Ballistol Patch Lube

[Dave]

I've been using BB 1000 plus, until I got some Ballistol,and I'm hooked on the stuff. After reading most of the posts using search,there are
alot of opinions out and about. So far I've seen using Ballistol with water anywhere from 4-10/1,
straight, and 50/50 beeswax. with the water some like to spary the mix right before stuffing the ball, while others let them dry. I'm leaning toward the dry of semi-dry(wax) The first shot with cold bbl would be a warm-up shot right? unless I had a spray bottle of the mix with me.
I just don't like the thought of a liquid on top of the wad, so close to the powder. Could you give your thouths on this.

http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments.html

This site I found on google some of you might find it interesting reading although I think it promoting one particular product. scroll down to loading, loads and lubes then click on experiments
there are two of them look at both of them.

 

[shootemup]

I recently discovered this site too, I think I read about it on another forum. I do like the way they make their lubed patches.

I love Ballistol, don't use anything else since I found out about it. Haven't tried it as a patch lube yet, but I would be interested in hearing what others have found.

Spot

 

[mike alexandre]

we've found neat ballistol on patches detonates in the barrel. Its ok if you cut it with water.

 

[Runner]

Ballistol is primarily heavy mineral oil. I am running a test on heavy mineral oil as a protectant for storage. Like many oils, it draws moisture to it slightly, so it may not work for that purpose. Time will answer that. Once it cools down some, I will run some target accuracy tests using it as patch lube. I already know it is not appropriate using the "dry" patch method for hunting. Several times as I was reloading using that system, I would notice smoke coming up from the leaves. When I investigated, the same thing was found each time. A smouldering patch blown deep into the leaf bed. I quit using it for that reason.
The other thing was that I made up about a yard of patch material for testing in several guns. I put the patch material in sealed bags after the lube was "dried" onto it. About a month later things went all to heck. When the problem was found, it was the cotton cloth decaying after being treated. I went back to BB for hunting.

On the plus side, if you spritz the patches right before loading, it is a very good target lube and you can even clean your gun with it at the end of the day! Heavy mineral oil is cheap 16 ounces at a time if it ends up working as well as Ballistol does. It doesn't smell as bad as Ballistol or CLP!

 

[AeroncaTAL]

I was using Stump Killers Moose Juice and Moose Snot for lubes, then tried Ballistol cut 50% with water. So far I like it. One thing I noticed right off is that I can put more rounds through the barrel before running a cleaning patch down. Last month during a trail walk at our club, I was able to easily seat the ball with my wooden ramrod at all 12 stations. I used to run a patch down after every 5 or 6 rounds...
Scott

 

[cowpoke1955]

I use Ballistol in a 4 to 1 solution. Great patch lube. I can shoot all afternoon without swabbing my barrel once. Accruacy is excellent. Nothing better! :thumbsup:

 

[Dave]

Thanks for the help, do you recommend just spray it on the patch or soak and then just wring out excess?

 

[redwing]

I don't know how it is for patch lube. I don't think it was ever intended for that. This was developed for and by the German Army in WW1. It has and is being used by them to this day. The Ballistol is very good for cleaning and storage of fire arms. It will stand up against salt and corrosive primers. As for the claims that it is only mineral oil, is some more lack of knowledge about the product. NATO did a lot of testing on gun oils a few years back. They chose Ballistol for rifles in tropic conditions. :hmm:

 

[Runner]

No one said it was all heavy mineral oil. I said the primary ingredient is heavy mineral oil. If that isn't true, then the Material Safety data sheet needs to be changed. That is how we found out what was in it when we first tested it out.
The stuff was discussed to death and researched on another board years back. I really did like it as a target patch lube. I got my first bottle at a shoot in Illinois from a club that had recieved some for testing and was using it as blanket prizes. In the field, I am back to using BB. No fires in the middle of ten thousand acres of woods is a good thing.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

Thanks for the help, do you recommend just spray it on the patch or soak and then just wring out excess?

OK here goes, Ballistol is water soluble that means it mixes with water and makes a damn good "dry" patch lube and is very!! accurate.
In order to learn to do this go to Dutch[url] Schultz.com[/url] and get his booklet on everything you need to know about dry patch shooting.
The short of it is, start with a four to one water to Ballistol mix, I use a shot glass, this is a lot of mix and will grease a lot of patches. put away that measuring cup. dunk your patch material in the solution strip excess off your patch lay out on a Formica counter let dry go shoot.
you can tinker with the mixture until you get the best accuracy for your gun. It is a dry patch lube and you will have to swab between shots. It is very accurate and great for hunting for it will not foul BLK powder over time.
hope this clears things up about using Ballistol as a patch lube.
I also use it as a superior gun/barrel lube. the stuff is great.
:thumbsup:

 

[Greenmtnboy]

In the field, I am back to using BB. No fires in the middle of ten thousand acres of woods is a good thing.

Runner I take it BB stands for Bore butter :barf:
:haha:
I use deer tallow and marmot oil for huntin' dang it.
Yes you are right I did notice on very hot days here in CO that a dry ballistol patch mix could ignite, very bad in a leafy dry forest, I used it as a hunting lube one year with great results but have switched to a natural lube, it satisfies my hillbilly period incorrectness. I have never had my mixture of tallow and oil foul my powder even after leaving my gun loaded over a long period of time and have tested it to see if point of impact changes, it doesnt.
adios my friends back to the woods.

 

[paulvallandigham]

With all due respect to both Runner and Round Ball, If the woods are so dry that you need to worry about starting a fire with a burning patch, Should you even be there hunting? And where is the water there that the deer are using? IF there isn't enough water for the deer, there probably isn't enough for the brush and grasses, and vice versa, NO?

The only fires I have see from smoldering patches has been on our club range, and it was a simple matter to call for closing the firing line so someone could step forward and step on the burning patch to put it out. I think the same thing applies when hunting, NO? You don't both hunt barefoot, do you?

This sounds like a mountain made out of a molehill. I would not hesitate to use a " Dry formula Patch Lube " when I hunt. Normally, even in dry areas of Illinois, there is enough ground moisture to keep any fire from getting started, and snuffing out the embers within a couple of minutes, tops. Obviously, your experiences must differ from mine.

 

[Runner]

Paul, I hunt woods. Square miles of woods with 5 inches of leaves under them in the clear places! You can never have a smouldering patch in there at any time.
Hunting squirrels and rabbits, I started three fires using the ballistol dry patch system before I stopped using it, and it was not abnormally dry on any of the occasions it happened. That was reported and discussed elsewhere at the time.
Squirrel hunting, your patch often gets driven deep into the leaf litter. I need a lube that protects the patch and does not allow for smouldering patches. If a fire starts, it might be me that gets roasted. Different areas have different needs.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Maybe its because I wear 10 1/2 EEE width shoes, but I have never had any trouble locating smoke, or putting out fires. I defer to your judgement based on your local conditions.

The only fire I have seen started was done by my cousin back in 1990, when he tried to put his cigarette out inside a hollow tree. He failed, and the burning ash started a fire inside the tree, which we did not notice until we saw smoke in the sky from where we had been, and were then about 1/2 mile away! We tried to put the fire out, but it had used the hollow tree like a smokestack, so the fire worked its way up into the top branches, where we could not throw water. The tree burned down, and burned a few branches on an adjoining tree. The fire did not spread through the pasture.
The owner of the farm was a friend of mine, and a retired deputy Sheriff. My cousin was a Chicago Police Detective, so we had fun at my Cousin's expense telling everyone how Chicago had sent down an arsonist to burn down a poor retired farmer's farm, etc. To his credit, my cousin accepted full responsibility for the fire, and even offered to pay for the tree. The Deputy told him they were going to have to cut that tree down the next Spring anyway, because it was becoming a hazard to his cattle. It was worth it for all the jokes and grief we gave my cousin. We used our feet to put out 99% of the fires started in the pasture from the burning branches that fell from that tree before the tree collapsed on itself, and the fire was contained. Water put out the rest of the burn.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

Howdy again folks,
I went home last night and thought, hay I hope I didn't give the wrong impression about dry patch and using it wile hunting.
As I stated I have! had dry patch ignite but only!! on very hot days after several shots out of my rifle that was also very hot.
and I was using a seven to one water/ballistol,(very dry patch)
I have never seen a dry patch ignite out of one of my rifles on a normal temp day out of a clean bore.
I am not saying it can't happen, it's just that I have never seen it happen.
So if that's what yall want to hunt with I feel confident you will have great success with it.
And yes as Runner says differen't areas have different needs.
:thumbsup:

 

[redwing]

Just wonder'in where in Illinois is there 16 sections of unbroken forest? Don't these forest have miles of roads and people every where? I don't recall every having seen a notice in any state that said Forest burned out due to black powder rifle patches. I hope it never happens, or we will be banned from public lands. :shake:

 

[Runner]

I live and hunt in Missouri, Redwing. Yes, there are roads, and occasional cabins with a yard around them in the forest. There are highlines cut thru that provide some open ground. It is four miles from my cabin to the closest blacktop road.
Basically, anything I say you are going to challenge at this point. If you need someone to talk to, you might try being polite and friendly! If you feel the need to confront and challenge everything someone says, go argue with Claude or one of the moderators.
Everything I said is testable, and the results are repeatable. First test I would do would be to make up some dry lubed patches and then put them in storage for several months. Then you need to compare the effort needed to tear the material and the accuracy side by side with fresh spritzed new patches. It is hard to get around the cloth rotting issue. Once that is done, then you need to try several substitutes for the Ballistol trying to change the results to a more positive outcome. I tried the water soluable cutting oils next myself. Once you reach that point, having tested 5 or 6 different dry patch lube formulas, we will be able to have a conversation about it. Right now, you seem unable to have a polite conversation about the topic.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

Hay Runner I have hunted in the Maxcreek area.
A very beautiful place with ausum rolling oak forest full of turkey, whitetail and all the fox squirrels you can knock down with your 36 :bow:
:thumbsup:

 

[Runner]

Our property is in the Berryman area. The deer population could use a shot in the arm, but the rest is sweet!

 

[Bill Bryan]

I use water/Balistol cut 10/1 as my patch lubricant. I keep it in an alcohol swab moisturizing bottle that I got from a doctor friend of mine. I press a dry patch of pillow ticking against the top of the alcohol bottle and it pumps just enough to moisten prior to a shot. It's great for the range bench.
It's also great in a spray bottle for cleaning up at the end of the day and I can even wash my hands in it. I lube with gun oil when I get home.