Ballistol

[henry22]

Thanks guys, I appreciate your input. I probably do overthink a bit, even though GunBlue490 says not to. I know bronze brushes when used properly have no way of damaging the inside of the bore - it's hardened steel.

Henry88, about the WD-40.. I'm a commercial/residential painter. I've always used WD-40 inside the body of my roller spinner:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com ... SX542_.jpg - I'm certain you know what these things are, but that spindle inside often gets water in it, dirt, grit etc. When I spray WD-40 inside it, and wipe that twisted spindle, all the gunk and rust comes right off, and it spins like brand new again.

I find that WD-40 is an excellent cleaner - although it's a "water displacement" solvent, it is an exceptional cleaner. I use it because it's cheap, and it takes carbon, graphite shavings, oil, grease etc, off almost instantaneously. https://www.wd40.com/news/in-the-news/w ... gun-owners I had it around the house in little can, and it just works. BUT, I always run another bore snake down the barrel with a dab of G96. But GunBlue490's makes a lot of common sense to me, he's been doing this for many years. He says you can also use Stoddard Solvent, or mineral spirits - same thing. It behaves much like WD-40.

And regarding the copper "conditioning" of the barrel, he suggests that if you scour all of that copper out of the rifling, and minor microscopic pits in the barrel, you're basically removing all of that copper condition, thereby returning the barrel back to the pre-conditioned state when it came from factory. That this copper conditioning "hones" the barrel and rifling.

I just wanted to avoid having to use a rod and brush. My logic is, if I clean it with a boresnake every time after I shoot it, it'll never get to the point where a bronze brush needs to used - I hope. That would mean removing the stock, receiver cover, moving the hammer forward enough to get a clear line of site down the bore. Not ideal for a lever gun owner.

[clovishound]

Not sure if you caught it, or are just playing along. I was referring to a cooper who makes wooden barrel as opposed to copper, which fouls barrels.

[GFK]

Went right over my head. That is what I get for skimming. Thanks. I could use the help. My wife corrects me a lot. I thinks she likes doing that though. But, we are only as strong as our weakest link. So, I take all the help I can get.

[Henry88]

Henry88, about the WD-40.. I'm a commercial/residential painter. I've always used WD-40 inside the body of my roller spinner:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com ... SX542_.jpg - I'm certain you know what these things are, but that spindle inside often gets water in it, dirt, grit etc. When I spray WD-40 inside it, and wipe that twisted spindle, all the gunk and rust comes right off, and it spins like brand new again.

I find that WD-40 is an excellent cleaner - although it's a "water displacement" solvent, it is an exceptional cleaner. I use it because it's cheap, and it takes carbon, graphite shavings, oil, grease etc, off almost instantaneously. https://www.wd40.com/news/in-the-news/w ... gun-owners I had it around the house in little can, and it just works. BUT, I always run another bore snake down the barrel with a dab of G96. But GunBlue490's makes a lot of common sense to me, he's been doing this for many years. He says you can also use Stoddard Solvent, or mineral spirits - same thing. It behaves much like WD-40.

And regarding the copper "conditioning" of the barrel, he suggests that if you scour all of that copper out of the rifling, and minor microscopic pits in the barrel, you're basically removing all of that copper condition, thereby returning the barrel back to the pre-conditioned state when it came from factory. That this copper conditioning "hones" the barrel and rifling.

I just wanted to avoid having to use a rod and brush. My logic is, if I clean it with a boresnake every time after I shoot it, it'll never get to the point where a bronze brush needs to used - I hope. That would mean removing the stock, receiver cover, moving the hammer forward enough to get a clear line of site down the bore. Not ideal for a lever gun owner.

Henry22, I agree with WD as a cleaner, use it all the time. No kidding, I usually have about three cans located throughout the property

I tend to use it more on the airguns, and less often on the guns. I don't hunt, so the guns don't get that messy. I have googled WD40 and there are reports in cold climates where the residue left in the gun can gum up. Maybe if you're in a warm enviroment NBD, or maybe that is not even true; hard to tell in Florida

I would suggest leaning on that Ballistol you got for Christmas for a while and tell us what you think.

And yes all guns take a few shots after a thorough clean to "season" the barrel or whichever jargon you choose to use; I'm sure we all agree on that.

Bottom line, do what you like to do and use what works for you, just let us know how it's going.............

Went right over my head. That is what I get for skimming.

Actually I think few people beyond Alex Trebek would have got that

[henry22]

Went right over my head too - skimming.

I'm actually digging the smell of Ballistol. It reminds me of anise, sambuca (anise flavoured liqueur), or ouzo - Greek version of a similar liqueur. I looked up the MSDS info on Ballistol, and found this:

It says: "Ballistol contains medicinal grade mineral oil, alkaline salts of oleic acid, several alcohols, Benzyl Acetate and an oil
from vegetal seeds (Anethole). The mineral oil is un-chlorinated and conforms to the specifications of US Pharmacopeia XX.

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

I haven't used very much of it, although when I gave the Henry a complete dis-assembly over the holidays, I lightly wiped every pin, spring, lever, carrier etc with the stuff - after the WD-40. Smells really good to me. I've heard that once a lot of people start to use it, they don't use anything else after that.

I really do love the smell.

[RanchRoper]

I have never seen Ballistol here in Alberta, maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

[GFK]

Well, I guess you got to keep an eye on clovishound. He seems to like throwing curve balls. I guess he just keeping us on our toes. Got to keep the thinking on.

[Cofisher]

Wordplay is a high form of art. Being from Colorado, I know something about that...

[BigAl52]

Wordplay is a high form of art. Being from Colorado, I know something about that...

Are you sure thats not speech impediment

[Ojaileveraction]

I get the strong scent of durian from Balistol.

[Henry88]

I used Ballistol on an Electric Guitar and guess what, it never looked better. I mean the steel and wood on my guns look better than new, and what is a guitar made of?

I really love this stuff; still hate the smell................

[bmur66]

After reading about Ballistol here and seeing that Hickok45 recommends it I thought I should give it a try so I picked some up on Amazon. I dug way back in the safe and took out the ol' Western Arms double and Mossberg 500. Wiped them down well with it. The smell is quite unique I will say that. It did make the old double look better than it has in a long time. Hard to say how I will like it long term compared to good old gun oil. I will have to dirty up a barrel soon to test how it works as a cleaner.

[JEBar]

After reading about Ballistol here and seeing that Hickok45 recommends it I thought I should give it a try so I picked some up on Amazon. I dug way back in the safe and took out the ol' Western Arms double and Mossberg 500. Wiped them down well with it. The smell is quite unique I will say that. It did make the old double look better than it has in a long time. Hard to say how I will like it long term compared to good old gun oil. I will have to dirty up a barrel soon to test how it works as a cleaner.

as a comparison, take out one of your cleaned firearms and run a Ballistol soaked patch down the barrel .... I'd love to hear what you find

[Henry88]

After reading about Ballistol here and seeing that Hickok45 recommends it I thought I should give it a try so I picked some up on Amazon. I dug way back in the safe and took out the ol' Western Arms double and Mossberg 500. Wiped them down well with it. The smell is quite unique I will say that. It did make the old double look better than it has in a long time. Hard to say how I will like it long term compared to good old gun oil. I will have to dirty up a barrel soon to test how it works as a cleaner.

Hey bmur66,

You have to use it for a while to build up the sheen, I don't know why.

I believe Hickok said that it is all he uses. I'm starting to use it on my airguns, though not the internals

But use it for a while, and I promise your gun will look it's best. I am almost at the point where I'm going to test it on furniture

[Shakey Jake]

I just got some Ballistol in and look forward to trying it on my next cleaning. I'll let you know what I think.

[JEBar]

I just got some Ballistol in and look forward to trying it on my next cleaning. I'll let you know what I think.

for a good test, take a rifle you have cleaned and run a Ballistol soaked patch down the barrel .... take a look at the patch and my bet is you will be surprised

[PT7]

This thread has withstood the test of time, hasn't it? Lots of good comments.

I wasn't reading very much of the Forum in December, and missed these on-going comments. Really do like Les noting his wife's socks comments. 'Tis better to have a weak sense of smell, too, when it comes to some old socks.

I bought a small bottle of Ballistol a while ago. Although it cleaned my guns pretty well, the "fragrance" encouraged me to stop using it. That small bottle is still in my cleaning supplies.

About the same time, I read some discussions about Sea Foam Deep Creep as a firearms cleaner. Got a can at my local auto shop, and have been regularly using it. Minimal smell (no socks involved), and it does a very good job getting those firearms shined up again. I might try JEBar's suggestion, however, and re-try the Ballistol as a gun cleaner. Maybe will use it this spring/summer when I clean my guns out on the patio in the fresh air. After I clean my Henry SGC next time with Sea Foam, I'll then follow up and test a wet patch in the barrel with the Ballistol. Will be interesting to see what I see.

Thanks again for your descriptive post, Les. Tell your wife that I'm still smiling.

Wife says that Ballistol smells like old socks , 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

Just don't wipe your guns down with a sweaty sock instead of an oily cloth!

[PT7]

A couple of times in the last page of this thread, JEBar made this suggestion/request:

...as a comparison, take out one of your cleaned firearms and run a Ballistol soaked patch down the barrel .... I'd love to hear what you find...

...for a good test, take a rifle you have cleaned and run a Ballistol soaked patch down the barrel .... take a look at the patch and my bet is you will be surprised...

I had some free time one morning this week, so I used Ballistol to clean my clean bore of my BBS .357 Carbine.

clean a clean bore with Ballistol_2503.jpg

I used four patches for this clean. In the photo, "read" the patches from left to right. The first patch was soaked in Ballistol. The other three were dry, and I ran them through the barrel with a jag to finish the clean. The cleaning I did after I last shot 20 rounds through the Carbine was done with Hoppe's No.9.

Any thoughts/comments from anybody?
What do you think JEBar? Similar or different results than yours?
PT7

[JEBar]

back when I was using #9 my first patch with Ballistol usually came out a bit darker .... some times I've had to use two or three Ballistol patches to get one as clean as in your picture ....

[PT7]

You provided a helpful assessment to me. It's not so much whether #9 or Ballistol is the better cleaner. Rather, my "clean-the-clean-bore" Ballistol patch in the photo shows that my initial cleaning was quite good. That's great to know!!

Definitely not in a cleaning competition with you. Just have to always deal with being a "mega cleaning nut." Sure does put the pressure on whenever I get back from the shooting range.

back when I was using #9 my first patch with Ballistol usually came out a bit darker .... some times I've had to use two or three Ballistol patches to get one as clean as in your picture ....