Ballistol as a Lubricant

[JoJoLesh]

I've never seen Ballistol for sale in Canada. We have here Fluid Film that is based on lanolin. It is very thick and tends to lify fouling when you swab the barrel.

Interesting. Lanolin has many great uses. I think I have heard of it being used in bullet lube recipes.

What is the name of that product?

Ballistol is a German product, and looking at their site there appears to be only one distributor in Canada. He is in Toronto. There are 3 distributors in Alaska for comparison!

 

[Beaver Trapper]

Yes and the Canadian distributor wants an arm and a leg for it - I can get Fluid Film at any Canadian Tire store.

I swab my barrel with fluid film before storing.

https://www.fluid-film.com/

 

[JoJoLesh]

Yes and the Canadian distributor wants an arm and a leg for it - I can get Fluid Film at any Canadian Tire store.

I swab my barrel with fluid film before storing.

https://www.fluid-film.com/

Holy Camoi! I can get Fluid Film for $39 (USD) a gallon (US gallon). That is 1/2 the cost of Ballistol. Buying it in more reasonable (for me) quantities the price is closer or the same.

Oh and Fluid Film says that it is good on wood and leather too. That is a huge selling point for ballistol in my book, so Fluid Film may be my next lube of choice.

 

[JoJoLesh]

One last question.
Can you rub Fluid Film on your skin?

(I edited this, because at first I thought you took this product internally)

 

[Beaver Trapper]

One last question.
Can you rub Fluid Film on your skin?

(I edited this, because at first I thought you took this product internally)

I'm not sure? It is difficult to wash off. I'd have to look at the label.

I spray fluid Film in the touch hole and as it bubbles coming out of the can I think that it lifts the the fouling of the breech plug. Other BP shooters I know like it as well.

 

[Ben Meyer]

I've been using that Lucas Gun Oil. It's more expensive, is a little thicker than your average Hoppes, etc gun oils, but the needlepoint applicator is great. Let's you really get the oil in to the tight areas, and you wind up using less of it since you can get it exactly where you want it.

 

[rinejl]

Looking into it a bit more I found this.....


Maybe 3 in 1 is decent protection after all.

Wow! This youtube video blew me away! Good old 3 in 1 oil that everybody has all over the house and garage. I will be using it on my firearms. Not surprised at all about the Rem Oil ... I used it some years ago on my 75 year old .22 bolt and when I went to use the gun, the bolt was so gummed up it wouldn't work. Junk, IMHO.

 

[deerstalkert]

Jojo, ebay or amazon has ballistol by the ship load

 

[Frontier's]

used to use 3 in 1 years ago. Did not like it. Poor at actually keeping rust out of the barrel and gummed up.

 

[Walkingeagle]

Try 3in1 oil on a cold November Canadian prairie hunt. When that big buck steps out and your firing pin is stuck I think you will no longer choose it!
Walk

 

[JoJoLesh]

I think the key with 3in1 is to wipe it clean after lubricating it. That is good advice for most anticorrosion treatments and lubricants.

Again, to take it to absurd level, cosmoline. GREAT anticorrosion treatment, but horrible if applied thick and allowed to set.

 

[JoJoLesh]

Not surprised at all about the Rem Oil ... I used it some years ago on my 75 year old .22 bolt and when I went to use the gun, the bolt was so gummed up it wouldn't work. Junk, IMHO.

Ya, I think Remington just traids on their name recognition.
Like John Deere tractors, DeWalt, Stanley tools, or Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

When a company makes more money off their t-shirts than their normal product you have to wonder.

 

[renegadehunter]

I only clean my lock about once a year, it just doesn't seem to get that dirty in there all that fast. Right or wrong that's what I do.
When I do clean it I've been putting a bit of straight ballistol on a q-tip, squeeze it so it is just damp, and wipe everything I can get at. Once the q-tips aren't showing any black on them I follow with just some dry q-tips to remove any excess. That is all I do, I don't apply anything else to it after it is cleaned up. No issues with gumming up so far, but it is a very light coating of it that I'm leaving behind.
I will not be trying it again for a rust preventative in the bore though. I first started with bore butter, than went to Hoppes gun oil, then tried ballistol, and am now using Barricade. The ONLY time I've seen a bit of rust after storage was when it had the ballistol in it. It had sat for about 4 months from spring time through the hot summer, inside the climate controlled house, and I got it back out to shoot in September and got a couple patches that showed rust when I swabbed it with alcohol before starting to shoot. Could I have not gotten all the moisture out of the bore? Possibly, but I'm pretty thorough about drying the bore after cleaning.

 

[Ben Meyer]

Barricade is GREAT stuff. That's what I use for corrosion resistance. After shooting and cleaning and reassembling, I wet a patch with Barricade and run it down the clean barrel. I'll take that patch and wipe it on the steel parts and let it dry. Then I'll do it again 5min later, this time wiping the exterior of the barrel, then I'll hang it on the rack til the next time shooting.

I've never had any rust, and theres nothing to remove/wipe off before shooting it again. Ive had the same lighter fluid sized can of it for a while now, will last YEARS.

 

[rodwha]

Barricade is GREAT stuff. That's what I use for corrosion resistance. After shooting and cleaning and reassembling, I wet a patch with Barricade and run it down the clean barrel. I'll take that patch and wipe it on the steel parts and let it dry. Then I'll do it again 5min later, this time wiping the exterior of the barrel, then I'll hang it on the rack til the next time shooting.

I've never had any rust, and theres nothing to remove/wipe off before shooting it again. Ive had the same lighter fluid sized can of it for a while now, will last YEARS.

I see a lot of people love that stuff, and I’ve wondered whether or not it needed to removed before being taken out to play with. I guess that answers my question.

 

[Beaver Trapper]

I've been using that Lucas Gun Oil. It's more expensive, is a little thicker than your average Hoppes, etc gun oils, but the needlepoint applicator is great. Let's you really get the oil in to the tight areas, and you wind up using less of it since you can get it exactly where you want it.

Amazon sells small needle oilers if you want to buy in bulk

 

[Zonie]

I see a lot of people love that stuff, and I’ve wondered whether or not it needed to removed before being taken out to play with. I guess that answers my question.

There is no need to remove Barricade before you load and shoot a gun that has been protected with it.
Shortly after it is applied, it drys to a non-oily layer that will not cause a problem with shooting black powder or any of the synthetic black powders.

 

[Mulebrain]

I used to use it to lube bores after cleaning, well not any more. I have had issues with rust forming in the bores.

 

[Howard Pippin]

Wow! This youtube video blew me away! Good old 3 in 1 oil that everybody has all over the house and garage. I will be using it on my firearms. Not surprised at all about the Rem Oil ... I used it some years ago on my 75 year old .22 bolt and when I went to use the gun, the bolt was so gummed up it wouldn't work. Junk, IMHO.

Quite interesting. Three and one was the only oil I had for guns as a boy in the early 50s. Hoppies #9 was my cleaner and still is. The only complaint on three and one was if we had put on quite a bit, when we were hunting rabbits in the wintertime and when it was 20 below zero the firing pins got so stiff they wouldn't shoot. We solved the problem by using kerosene for a lubricant. When I was 15, Jack rabbits sold for $.20 a piece and I hunted them every free moment I had. Yes, I still use it for many things. Once you've smelled it, you can identify it in the dark just by the odor.
Squint

 

[smo]

Guys, I had several bp guns stored for 7-8 years with Barricade on them.

Now they were in a climate controlled safe, but there was no rust on any of them.

As Zonie said, Barricade dries quickly! If you spay it on a rag at a close distance you can see an amber tint too the lubricant.

I too thought I was getting rust when doing an alcohol swab prior too shooting but it was just the discoloration from the Barricade.

Usually 2 patches came out dingy looking , then no discoloring.

Never had one speck of rust on the outside of the guns either.

I’ve been using it since when it was called Sheath.. it’s good stuff in my book.