought that a cooper was essential in barrel making. :roll:

Perhaps modern manufacturing equipment has displaced the role of a cooper.
I am not an expert. Nor, do I claim to be. But, I do subscribe to that too much of good thing can be bad. Of course, that does not include what comes from above.
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Actions speak louder than words (Matthew 7:16-20).

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