Tried Balistol / Water today

[Bassdog1]

Tried Balistol Water dry patch today. The first pic shows a 3 shot 35 yard group using 15 grains Swiss 3F a .010 patch and a .315 swaged ball using the dry patch method and a 7 to 1 water/Balistol mix. The second pic I use 15 Grains Swiss a .o15 Patch and a .310 swaged ball. For this target I aimed sitting the 1" orange dot on top of my front sight. Posted a new target for Pic #3 and shot the .010 and .315 Patch and ball combo again. Then for #4 I shot the .015 patch and .310 ball again. These two groups I aimed dead center cutting a 2" dot with my front sight. The .315 Ball and .010 patch loads nicely with out requiring a short starter while the .310 ball and .015 patch was tighter and required the short starter and was tight loading with the ram rod. Both loads shot equally well but I decided to see how long the accuracy lasted without any swabbing. At this point the barrel had not been swabbed for 12 rounds. I reposted target #1 with the 1" dot and went back to sitting the dot on the top of the sight. I fired a total of 18 more rounds using the .315 Ball and .010 patch combo so the final target has a total of 24 rounds in it with no swabbing. I really liked the results of the dry patch. No greasy oil on my hands or gun, Fouling was not a problem, Both combos produced good squirrel accuracy and the .315 ball and .010 patch loaded with no short starter so 1 less thing to carry in the woods. I am going to try this again in the next couple of days using Goex 3F for comparison but like what I am seeing so far.

 

[dave951]

Distance?

 

[Phil Coffins]

Spit at 25 and 50 yards.
IMG_0200 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

 

[Bassdog1]

All groups at 35 yards just wanted to see how this dry lube method worked. Sorry for some reason my message had cut out the body of the message. Fixed now.

 

[Bassdog1]

Phil I have tried spit but cant get the results with this gun that others get. Also this was my 32 Seneca. Will also see how well it works with my Cherokee in 32.

 

[Phil Coffins]

Bassdog 1, good data now that I see the rest of the story.

 

[ZUG]

All groups at 35 yards just wanted to see how this dry lube method worked. Sorry for some reason my message had cut out the body of the message. Fixed now.

Just watch out for fires - I gave up using the dry patch method because I had an issue of starting fires on a few woodswalks in the past.

 

[Bassdog1]

I will watch Thanks Zug. I found most of my patches and all were in excellent condition and could have been reused. Totally expected to see some signs of charring but none at all.

 

[Timber Wolf]

Please forgive my ignorance, but how do you prepare your patches? Soaking/drying technique? Precut or cut at muzzle?

 

[Bassdog1]

These are precut patches that I buy 1000 at a time from Eastern Maine shooting supply. I put a couple drops on each one till completely damp and then lay them out on a flat surface until dry then keep them in a plastic film container. Some may have other methods as I am new to this type of dry lube patching.

 

[Jim K]

Thanks for the post Bassdog. I’ll have to try it in my .32 cherokee.

 

[Trooper]

I've been using Ballistol/water for a few months now and love it. I recently purchased two yards of tight weave .020 material and tear it into 1-1/4" strips. I then soak them in my Ballistol/water mix and let the strips dry in the sun. I cut the patches at the muzzle. I'm using .530 RB with 80 gns of 777. I intend on trying a .535 RB to see if I can get better accuracy at 50 meters.

 

[William O.]

Tried Balistol Water dry patch today. The first pic shows a 3 shot 35 yard group using 15 grains Swiss 3F a .010 patch and a .315 swaged ball using the dry patch method and a 7 to 1 water/Balistol mix. The second pic I use 15 Grains Swiss a .o15 Patch and a .310 swaged ball. For this target I aimed sitting the 1" orange dot on top of my front sight. Posted a new target for Pic #3 and shot the .010 and .315 Patch and ball combo again. Then for #4 I shot the .015 patch and .310 ball again. These two groups I aimed dead center cutting a 2" dot with my front sight. The .315 Ball and .010 patch loads nicely with out requiring a short starter while the .310 ball and .015 patch was tighter and required the short starter and was tight loading with the ram rod. Both loads shot equally well but I decided to see how long the accuracy lasted without any swabbing. At this point the barrel had not been swabbed for 12 rounds. I reposted target #1 with the 1" dot and went back to sitting the dot on the top of the sight. I fired a total of 18 more rounds using the .315 Ball and .010 patch combo so the final target has a total of 24 rounds in it with no swabbing. I really liked the results of the dry patch. No greasy oil on my hands or gun, Fouling was not a problem, Both combos produced good squirrel accuracy and the .315 ball and .010 patch loaded with no short starter so 1 less thing to carry in the woods. I am going to try this again in the next couple of days using Goex 3F for comparison but like what I am seeing so far.

Ballistic is a water soluble oil which mixes with water. The ratio for dry lube is anywhere from 9-1 to 5-1, with most people choosing the 7-1 as being most accurate for them after testing. I also cut at the muzzle and buy 100% cotton mattress ticking at the local fabric store. After washing and drying the material to get out the starch I tear into strips, roll and soak in the mix then lay out flat to dry so as to get an even amount all over. I gave up on pre-cut patches as they gave inconsistent results. Some shredded and caught fire, some looked fine, you just never know.

Thanks for posting your results, I've never gotten to try dry lube patches in my .32 Crockett rifle. I'm glad you did

 

[1BadDart]

I bought a can of Ballistol yesterday and made up a 5-1 mix. I soaked a piece of 2 1/2" wide by 24" long .015" ticking, then laid it out to dry. Maybe today I'll get to do some shooting.

 

[Bassdog1]

I am definitely going to work with it some more. Just soaked a few more patches and have them drying.

 

[COTNTOP]

Is that 5parts ballistol to 1part water?

 

[david w]

Is that 5parts ballistol to 1part water?

That's the ratio use.

 

[1BadDart]

I used 5 parts water and 1 part Balliastol.

 

[Whughett]

I use Ballistol for cleaning and general lubing. 1/8 felt wads for bore lubing fouling softner in revolvers. Wonder if the “dry” lubing would work in that application. A little stronger mix maybe.

 

[Pukatea Bay Boy]

Spit at 25 and 50 yards.
IMG_0200 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

Nice shooting Phil