BALLISTOL a fair shake

[French Colonial]

I have related this story before, here it is again.

When starting BPCRS several years ago there was one shooter among us that had the ability to get dialed in between relays much faster than me and my partner, when asked he said he used Ballistol, we were using Rem-oil and other oils.
Sure enough we switched and instead of 5-6 shots to get on target it took 2-3, very important during timed relays.

When I transitioned back to muzzle loading I kept using it and it works..... yeah..... I have read all the "it's petroleum!!" posts and that is fine but I have never had it gum up or do any of the negative things people say it should do. And after using it for all these years, I kind of like the smell, kind of like Hoppes, when you smell it, it smells like you either are going or coming back from shooting.

 

[Terrier]

I love the smell, it’s just a bonus that it keeps my muzzleloaders clean and rust free!

I am absolutely repulsed by the smell of Balistol. It makes me cringe just saying the name or reading it in print.

 

[COTNTOP]

Been planning on doing my own experiment with Ballistol for a patch lube. Reckon today will be good as any.

 

[WalnutRed]

"In my HS chemistry class we were told that "Organic" meant containing carbon. So in that sense Ballistol is organic.

 

[mtfishn]

Started using Ballistol after watching friends clean up with it. Recently broke in a new .54 barrel and was using spit as I had for decades in my .45s. Got tough to load after a few shots so gave a 1/5 bal/H20 mix a try as patch lube. Shot great espec
especially as I shoot a tight-fitting patch/ball combo. A few weeks later won 4/5 events I entered with the rifle shooting ballistol patch lube. Last fall, a friend and I shot 3 deer with the rifle and the lube worked great!

 

[gunpa]

I'm sure I have brain damage but I think ballistol smells great! Of course I also ate mud as a child cause it looked like fudge. Full disclosure

 

[mushka]

I cleaned mz guns with water, then bought Ballistol, and like Terrier the odor repulsed me, so I'm back to cleaning with water. Gave the stinky stuff away.

 

[1stnamebassist]

I use it, but only out in the garage with the door open. It’s not so much the smell that bothers me, but it makes me cough like a chain smoker and I don’t smoke. Not sure why it effects me that way.

 

[springfield art]

When I first got introduced to muzzleloading say some 13-14 years ago I was also baptized to ALL of the cleaning and why as well as many of the different ways of doing so. The "Presenter" left me to develop my own regimens to do so I use hot water to point of boiling (not boiling), shot of dish soap and Mean Green Degreaser. I would follow up with WD-40 then I would wipe off and reapply a lubricant.

Over the last year I purchased two 16 ounce cans of Ballistol, wanting to be fair about it. Well I was floored, because after the Hot water soap clean instead of WD-40 I would substitute for Ballistol. The results were amazing I do not have to wipe off, re-lubricate, just run 1 wet patch down barrel, follow with a dry patch. I will admit I had avoided on cost wise to use for muzzleloading it is Moose Milk 5:1 Ratio (I prefer distilled/purified water over tap) I think I have used 10 ounces in the past year. I also use Ballistol 2 ounces of it in my home made patch and bullet lube. So if one is on the fence about Ballistol because of the cost I can say beyond doubt in my book you will far exceed the initial cost.

As far as my bullet patch lube 20 ounces beeswax 1 pound crisco and 2 ounces Canola Oil ++I substitute Ballistol for the Canola Oil 2 ounces++ The recipe with the Ballistol makes a great modern bullet lube as well

The Germans knew what they were doing when they invented that stuff. It's even OK to use as a wound dressing as it's all organic!

 

[ZUG]

It does have a strange smell to it. To me I smell some licorice odor to it. I like licorice but not that strong odor I get from Ballistol. I continue to use it for some applications but mostly in a well ventilated aera.

 

[springfield art]

I recall the big ballyhoo when Hoppe's changed the formula; many say it don't smell the same!

 

[Mike in FL]

It is good stuff. All you need. Sometimes old and simple is the way to go.

 

[Bill Bryan]

I found Ballistol over 30 years ago and have been happy ever since. I use it 7:1 with water as a round ball lube and for cleaning at the range. Bill

 

[Jim K]

I wish they made a yankee candle that smells like ballistol!!

 

[snakebit]

I wish they made a yankee candle that smells like ballistol!!

And one that smells like Hoppes. Reminds me of my dad and grandad. I'll open the bottle just so the gun room smells like it.

 

[Big Tom 52]

I never heard of Ballistol until I joined this site and now I use it on my muzzle loader, all my guns that I shall not speak of and my fishing reels. It may cost more but a little goes a long way.

 

[oldschoolhunter55]

I'm sure I have brain damage but I think ballistol smells great! Of course I also ate mud as a child cause it looked like fudge. Full disclosure

im like you i love the smell ballistol.only problem i had was i sprayed some in my muzzleloader and it leaked out of the nipple on hardwood floor.needless to say i was bare footed and it was slick. and i busted my buty on the floor

 

[smoothshooter]

I know it doesn't "goop up" like a plain oil, like sewing machine oil, or RemOil, or 3-n-1, but....,

Ballistol ingredients list from most to least in the formula from their most recent MSDS sheet:

Mineral Oil (liquid paraffin) ← that’s a petroleum product, folks, and it's the main ingredient
Potassium oleate
Ammonium oleate
Benzyl alcohol
Amyl alcohol
Benzyl acetate
Anethole

LD

Paraffin wax is also used in Gatofeo’s #1 lube, an old recipe designed for outside lubricated black powder bullets. It may be a petroleum product but it doesn’t seem to do the things people warn of with petroleum products. I use both Ballistol and Gatofeo’s.

I have always thought the aversion to ANY petroleum products for BP guns was overblown.

 

[rodwha]

I have always thought the aversion to ANY petroleum products for BP guns was overblown.

I’m not so sure of that. That’s one test I wouldn’t try. But there are several things I’ve found out are parroted concerning black powder that just isn’t true. Triple 7 and this “need” to reduce the charge as well as to compress ever so lightly, 4F powder being solely a pan powder, these pistols being inhumane to hunt with, and chainfires from the front come to mind. Of course that last one I threw in because it always gets people riled up.

 

[NotDanielBoone]

I don't know much. I have a can of Ballistol that I bought at the big show in Harrisburg this February, but have not used it. I clean with hot water and a drop of dish washing soap. Dry the barrel and run jojoba oil down there. Quick swipe with an alcohol soaked patch before loading the next time out. Seems to work, but as I said, I don't know much.