Ballistol - A Good Rust Preventative? Fact or Fiction

[john boy]

http://www.theopenrange.net/forum/index.php?topic=9308.0

[rbertalotto]

Great thread right there!

Not sure what it means.........As long as you are not using WD-40, you should be good to go.

I have a whole lot of guns and use a bunch of different "Rust Preventatives" over the years and not one of my guns has a spec of rust. I live 1 mile from the Atlantic Ocean in Southern New England.

I do know on boats and motorcycles, which play out in bad weather much more often than firearms, I use Ballistol and it is a great rust preventative.

[zymurgeist]

Wow I guess I won't prop my guns up on a sea wall a hundred yards from the Atlantic Ocean any more.   
The old guys, I mean the real old guys used to swear by either whale oil, goose grease, or a kind of settled and decanted extra virgin olive oil. I couldn't tell ya where to find extra virgins. 

The German Army swears by their version of Ballistol but it's not for storage it's for guns that are regularly cleaned.

[Ranch 13]

Nice thing about living out here, don't have that sort of rust problems with our steel wool.

Also used WD-40 for years and years in the muzzleloaders I shot in competetion, and have used it quite a bit in on and around the smokeless guns...

[Steel Horse Bailey]

I prefer other solutions for Rust Prevention, like BreakFree, Eezox, and others (RemOil and numerous others.)

Ballistol has not proven itself to be a great rust inhibitor to ME, but thorough applications of it on a regular schedule will no doubt work.  Ballistol (and WD, 3-In-1, and other lightweight oils) are waaaaay better than nothing and can be made to work well if used within their limitations.

I did NOT read the Open Range discussion linked to by John Boy, but this opinion of mine is based on years of my own experience.

I'll go read it now.  Thanks for the link, J.B.  No matter HOW long we have been doing things, it's NEVER too late to learn from others.  They may have experiences that we don't.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Well, I read it.  It pretty much shows what I've thought all along.  Modern oils (in this case, Eezox) are FAR superior for rust prevention.

As I said above, use the stuff you choose within the limits of the material.  Ballistol and water (moosemilk) work fine for the immediate cleaning of BP and the water will stop the effects of the corrosiveness.  Then use a good lube on the moving parts. (I personally will NOT use Ballistol in places of hard/heavy use & metal-on-metal contact/friction, it's only a lightweight oil, after all and not nearly as good as a Teflon-based high-performance lube (Lucas gun oil has impressed me recently) or some of the greases like Gun Butter, TW 25, etc)  Use EZ or BF or RO if you won't be using the gun within the next few months, providing you have a decent method of storage.  Leave the long-term storage to superior modern preventatives.

Again, thanks for the testing and the link, John Boy.   Real world tests - ya gotta love 'em!

[Cliff Fendley]

The very best oil I've found for rust prevention is Clenzoil. I can't recall anyone ever using it in any of the rust wars tests between oils.

A lot of knifemakers and collectors use it on knives. I use it on my high carbon damascus knives.

[john boy]

Cliff - looked the product up - read it over ... I'm 20 bucks lighter!

[Dick Dastardly]

Lotsa stuff out there that inhibits rust.  Ballistol is among the oldest.  Ballistol does a LOT more than prevent rust though.  It's your friend around black powder guns.

DD-MDA

[litl rooster]

Steel wool that stuff rust if you look at it. Especially if you touch it while you have a man tear in your eye. You know like at a veterans day parade. or when your team wins the Superbowl or if your wife gives birth to your child. Not sobbing kind of tears. No body uses steel wool then.


I will continue to use Ballistol and or MooseMilk blend.  I have started using Frog Lube on some of my weapons and am running a test on it.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Hi,

Okay I will admit to some foolishness ... I clean all my guns with CLP...wiping the bore and cylinder unil the wipe comes out white  (almost *S*).

Since CLP is not mentioned, you have me worried .... is it not good to use with black powder?

TTFN,

[joec]

I'm using Ballistol for short term (up to a month between shooting) however I use Break Free CLP for longer term (a year) and after that gun packing grease which their are several brands of. I lived most of my life in south Florida and now Kentucky and never had a gun rust on my regardless of the powder or even corrosive ammo shot from it. I do clean an lube as soon as I return from any shooting I do, not leaving the guns to sit, even over night.

[Cemetery]

 I have started using Frog Lube on some of my weapons and am running a test on it.

Not to hijack this thread, but I have been using Frog Lube for about a year a now.  After the soap and water cleaning, I found it is quite good at getting ride of that pesky carbon buildup and residue that gets in the gun.  I have also found it to work well, on the cylinder pin.  Went 7 stages once using full house loads of real black in my Old Armies, and it still spun like it was fresh.

Just a little dab will do ya.....

Not sure about rust protection with it though.

[Deadeye Dick]

I'm a believer in Ballistol. Only way to go as in MHO. Nothing against Eezox. Ballistol is available through ebay and at a lot of gun shows.
See:     http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/corrosion/corrosion2.html      for testing results.
This was posted earlier on the Forum, but don't remember who to give the credit to.
Deadeye Dick

[john boy]

Dick, you can buy Ballistol in a good hardware store.  And if they don't stock it, they'll order it for you

[Crow Choker]

I've been using ballistol on my BP guns for around 4 yrs now since a shootin pard informed me about it. Never have had any rust problems with it, in fact it's what I use at times even with smk'less guns, esp with some military bolt actions. I still use some of the more 'modern' rust preventitive oils though in many of them. After cleaning the BP guns with 'moosemilk', I swab the cylinders and bores with the pure stuff and put away. Before shooting them a light swabbing with a dry patch is all that's needed and no worries of black powder burn residue and petrolumn product interaction. I keep a large piece of flannel with ballistol on it for wiping the exterior of all my guns, never any problems-even in the humidlity of Iowa summers.
I've run across a few hardware stores that carry it (nothing local), but I mostly get it through Midsouth Shooters Supply, which is usually the cheapest. I do get several cans though when ordering other items, just sending for the Ballistol only and paying for the shipping only on it is cost defeating. Brownells and Midway also carry it, but more $$$. If I'm in some hardware store or major retail store that carries shooting supplies and they don't carry it, I always inform them of ballistol and tell them should, after giving them the reasons why.
John Boy's information was interesting, but guess I don't plan on storing my guns out in the elements after cleaning and coating with ballistol. Maybe for a long term storage I'd use something else. I have read of some long term storage of military weapons swabbed with balistol and after cleaning, the bores were reported like new. I'll keep using it untill any problems arise or something better comes my way. Might try the Eezok someday, I'm a easy 'hit' for trying new and different products-courisity I think! Deadeye, your link was interesting too. The only place I've seen Eezok available is direct from the maker, any shooting supply outfit offer it?

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Crow Choker, the issue is for EXTENDED time rust prevention.  Ballistol is fine ... as long as you don't expect Ballistol to keep your gun rust-free for more than a few weeks in a typical closet or even a basement.  A  gun cabinet is a different story.  And while it's a better lubricant than nothing, you're better off using good quality lubricants.  Ballistol is a very lightweight and thin oil and as such it was and has been improved on.  Now, for making moosemilk to cut the corrosive properties in the BP reisude, Ballistol and water have proven themselves to be very good.  But truthfully, the WATER is what neutralizes the corrosive "salts" that are what remains after firing ... the Ballistol simply puts an immediate light coat of oil to keep any nasty rust away from the steel ... and if you are shooting regularly, you are replacing the Ballistol often enough and on a regular basis so you can continue on like that for a long time.

I do like your idea, Choker of Crows about the rag you keep saturated with the Ballistol for a quickie wipe whenever you need.

[Crow Choker]

Get your drift Steel Horse. Quess what I read of the topic, everyone was talking of what was needed to prevent rust and preserve the steel between shooting, which is what a gun owner wants any time. I went back and skimmed all the posts, quess what I see is that, whether only a week or a year goes by between shooting any gun the need was how to prevent any rust. I do agree with ya though, if any long term storage would be taken, I would use a heavier oil based product. Then also, when composing my other post, I figured everyone who has any knowledge about cleaning and preserving their firearms would store them in the best place possible away from humidity. Who in their right mind stores his firearms, if he cares about them at all, in a basement with high humidity. Me, myself, and I store all of mine, except an old banger single shot shotgun and 22 LR rifle in a gun cabinet with humidity sucking boxes.
Oh yeah, also the hogleg with six beans in the wheel I keep out for doing what I hope never happens, but 'just in case'!!!!! I did look up Eezok on the web and found where it can be obtained fairly close to me. Never heard of what Cemetary spoke of-'Frog Lube'! Looked that up to and read of the history and attributes of it.

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Crow Buddy, I have heard really good things about "Frog Lube" but I haven't tried it.  Yet.

Gun cabinets with moisture-reducing chemicals and/or "heaters" (like I have, and apparently you, too) are pretty ideal.  But not everyone has one.  And I'm sure a LOT more guns are stored pretty well in closets rather than damp basements, but more guns get "rode hard and put away wet" so to speak than ANY of us aficionados would think ... and that's when Ballistol fails as a rust preventative.

I have a number of favorite oils & mixes to use.  (I made a VERY nice mix using Lucas Gun Oil & the Teflon I salvaged from a BreakFree jug I found in a trash can at the range I used to work at; obviously from some IDJIT who never bothered to read the big words printed on the label of EVERY jug of BF: SHAKE WELL BEFORE USE" )  I have olive oil (extra virgin, of course) and Ballistol for "primitive" situations, but for serious lubing & preserving, gimme the "NEW stuff!"

[cpt dan blodgett]

Arizona with 100 degree plus days and 5% humidity is also a pretty good rust preventative.