Have any of you used Ballistol?

I have a friend who swears by the stuff for his black powder rifles.

All I can say from personal experience is that it has a pretty funky smell.

Tony, Try CorrosionX. It works better for me and has no bad smell. It is made in Garland by Corrosion Technologies. You can get some at Academy.

Mike

Tony, I'v used ballistol a lot after reading about it from Ross Seyfried. It's good for cleaning the bore and swabbing down the barrel. It won't add oil to the stock if it gets on wood. My daughter did walk in on one cleaning session and thought it smelled like her older brother's sock drawer! Bob

The smell is unique....but it works GREAT..!!
I've used it for black powder cleaning, as well as mixed with water for a B.P. patch lube.
A 50/50 mix with water does a great job cleaning B.P. residue, then finish up with the straight stuff...no rust, no problems.

The nasty stuff stinks can't get it off of my hands ,afraid it would spook game so I'll never buy it again..I use Militec-1 for many of my firearms bores and with my semiauto handguns externally also.Same item sent to our troops for their weapons.

I wouldn't trust Ballistol for long-term rust protection.
Some fifteen years ago I found my boyhood airrifle at my parent's home. Bore was shiny and nice. Shot it some and oiled wih Ballistl and put it away. Some ten years later I "found" it again. This time the bore was rusted. I never, ever use Ballistol again. Same thing with dad's fine old Walther airpistol. Recieved the same treatment with the same consquences.

I like the smell of it.
I would not use it for long term protection, I use RIG for that.
I have used it on leather and a couple of gunstocks for some water protection.

quote:

Originally posted by utk:
I wouldn't trust Ballistol for long-term rust protection.
Some fifteen years ago I found my boyhood airrifle at my parent's home. Bore was shiny and nice. Shot it some and oiled wih Ballistl and put it away. Some ten years later I "found" it again. This time the bore was rusted. I never, ever use Ballistol again. Same thing with dad's fine old Walther airpistol. Recieved the same treatment with the same consquences.

You should have been using cosmoline for long term storage like that.

When I "found" the rifle the first time, it had been lying there for many years.
Hadn´t I used Ballistol it would probably have remained rust-free until I found it the second time... (I live in a fairly dry climate)

Ballistol did not cause rust. It was moisture that caused rust.

You say "fairly" dry climate. Well the lube dried up and then you got some humidity later on.

Cosmoline is best for long term storage. Use that or do regular cleaning/lubricating.

Well, whatever...
Better safe than sorry, anyway. So I'll stick with "conventional" mineral lubes in the future.

quote:

Originally posted by utk:
When I "found" the rifle the first time, it had been lying there for many years.
Hadn´t I used Ballistol it would probably have remained rust-free until I found it the second time... (I live in a fairly dry climate)

First of all I see you are a new member. Welcome to AR. Second Ballistol is a wonderful product if you use it for it's intended purpose which you did not. Use it to clean and for the preservation of leather. It is not meant for long term storage of firearms. As Don Edwards points out it is great for BP applications which is what I use it for. If it doesn't work as advertised, then bad mouth it.

Thank you for your kind welcome, Jim.
I'm glad you pointed out the proper use for Ballistol. I didn't know that
Ballistol was what I found after my dad who had just passed away. So I thought it was the "proper" oil to use.

Ballistol is a wonderful product with lots of uses! It is one of my favourite general purpose oils to clean off the exterior of firearms.

Aleko

In Europe Ballistol was used a lot in veterinary medicine about 50 years ago. So I had to try. It is great for ekzema and you smell like an old gun. My wife did not appreciate.

Some people love the smell othewrs hate it

Aleko

The absolute best lube for weapons is sperm whale oil (no longer legal in this country).It was used in automatic transmission fluid because it didn't breakdown from heat .

Funny, Ballistol was the first cleaning/lubricating product I used 40 years ago. Then, influenced by U.S. magazines, I switched to more specific solvents, lubricating and protecting oils, convinced that those high tech products had to be better suited for the different tasks. Amazingly and after following this post, I bought Ballistol a few weeks ago and came to the astounding conclusion that it is as effective today as in decades gone by... Proof that one always tends to believe the grass to be greener on the other side of the pond

Hey, André, if I open my window, I can see you nextdoor!
Anyway, Ballistol is a fine oil for lubricating rusty doorhinges and protecting the outside of your firearm.
I used it a lot on my shotguns and tried to give it a try on my boltactions. But it does not take away any copper, and just a little of carbon. You can use it as a preservative before you switch to a better borecleaner as Forrest, or, if you wish, Wipe-Out. Just try these cleaners if you think Ballistol did the job.
But the smell is really sexy, no doubt!
Nice day,
Jan.

It's not a copper remover all right (BTW, like most regular solvents) but it does a fair job on carbon. For the latter, I prefer MPro 7 by far (after a little soaking, the gas piston of my FAL looks like new with just a bit of brushing).

balistol is still used by vets,...I heard that a TSP down a dogs throat that had "hot spots", and within 2 days they were drying up. It was also applied to the external areas as well. Same for stomach virus',..swallow a little bit and voila. It will not weaken wood stocks and is also a great battelfield antiseptic as well as leather preservative and moisture repellant. Those germans think of everything. great stuff.

It was used to treat cheap Chi-com tools and wrenches in my pickup tool box. After 4 hurricanes in Florida I finally DRAINED my toolbod, (tools in 3" of water)and the ballistol treated tools were FREE of rust. that's all I need to know.

I complete cleaning with Ed's Red I swab with ballistol. I shoot corrosive, I treat with Moose-milk (1:1 ballistol & water) which is what BP shooter used. It works.

Hell! Hitler took it internally in the trenches in WW I for his bowels. Smels dreadful, but it works

I am not married anymore

Yodar