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Ballistol - anyone use it?

RedSoxandAKs said:
How does this compare to Remoil?
Click to expand...

Remoil is petroleum based. Ballistol mixes with water and is more of a derivative of mineral oil.

From the smell, its seems its a derivative of washing 70 year old german granny panties.

I like it on wood, especially oil finished wood, seems to keep it well finished and seals the pores.

It cleans muzzleloaders and black powder well and you can mix it with hot water.

but for regular barrels I like Hoppe 9 better, then clean out and store with either ballistol or hornady case lube.
 
Its definitely a black powder cleaning product. For me it doesn't seem to fill any necessities in the modern smokeless world. Hoppes #9, clp, tetra grease and rem oil fill out pretty much any needs on my guns. On the occasion I bring out my Smith carbine, I use triple 7 and soak it in balistol.
 
FPrice said:
Fast forward to a month ago or so when I decided to do a deep cleaning of just about all of my firearms as a winter project. I disassembled my semi-automatics and soaked most of the parts in it at least overnight. Seemed to clean out a lot of hidden gunk and those hard-to-get areas. For the most part my firearms have not looked that clean since I bought them, at least the ones which were clean when I bought them.

After soaking I carefully dried everything off although the Ballistol seemed to leave a faint "slick" feel to most parts, as if it left a layer of lubrication on each part. I would then use a grease to lube the friction bearing surfaces of my 1911's as recommended by the guys at CherryBalmz:
Click to expand...

My experience is ballistol works best when you let that layer gunk up a bit and wipe it off, it kind of draws the crud out of your gun into the goo which can make a very long cleaning process but a decent one. I agree however with an above poster that its not great for barrel bores. Be aware however, ballistol has a low smoke point, when it gets hot it'll turn your gun into a fog machine for a bit. Looks cool when you're mag dumping the AR, but it's not ideal.
 
All I use is Ballistol on my firearms. Let it sit in the barrel overnight, pass a brass bore brush through a few times, and then swab with Ballistol soaked patches. Mix water and Ballistol together for a concoction that cuts through blackpowder residue.
 
It’s all I use to clean firearms, period. Ballistol is amazing. It is not, however, much of a lubricant. It will quicky evaporate. It’s not a problem it actually makes it an even better cleaning agent since it will leave essentially nothing behind. It will not weaken polymer. It is much safer than toxic as hell petroleum based cleaners like hoppes or equivalent. Ballistol also works very well in an ultrasonic bath. I’ve used it on knives and garden equipment with great results.
 
92G said:
It’s all I use to clean firearms, period. Ballistol is amazing. It is not, however, much of a lubricant. It will quicky evaporate. It’s not a problem it actually makes it an even better cleaning agent since it will leave essentially nothing behind. It will not weaken polymer. It is much safer than toxic as hell petroleum based cleaners like hoppes or equivalent. Ballistol also works very well in an ultrasonic bath. I’ve used it on knives and garden equipment with great results.
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Interesting you say that. I just picked up my 5" m&p i haven't used in a year and the slide is still shinning from the thin layer of ballistol i put on it. I seem to have the opposite opinion. I don't feel it evaporates quickly at all. In fact that is the reason i only use it to clean the exterior. I find it leaves a fine film on the inside that attracts a lot of crap and gets gunky.
 
btnh6668 said:
Interesting you say that. I just picked up my 5" m&p i haven't used in a year and the slide is still shinning from the thin layer of ballistol i put on it. I seem to have the opposite opinion. I don't feel it evaporates quickly at all. In fact that is the reason i only use it to clean the exterior. I find it leaves a fine film on the inside that attracts a lot of crap and gets gunky.
Click to expand...

it is made from short chain organic alcohols, which evaporate even at room temperature. It also has a some longer chain acids like oleic acid but these are in small quantity and do not serve as a lubricant but rather an emulsifier. It’s the same reason it smells....because of the vapor. It’s thus not a great lubricant compared to a synthetic oil. A urinal can be used as a toilet but it’s not ideal. Glad your M&P is still shiny though.
 
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92G said:
it is made from short chain organic alcohols, which evaporate depending on temperature. It’s the same reason it smells....because of the vapor. Glad your M&P is still shiny though.
Click to expand...

The alcohol content evaporates quickly, the mineral oil content a lot less quickly. Typically a wet external application will take weeks to dry out, even though some components have no doubt evaporated within minutes. It's a mild product, less likely to hurt anything, I think, but also less efficient as a solvent or lubricant, either one. I use it a lot, but I clean my guns enough that people here would make fun of me. Even though I know it's not "all that", I have no complaints.
 
FPrice said:
I was going to start a thread on Ballistol, but luckily I decided to do a search first.

I had never used this until we bought a black powder rifle last year. Seems to be very big in the BP community. My son became very familiar with it as he got very involved in learning al he could about this rifle and cleaning it whenever we shot it.

Fast forward to a month ago or so when I decided to do a deep cleaning of just about all of my firearms as a winter project. I disassembled my semi-automatics and soaked most of the parts in it at least overnight. Seemed to clean out a lot of hidden gunk and those hard-to-get areas. For the most part my firearms have not looked that clean since I bought them, at least the ones which were clean when I bought them.

After soaking I carefully dried everything off although the Ballistol seemed to leave a faint "slick" feel to most parts, as if it left a layer of lubrication on each part. I would then use a grease to lube the friction bearing surfaces of my 1911's as recommended by the guys at CherryBalmz:

www.cherrybalmz.com

Secrets of 1911 Reliability - How to Lube for Maximum Performance

This blog post is designed to give you a command of 1911 reliability at the operator level – to get you there, it needs to cover historic 1911 reliability, why lubricant selection matters, universal gun lubrication rules, and detailed specifics on where to lube a 1911 for maximum reliability. It...
www.cherrybalmz.com www.cherrybalmz.com

I will probably continue to use a CLP product for quick cleanings between shooting sessions (if I feel it is necessary) but really deep cleanings will be with Ballistol.

ballistol.com

Ballistol: World’s Most Versatile Multi-Purpose Oil and Gun CLP

Ballistol is the fountain of youth for your guns, wood, metal, plastic and smooth leather. Nothing cleans, lubricates, protects and preserves like Ballistol. Skin-safe and environmentally friendly. Shop now.
ballistol.com ballistol.com
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just use stick with the ballistol, it kind of seasons the metal almost like seasoning a cast iron pan, works better over time. I don't rely on it as a lubricant for slide rails and wear points though, they get a drop of mpro7 or some proper grease.
 
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I'm using it to clean barrels only. from what I've read it seems that you get that frog lube condition where it works into the metal if you wipe it on the exposed areas for protection. jury's still out on that. but for copper jacket fouling, works the balls.
 
Mineral oil and alcohol, plus what ever propellant they use.
3in1, sewing machine oil and other names.

you like , you use.

its not doing much in your bore except lose fouling.
if your a dedicated barrel scrubber after every range trip it might keep copper to a minimum.
Once you figure out what is in these cans it comes down to what you think works for you.

one thing I do believe is the quality of the products the manufactures use and the percent play a doll in how well they work.

gun slick products worked very well for me and the foaming bore cleaner did very well.
Sadly Hoppes bought out gun slick and put it to pasture.
 
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92G said:
it is made from short chain organic alcohols, which evaporate even at room temperature. It also has a some longer chain acids like oleic acid but these are in small quantity and do not serve as a lubricant but rather an emulsifier. It’s the same reason it smells....because of the vapor. It’s thus not a great lubricant compared to a synthetic oil. A urinal can be used as a toilet but it’s not ideal. Glad your M&P is still shiny though.
Click to expand...
That maybe so but i never claimed it was a good lubricant. The film it leaves behind seems to protect the exterior well from moisture. That has been my results anyway for many years. I am not arguing that its the greatest product at doing so, just sharing my experience.
 

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