Ballistol for lube

[traceywalker]

Used it with great results for the last several months. Got used to the smell of dirty sweat socks over the years. No big deal. My GPR settled in on 6-1.
Rangertrace

 

[BigL]

I am trying to follow the mix ratio's. Has anyone used 4:1, 5:1, 6:1 or 7:1 in a Plains pistol in .54? An how would I know a bad ratio baring in mind that I still have to tinker with the sights just to get center?

 

[traceywalker]

Google The Dutch Schoultz System. There are many variables including the one you mentioned. Patch thickness, ball weight, on and on. Each variable can alter the target hit location.
Rangertrace

 

[paulvallandigham]

This will get you to Dutch's site. http://www.blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com/

His materials are well worth the $15.00 he charges.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

I am trying to follow the mix ratio's. Has anyone used 4:1, 5:1, 6:1 or 7:1 in a Plains pistol in .54? An how would I know a bad ratio baring in mind that I still have to tinker with the sights just to get center?

I found I got incredible accuracy with seven to one in my Greenmtnbarrels but found on hot dry days here in CO that I burned patches even when swabbing between shots.
So I tried four to one. Dutch feels that four to one is to oily but I got MOA at 100 yrds so I stuck with that and I don't blow patches.
Another dry lube that gives me even more consistant results is Lehigh Lube dry.
Soak your patches like you would with Ballistol and dry and MAN is it accurate.

 

[renovato]

I am trying to follow the mix ratio's. Has anyone used 4:1, 5:1, 6:1 or 7:1 in a Plains pistol in .54? An how would I know a bad ratio baring in mind that I still have to tinker with the sights just to get center?

The easiest way to find your best ratio is to shoot for groups. If you haven't gotten your sights dialed in yet, don't worry. It doesn't matter if the group isn't centered. What you're looking for is the smallest group. It'll still be a small group once you get it centered.

Some of my guns didn't seem to care which ratio I used, but some were quite picky about it. I ended up settling on 2 ratios to please them and the less picky guns end up using whichever patches I brought with me that day.

 

[BigL]

So, the basic short condensed answer in a can is: Try everything and enjoy doing it. Thanks guys.

 

[catman]

Has anyone tried straight Ballistol on their patches and let them set for a day or two to use for there hunting patch? The only reason I ask this stuff is great for target shooting in my gun with a 1 part Ballistol and 7 parts H2O with a spit patch clean in-between shots, I hate to have anything with water in my gun all day of course.
Just to let you know it's a 50 cal 1:60 a PRB shooter..

I just sprayed some patches with straight Ballistol and a rub/in I'm going to let them set a for a while, and give it a try.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Yeah> The problem is that the Ballistol does not dry- its the water you cut it with that dries. In a couple of days you will find the ballistol patching to be just as " wet " and oily as they were when you put it on today.

The reason for cutting it with water, is to produce a lubed patch, that " feels " dry( obviously its not really!)< but is still lubed enough to allow you to load a PRB easily down the barrel, lubing the barrel as it goes down.

The second function of the lube is to prevent the patch from burning in the barrel.

The third function is to help the cloth compress into the grooves of the barrel to seal gases behind the patch and ball, and prevent gas blow-by from cutting, or tearing the patch, and then cutting the lead ball. :thumbsup:

 

[catman]

Paul, Are you saying if I cut it 50/50 with H2O/Ballistol this would work for a hunting patch and the oil in Ballistol wouldn't affect my powder charge and the H2O added not start to rust my barrel on a days hunt? Just making sure..
I check last night on some of the patches I sprayed last year and used yesterday and they were straight Ballistol, and my groups yesterday @ 50 yards were in one word phenomenally almost one hole groups, to say the least I was very suprised that I could just keep shooting with a spit patch and dry patch clean in between shots.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I don't see any problem with what you are doing. The spit patch, as long as you don't over do it, will pull out the residue between shots, and that helps the Ballistol lube the metal of the bore for the next shot. You have to use the right size, and designed cleaning jag with your " Spit Patch", so that you are pulling the crud out, and not pushing it down the barrel toward your breech.

I use Flannel, Cotton, Cleaning patches. My cleaning jag is .030" smaller in diameter for the first band than my bore diameter. The next band back is .010" smaller than the first, and the third band is another .010" smaller yet. This allows the patch to slide over the lands as you push the patch down the barrel, but blouse out, where its grabbed by the grooves in the jag, to wedge the cotton fabric in the grooves of the barrel, and pull out all the crud. Spit makes a fine "solvent" for this purpose.

I do NOT recommend spit as a patch lubricant during a hunt. Spit dries out, and it also increases the change that the barrel will rust where the spit patch contacts the barrel. I LEARNED this lesson the hard way, BTW. If you are concerned about Ballistol spoiling your powder charge during a long day's hunt, use an Over powder Wad or a filler of some kind to separate the powder from the Ballistol lubed patch. Something as convenient as another DRY patch pushed down onto the powder before seating the PRB will often be enough of a barrier to eliminate the problem. I have been using Corn meal as a filler, and Walter's Fiber Wads as an OP wad in my .50 alternately to see which works better. I also have a hornet's nest to try as a filler material.

Because of the relatively high humdity we have here in the Corn Belt, I began running a drying patch down my barrel after I ran a spit patch down to pull out the crud. Only when its below freezing, and the relative humidity is very low, here, can I skip this step without concern. MY trying OP wads, and fillers began as attempt to find another answer to this two-patch cleaning technique. The hugh humidity is particularly a problem when loading smoothbores, I found.

 

[mike alexandre]

Ballistol is a lube, not a cleaner.
:

Sorry Paul, having used Ballistol extensively for all sorts of jobs around short and long range muskets and rifles both in my shooting regime and in clean up Ballistol does clean black powder residue and very effectively. :hatsoff: Mike

 

[paulvallandigham]

MIke: There are salts in the residue of black Powder that any oil( Not just Ballistol) is just not going to remove effectively. You need to use soap and water, or at least water, to carry away the salts after they dissolve in the water. Ballsitol is a wonderful lube. And it was designed originally to clean out the residue of Mercury primers, that would otherwise corrode the barrels. These were the " corrosive primers" in use prior to WWII. The compounds in percussion caps today are non-corrosive, but Black Powder has not changed. The Potassium Nitrate, and Sulphur still combine with air, and water in the air to make some nasty stuff. Water, and soap, together will remove everything.

I recommend using Ballistol AFTER you have cleaned the barrel with soap and water, and rinsed it thorough in tepid water.