Ballistol, found under the sink...

I use the liquid Ballistol for cleaning my 686, based on Hickok45's recommendation. One good point is you don't need a separate lubricant. Also it doesn't contain harsh chemicals and won't trash non-metal surfaces with which it comes in contact.

Used by Germany in the trenches of WWI. Can you imagine a more hostile environment?
Safe for use on wood and leather as well. Non-toxic.

Great stuff.

YankeeFlyr said:

OK, my wife just found (2) containers of a product called "Ballistol" under our sink with the requisite oven cleaner, stainless cleaner, 409, etc.

It says that it's "good for everything", to paraphrase, LOL.

Is this the same stuff I've heard of folks using in their home-brewed Super-Duper bore cleaner recipes?

It's from 1995, as per the marks on the bottom of the aerosol cans, and is made in Germany.

Thoughts?

Pic attached...

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I use this for my Glock and other firearms. My bottle looks a bit different but that's the stuff. Works on metal, wood, leather, all sorts of things. It's excellent at creeping into places and coats really well and won't evaporate or disappear.

It mixes with water which can make it an excellent post corrosive ammo cleaner. Rinsing out the bore with Ballistol and water gets the salt out, and as the water evaporates Ballistol remains. This can be better than other oil because, as I understand it, you can rinse with water and apply oil and the oil may actually float on top of the water, trapping it, causing rust.

FYI, it has a smell like black licorice/anise root. The odor can get powerful but does dissipate rather quickly. And I've read of people finding bottles a lot older than '95 and it still works great.

Black powder shooters love it! A great cleaning / lubricating oil for any gun. Also removes that sticky label residue some price tags leave on merchandise...maybe that's the reason it was in your kitchen.

Ballistol, the most overrated gun CLP on the planet. It makes a good lube, but doesn't clean very well. The smell is the WORST (kind of like baby powder in a dirty diaper).

LOL. Never heard the smell described like that. It does have a funky smell but it kinda grows on one. As far as the cleaning goes , well for black powder shooters it's a top cleaner. Mixed with water 50/50 it neutralizes black powder fouling.

I like it a lot for general use. A classic in my mind and with some of the new super lubes turning out to be crisco, palm oil, or other such odd things. Or, Simple Green damaging aluminum, I'm sticking to the classics these days!

It used to be what Hk suggested to use on their stuff, not sure about now.

It's not cutting edge but been around a long time so it's faults are known and I trust it. Also, won't harm wood nor leather.

I think it smells like licorice but I have a horrible sense of smell.

Love it

Especially for ANY possibly corrosive ammo or black powder guns.

Long story short,left a Mosin un basement after shooting corrosive ball,just wiped it with Ballistol to see what would happen.

NOTHING,no rust and no pitting after a month.

Also the best stuff to wipe blades as it is FOOD GRADE [ look it up ].

AND can mix instantly with water and be used diluted.

http://www.ballistol.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistol

Smells like old gym socks to me but it's great stuff for corrosive ammo and black powder!

It was also developed for wound disinfection. You can also use it to kill chiggers, fleas and ticks,

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gun-shots/2013/12/ballistol-german-lubricant-total-gun-care

http://www.e-budo.com/forum/showthread.php?38017-Ballistol-Germany-s-gun-oil-and-wound-disinfectant

I use WD-40, Molly Lube, and non detergent oil 30W.

Mixed with water, the resulting "milk" makes a good black powder patch lube. I know cowboy action shooters that apply it very heavily after they shoot, then they set their guns aside to go eat, visit, drink, whatever and then clean their BP guns several hours later with no problems.

YankeeFlyr said:

OK, my wife just found (2) containers of a product called "Ballistol" under our sink with the requisite oven cleaner, stainless cleaner, 409, etc.

It says that it's "good for everything", to paraphrase, LOL.

Is this the same stuff I've heard of folks using in their home-brewed Super-Duper bore cleaner recipes?

It's from 1995, as per the marks on the bottom of the aerosol cans, and is made in Germany.

Thoughts?

Pic attached...

Click to expand...

It is very good for soaking rusted nuts/bolts and great for spraying shovels so that snow doesn't stick to them during its removal.

It's also known to treat and cure: hemorrhoids, athlete's foot, snake bite, the heartbreak of psoriasis, the common cold, bleeding gums, diarrhea, smelly toe jam, and excessive flatulence. We use it daily!

the product clensoil is similar.

The only bad thing about the 'stol is it smells like a mixture of licorice and baby dung. It works nicely on black powder weapons though.

Yeah it is worthless for after shave.

I read a evaluation of Ballistol maybe 12 years ago on the internet that was issued to Third Reich guys in WW2 and the analysis indicated it had not deterriorated which is good to know.

I have a can, have not used it that much though I do not how how it will behave in sub zero cold.

I do know they were critical in the development of synthetic motor oil for what they ran into on Eastern Front the first winter.

I've used it for many years on my black powder guns and use it today on anythng that fires Russian ammo.

As mentioned above Hickok45 is a Ballistol fan.

Here he uses it on a Glock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZf4mUM10Vc

Edit to add: I've used it since the mid-1990's, though mostly for household and garden use. I do use it on guns occasionally as sometimes it's nice to have an aerosol to spray something down. I can't bring myself to spray break cleaner or other degreasers on my guns, so Ballistol is usually my spray of choice.

I inherited a 1892 Kolb Baby Hammerless that hadn't functioned since before I was born, maybe since before my dad was born in 1925. Looks like this one, but a little rougher:
https://www.gunsamerica.com/UserImages/5611/911676237/wm_7383003.jpg

I removed the MOP grips and soaked it overnight in a ziplock bag full of Ballistol, and a lot of brown crud came out. Now the hand works well enough to turn the cylinder, but it couldn't fix the fact that the hammer lifter is worn down too much to cycle the hammer. No great loss, since my stock of blackpowder .22 Shorts is zero and will remain ever so.

Appreciation of the smell is subjective. I kinda like it (as well as Hoppe's #9, and at least the Ballistol isn't toxic like Hoppe's) and it's not like I learn to love EVERY cleaning product due to its association with shooting. I still think Bore Tech Eliminator is nasty, but it does a better job on metal fouling than Ballistol.

Silly tangent: I think Wallgreen's house brand tar shampoo smells a bit like Hoppe's. If you want cleaning your head to remind you of cleaning your guns...

scaatylobo said:

Especially for ANY possibly corrosive ammo or black powder guns.

Long story short,left a Mosin un basement after shooting corrosive ball,just wiped it with Ballistol to see what would happen.

NOTHING,no rust and no pitting after a month.

Also the best stuff to wipe blades as it is FOOD GRADE [ look it up ].

AND can mix instantly with water and be used diluted.

Click to expand...

You make a good point regarding blades - I clean my swiss army knife with Ballistol all the time and it gets sticky junk off of it super easy (like the residue from cutting tape on boxes).

And it is indeed safe to consume, though I wouldn't want to taste it

And it is indeed safe to consume, though I wouldn't want to taste it

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The guy at the hardware store back in the mid-1990's that first sold me on the product, sprayed it on his hand and licked it off to convince me it was non-toxic.

Good for him. In all the years I've used it I haven't had the urge to repeat his demonstration, though I do like the product, just not to eat.