Ballistol picking up brown in bore?

[Kappa]

I use water and ballistol 6:1 for dry lube for patch lube, (Dutch Schultz method) liquid form to wipe between shots. barricade as long term storage (I’m sad to say long term storage)

 

[Omahkapi'si]

This is a very good solution to the water problem, as alcohol evaporates much more rapidly than water. It evaporates about as fast on a cool barrel as water does on a heated one.

I find doing this I don't get a lot of fouling at home to clean out. A bunch of it got dumped out at the range before it had much chance to turn to crud in there I guess.

 

[Grenadier1758]

And you do the cleaning at a cross roads under a new moon at midnight.

I have found that I can fill the bore with warm soapy water. After about three fills and some sloshing around to loosen the fouling, the cleaning water is clear. However there is still fouling in the bore that requires wiping with a soapy damp patch to clean the fouling still caked in the grooves. Probably why so many want to use a brush. Doesn't really speed the cleaning, but one feel they are getting into the grooves as long as the brush doesn't get stuck. Generally I can get to a gray patch. Then clean with a clear rinse, alcohol to dry and displace water. Even then a patch with Balistol will still come out very dark gray. A final patch with Barricade and the gun can be put away.

 

[jps2486]

I ran a patch moinstened with Ballistol through the barrel of an unfired T/C Hawken that I bought. It also came out brown. Not very heavy, so I'm thinking it's no big deal.

 

[Kcharles]

Food for thought , just because a patch comes out with a hint of brown dosnt mean it’s rust, rust has a distinct color, I usually always see a hint of brown on older barrels, usual put barrel down scrub with brush the gunzilla and then Balistol wipe the gun down with oil bslistol inside and out, plug the barrel with a rolled up cotton plug and slide it in a sleeve, if your concerned swab it again in 48 hours, this will tell you if changes are to be made to your cleaning procedures, hot water soap work great if applied right, you still have to oil or butter the inside, remember when you use hot water metal expands and open up the pours allowing moister to be retained so you might have to swab it the next day or to and reoil

 

[trapperjack]

The Ballistol is picking up rust from leaving water in the barrel. Surface rust happens quickly but should come right off.

 

[59sharps]

Swab with unicorn urine. Dry with pixie dust and lube with toad saliva. It's just that simple people.

I wish good luck with your new gun as you get to know each other.

Great thanks a lot for giving the secret away. I was getting it all for free. Now people w be hoarding it. The unicorns pixies and toads will be charging me now and prices will go thru the roof. If you can even get the stuff! Great just great!

 

[JCKelly]

Brown is rust.
Oil, including I suspect Ballistol, doe not rust iron.
Water does. Warm more so than cold.
Do clean out the powder fouling w cool water, then dry the thing.

One thing I've heard better than cool water is the urine of a three year old goat who has been fed only on ferns, for three days.
Or maybe that was for quenching steel, not sure.

But brown is rust. Water eventually makes rust. Oil does not.

 

[gvandersluis]

Just my few cents worth. I have been shooting BP cartridge rifles Sharps trapdoors and the like for over 20 years and Cap and ball pistols and rifles for more than ten. I do a field clean of the barrel before leaving the range and a full clean when I get home. If for any reason I can’t clean overnight I plug the barrel ideally with rubber corks as it’s air that contributes to rust. For bpcr a good clean at home is accomplished with a commercial cleaner, Butch’s or Muzzle magic maybe a bronze bore brush but mostly wet and then dry patches until the barrel sparkles then a patch with G96 which I also use to wipe down the rest of the metal parts of the gun. My muzzleloaders require more attention but I pull the barrels, mine have hooked breeches remove the nipple and clean out screw if there is one, then after wetting a patch I stand the barrel upside down in a few inches of very hot water wear a leather glove and using the range rod pump the wet patch up and down the barrel you will see the fouling wash out the nipple hole until the water comes out clean. Remove the barrel drain any water left in it and then put a few dry patches down to make sure the bore is dry. It almost always is just from the hot water. Then clean the nipple and screw and reassemble using a small dab of copper based anti seize swab the barrel with a G96 patch Essentials are a Thill nite lite battery which will slide down the barrel and light it up like daylight and reinspection 2 to 3 days after cleaning. I’ve never had a problem with any of my rifles following this procedure. By the way I only use balistol as a component of moose milk for my bpcr

 

[rheath]

As someone said there are many ways to clean and protect your barrel, and individuals tend to come up with a way that works okay so far as they are concerned and they are content. I do not thoroughly clean at the range, but do befre the sun goes down. My guns have patent breeches and it is easy to pull the wedges and dismount the barrels. It is my preference to pull the nipple and vent liner so as to allow plenty of free flowing water back and forth through the breech. I clean the nipple and vent liner separately using tooth brushes my wife has condemned. I immerse the breech in a bucket of warm water and pump the water in and out with a patched jag. Change the water, pump some more, and dry the barrel. I was advised by an old timer to run a WD-40 soaked patch through the barrel to displace whatever moisture may be left, and I do that. Some people claim WD-40 may leave a gummy film after it dries, so I use up another patch scrubbing it out. Finally, I learned the hard way that however thin an oil film I might leave in the barrel, the oil will migrate down into the breech and may lead to misfires. Based on good reviews I have read, I now run a patch damp with Barricade down the barrel and then store it away. So far - no problems. That is my practice, and other ways of protecting a barrel will work too.

 

[FlinterNick]

For colder temperatures and shooting for my Charlevilles, I clean with hot water and soapy Brillo pads. I clean the barrel until its free of all black powder residue, then I oil and grease. I use marine grease in the winter, the blue stuff in the tube, its anti saltwater, and hypo acidic, so hypothetically it should do the job. I run patches down my barrels once or twice a month to check them, if the color is the color of the grease and sometimes slightly black/grey from the aging of the oil, its ok. If I have rust in my barrels I use a bore scope and micro camera to find the source and polish it out With a chamise patch and some compound.

Otherwise I use barricade most of the time, and I never get rust, most of all my guns are polished / finished in armory bright.

For the inside of the locks I use tooling oil / thread cutting oil, it maintains viscosity in high temperatures and low temps.

 

[RATROD56]

Swab with unicorn urine. Dry with pixie dust and lube with toad saliva. It's just that simple people.

I wish good luck with your new gun as you get to know each other.

One question, does the urine have to come from a white unicorn or can I substitute urine from a rainbow colored unicorn? I've also heard Hobbit flatulence is good to clean out the bore, is this true & do they have to be blessed by a wizard?

 

[Magungo1066]

So, I shot my trade-gun today.

I like to clean right after shooting at the range, to pick up most of the stuff, then give do a more thorough job when I get home.

Both times, I filled the barrel with water (cold at the range, then warm at home), let it sit for a few minutes, then poured the water out, swabbed the barrel with more wet patches until they came out clean, then ran dry patches until they came out dry.

Just now, as I finished up the cleaning, I applied some Ballistol to a patch and ran it down the bore. Said patch came out with a brown ring like it was picking up rust, even though the water I poured out of the barrel was clean and clear and the patches I swabbed were clean.

Is this just what Ballistol does? Or should I run a brush down the bore?

EDIT: Just ran a big ol' chunk of unspun hemp rope, my stand-in for tow, with some more ballistol applied, down the bore, pulled it out by a piece of string, and repeated this a few times. The bore is much shiner now when viewed by eye with a flashlight, so I guess that is what I am doing from now on...

For what its worth, i commonly have my ballistol soaked cleaning patches come back brownish. It looks like rust but I personally have never had a problem with it in any gun that I use ballistol on (which is all of them). I swear by the stuff and consider it near magical lol. I have had a ball or jag get stuck in a heavily fouled rifle barrel on two occasions. Both times I was away from my gunsmith for several days, and this was before I knew how to lift the barrel and open it from the back myself. I soaked the barrel in ballistol both times, and after nearly a week, each barrel ended up being entirely devoid of rust in the end. I know a lot of factors contribute to this stuff, but I do love my ballistol...

 

[user 36911]

I took a brand new gun never fired. I cleaned out the factory gunk from the bore. I cleaned it until the patches were snow white. I ran a spit patch down the bore and got snow white. I ran an alcohol patch and got snow white. I ran a carb cleaner patch and got snow white. I ran another alcohol patch to make sure everything was out and the bore was spotless. Remember it was unfired, so it can't have any fouling. I then ran a patch of Ballistol down the bore and it came back reddish brown and looked like rust. There's no way it can be rust and the bore had never seen water.

I think if someone wants to use Ballistol they should just get used to seeing brown on the patches. Just clean until the black is gone.

 

[trapperjack]

I think its just surface rust not the damaging pitting kind. Anytime you put water on bare metal surface rust occurs fairly quickly. The ballistol will remove and protect your barrell

 

[user 36911]

I think its just surface rust not the damaging pitting kind. Anytime you put water on bare metal surface rust occurs fairly quickly. The ballistol will remove and protect your barrell

I guess you didn't read my above post?

 

[OldRust]

Brown is rust.
Oil, including I suspect Ballistol, doe not rust iron.
Water does. Warm more so than cold.
Do clean out the powder fouling w cool water, then dry the thing.

One thing I've heard better than cool water is the urine of a three year old goat who has been fed only on ferns, for three days.
Or maybe that was for quenching steel, not sure.

But brown is rust. Water eventually makes rust. Oil does not.

Dang it. We just sold the goat last week. My cleaning methods have evolved greatly over the years. I have quite an inventory of bore cleaning chemicals and I'm probably not done experimenting yet. I guess I just enjoy experimenting.

Boston123 Don't get discouraged. You will come up with a method you like. Unless you enjoy experimenting <G>

Thanks
O.R.

 

[Crow-Feather]

I plugged the vent-hole, filled the barrel with water and let it sit for a few minutes. Poured the water out, ran some wet patches until they came clean, then dry patches until they came dry, then oiled patches.

As per this post: Cleaning new Brown Bess

The oiled patches (with Ballistol), came out streaked with brown, and when I looked down the barrel with a flashlight the bore was "dull". I applied Ballistol to a bunch of hemp rope fibers and ran that up and down the bore a few times, and looked again. Very shiny bore.

A dull bore means the bore is coated with whatever you use use as a rust inhibitor. After using t/c bore butter, my barrels are always sorta dull.

 

[leadhoarder]

I took a brand new gun never fired. I cleaned out the factory gunk from the bore. I cleaned it until the patches were snow white. I ran a spit patch down the bore and got snow white. I ran an alcohol patch and got snow white. I ran a carb cleaner patch and got snow white. I ran another alcohol patch to make sure everything was out and the bore was spotless. Remember it was unfired, so it can't have any fouling. I then ran a patch of Ballistol down the bore and it came back reddish brown and looked like rust. There's no way it can be rust and the bore had never seen water.

I think if someone wants to use Ballistol they should just get used to seeing brown on the patches. Just clean until the black is gone.

I agree. I scrubbed and scrubbed a bore and kept getting clean patch after clean patch. Put a ballistol soaked patch in and got reddish brown. Run more soapy water through the bore using a patch and got them sparkling clean again then back to ballistol and it comes out reddish brown. I am pretty sure I have had no hints of rust but the patches do come out brown.

 

[user 36911]

Yes, i'd like a chemist explain why Ballistol does that but I can't believe whatever is on the patch is harmful. A Ballistol user just needs to get used to seeing it.

If Ballistol created rust there's no way it could have stayed popular since 1923.