Has anybody used a product called Ballistoil for your firearms and if so what your verdict.

I use it a lot because it is safe on wood stocks. One still would not want to soak a wood stock in Ballistoil and let set.

It will, for lack of a better word, congeal, but breaks back down when you wipe it. I could see it gumming up inside a revolver if one was too heavy or did not wipe off excess.

It was too light to use on the rails of my Dan Wesson 1911, but the less tight Ruger 1911 likes it.

It will discolor leather.

You can buy the rope single packets to stick in the travel case when hunting overseas or across the state.

Thank you LHeym500 for your input

I used two pints of it up as a rust preventive
worked well for that I didn't use as a lube in the action

My experience is the same as P Dog. I've used it for years as a rust preventative, but have selected other products for lubricants. Not that it wouldn't work, I just didn't try it.

I don't know how to compare all the different gun cleaning, protection, et. stuff out there, and have been trying for 70 plus years I guess, still seems to me one is as good as the other, short of obvious failures..and opinnions are a dime a dozen on the blogs, one hates WD-40 and another has used it and liked it for eons..Ive used BAllistoil, and WD-40, both worked as far as I could tell, as did a hundred or more others Ive tried, which one was best, I have no idea..

I really like the stuff and use it on my 1911s mostly because it does seem to set up and stay in place but I have used gun grease also on the rails. Just depends, as long as you have something that is what matters.
Plus I like the smell of it, smells like black licorice to me.

I use it as a cleaner for my cowboy action guns that shoot black powder loads. It really gets the gunk loose. Clean with it, then clean with windex , then breakfree the gun for rust protection is my procedure.

A dry soft rag works pretty good, in case you havn't noticed, most US Custom Agents, and DEA Agents don't use holsters and stick their gun in the waste butt forward called the Mexican Carry, and they don't want a oily gun soaking up their clothes, If you wipe it down every evening or so it will work fine, most carry automatics or chief specials in various calibers...the guns don't fail to function, gaul, or rust if one pays attention. Something some will surely condem..but you might want to give it a try, and a light coat of thin oil "wiped dry" on ocassion might be OK, as will a bore swipe followed by a cleaning patch...Its worked for years on the high humid South Texas border, even better on the west Texas Sonorian dessert border from Sanderson to El Paso, Tex..

Ray, are you really that much out of touch with the current real world ?

quote:

Originally posted by rcraig:
Ray, are you really that much out of touch with the current real world ?

Rays cleaning ritual sounds identical to mine,,I clean with #9 but oil with whatever is on hand at the moment,,3 in 1 works perfect for most jobs!

When was the last time you heard of/seen Feds sticking/carrying their guns butt forward in the waist, "Mexican Carry". They do carry "automatics", but "chief specials" ? Yeah, right.

I like Ballistol, and use it to clean and protect the bores on my black powder cartridge rifles.
The ARs get CLP.

Bill, I just bought some Ballistol because of your post. I will give it a try. Brian

Brian, I think you will like it, but tell us your conclusion upon use.

Bill, Yes I will. Brian

rcraig,
Im still in touch, and on the border they do that for a number of reasons, one being in car to foot operation there are times to get rid of your gun and stick it under the seat and follow on foot, especailly in Mexico..

You speak as one of those harness bulls that have never got down into the guts of the game..I had 43 years in Narcotics, I know damn well what they prefer..and holsters are frowned in that game, its a give away...and Im trying to be polite!

Ray, if bullshit was music, you'd be an orchestra.

Harness bull ? I spent 4 years in the Corps, which included 2 tours of fun and games in Vietnam.

I'll try to be polite as well.

Best regards, GFY.

Being military has nothing to do with being a cop on the street..

So in all your brillance what is wrong with a lt. wt. chief special, its small and easy to conceal and damn sure has more punch than a .380 or 32..I would suggest that a majority of police have a cheif special in there gun draw..

You can bet your ass and half of georgia that if you get caught in Mexico with a pistol in a holster that you didn't stick under the seat when you got out of your vehicle to follow a bad guuy that your in trouble..

Your military experience has nothing to do with US law enforcement...bottom line sir is you are counterfiet and know not from whence you come...and your snide remarks are those of a computer flake with no experience other than what you have read in some gun books..


I can just picture you making a Narcotics buy with a 1911 stuck in a holster with two clips on your other side or sporting a shoulder holster.....or walking down the street with your pistol bulging your coat..No sir the Mexican carry is still popular with Border AGents in Texas st. Norcotics, US customs Agency,
DEA and most local narcotics devisions.

I put it aside when you resorted to name calling, no longer interested in your opinnion...

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I put it aside when you resorted to name calling, no longer interested in your opinnion...

Ray, nowhere was name calling resorted to. And, I still like reading your posts, they are entertaining if nothing else.

Then lets keep it clean and no character assinatiions as from a small group that not only hate me but frown on everyone on AR according to thier posts...

Ive never had any conflict with you in the past and this time only a disagreement..

Call it square and lets start over next time put a smily face on your posts...

I could be wrong but I think Ballistol was originally formulated to neutralize the fouling from corrosive primers.

Fulminate of mercury and neglectful or poor cleaning ruined many a barrel in years past.

It originated before WWI. The Germans wanted a multi purpose cleaner/oil for use on firearms and equipment and Balllistol is what they came up with. The German military used it early on and through WWII.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Then lets keep it clean and no character assinatiions as from a small group that not only hate me but frown on everyone on AR according to thier posts...

Ive never had any conflict with you in the past and this time only a disagreement..

Call it square and lets start over next time put a smily face on your posts...

Square with me.

quote:

Originally posted by rcraig:
It originated before WWI. The Germans wanted a multi purpose cleaner/oil for use on firearms and equipment and Balllistol is what they came up with. The German military used it early on and through WWII.

One of its multi-purposes, and maybe the most important in those days, is that when diluted with water it dissolves corrosive primer residue.

I still use it for that purpose when firing old, corrosive-primed military surplus ammo. If one does not clean the bore within a short time after firing that stuff, even as little as 24 hours, the barrel will start to rust and even pit.

Ballistol is like magic for preventing that kind of damage, which is irreversible, and, as you say, a lot of other purposes, too!

Mike, Good info. Thanks, Brian

If the makers don't state that Ballistol is for removal of corrosive primer debris, then don't assume it will.

Manufacturer's can change the formulation of anything, and do, to suit the times. There has been a lot of corrosive military surplus shipped and sold to civilians in the US, but the gun owning habits of Americans are in the minority. I don't know of any commercial ammunition on the US market that is corrosive, that stuff more or less disappeared post WW2.

GI Bore Cleaner, Mil C 372, is supposed to remove corrosive primer residue, and maybe it does. I don't trust it after finding a rifle with rust in the barrel, a week after cleaning with it. The absolute best way to remove corrosive primer residue is with hot, soapy water. Stick the muzzle in a pan, pump the water up and down with a patch wrapped around a jag. This absolutely dissolves those corrosive primer salts.

Of course, run a patch through the tube to dry out all the water and then oil the bore.

Use "scalding hot water" to scald the soapy water and it will dry the moisture in a hurry on metal..then oil profusely and wipe most off..works well on muzzle loaders as well...

used properly soapy water is the best thing for cleaning a gun squeeky clean, regardless of its genealogy..

quote:

Originally posted by SlamFire:
If the makers don't state that Ballistol is for removal of corrosive primer debris, then don't assume it will.

Ballistol

My reply to the OP's question is this. After years of reading the ad's and user comments, I finally caved and bought some. It smells like someone's sweat soaked socks, shorts and jock. For me it didn't remove fouling any better than Hoppe's or any other standard solvent. Don't want to switch from CLP as my final lube, so I can't talk about lube or storage properties. My advice is save your money.

Used it a bit, Nothing special to me.

I was reading one of Fred Everett's books the other day and at some point he was dosing himself with Ballistoil to help fight off malaria. Wonder if it would work for Covid?? Seems to have been used for everything else!

Ray Atkinson-------38663 posts

rcraig-------------208 posts

just sayin'

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Michalski:
Ray Atkinson-------38663 posts

rcraig-------------208 posts

just sayin'

I've been around a lot longer than you know. And you, 598 posts. So what.

Just sayin ? Have you nothing better to say ?

Just sayin'

Posts don't count! What counts is opinion, and we all have different experiences, and they count IMO when offered but no one is required to agree, that option is up to each of us and sometimes it gets a bit at odds, but grudges should be voided.

Surely not looking for any grudges. Just pointing out the counts and wondering. I have been on this site for years before the count just disappeared, so I know that the numbers mean next to nothing. Guess it's my sorry ass use of sarcasm. No offense intended.

Mike