Sweet Oil?

[Brian Why]

Howdy y'all,

Just curious if any of y'all use sweet oil to lube an' clean yer shootin' irons. I heard from a couple of Rev War types its better than anything to prevent fouling, etc.

oh, an' FYI sweet oil is olive oil.

[Dick Dastardly]

Ballistol.

DD-DLoS

[44caliberkid]

I second that Ballistol.
I have heard that olive oil burns and leaves a difficult to remove varnish in the bore.  Italian c&b revolvers used to come with the stuff all over them and woe to the shooter who didn't scrub out the bore before shooting them the first time.

[Silver Creek Slim]

I've never tried it, but our local cosie might have any opinion on the subject. He'll be back from the farm late Tues. or Wed.

Slim

[Arcey]

Ballistol with an occasional Ed's Red chaser.  Ain't never done me wrong.

[Dick Dastardly]

Yep, it's Ballistol for me.  But, I do like my olives, preferably surrounded by Gin and Vermouth. . .

DD-DLoS

[Delmonico]

I've never tried it on firearms, but I bet it would work well.  That leaves another alterative in the period to the Sperm Whale Oil, that was supossed to be so good.

[Cyrille]

I kinda side with the Ballistol bunch but I ain't neva heard of Ballistol until today, 'sides I believe that good ole soap 'n warm water does a fantastic job on BP firearms 'n don't leave no 'varnish' in th barrel. N neither does Crisco!

[rifle]

I've used olive oil suspended in wax(mixture of bees and paraffin) to make lube pills for cap&ballers and cartridges. No varnish, but maybe because of the wax. The olive oil in wax works well over the powder in cap&ballers. Shoot all day without runnin the rod and patches thru ther bore and the cylinder keeps turning easy for "lots" of shots. When the cylinder drags some at the arbor a shot of ballistol there frees it up pronto. I've never cleaned with olive oil but instead use soapy water and after wash the parts down with WD-40 to remove moisture. I don't know why anyone would clean with olive oil if they have water when cleaning blackpowder. Retard the formation of rust? I think that TC Natural Lube is a fairly good rust preventitive and I bet it's secret ingredient is olive oil. Maybe the same with SPG Lube. Personally I tend to gravitate towards mutton tallow for lube in grease cookies more than olive oil.I do like Ballistol for cleaning stuff when out in the field or on the range. It's good stuff. All natural too so it is compatable with other all natural stuff. I carry it in a visine bottle when out in the field for wiping and lubing arbors and drippin some into my Colts when they get full of blackpowder. Keeps them going and going and going......

[Lucky Irish Tom]

Ballistol, its never let me down!

[Brian Why]

Wow. Thanks for all the great recommends, y'all. I think I'm gonna try one pistol with Ballistol and the other with sweet oil next time I'm on range.
I'll post my findings as I find 'em.

[gotzguns]

have used  sweet oil  for several years. was in italy 4 years ago and when to arms museum in rome. they had several copper bottles that match lock hunteres ans soulders carried in the late 1600's. these were forsweet oil(olive oil). have had no problems with it and seems to well as a lube and bore cleaner. wile i was in italy i found a place that carried sperm wale oil. couldn't bring any back because its illegal to import into the us. was very exspencive. about 16.00 dus a 1/2 once. gotzguns

[Dakota Widowmaker]

sweet oil is olive oil, as I understand.

For short periods, it just fine.

For long periods, it will start to break down unless something like glycerin or a mineral oil is added.


Ballistol is what I use on Cap-n-ball and black powder guns. I use Kroil for barrels regardless of what I shoot.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

I am reading a book about the making of the model of the Battle of Waterloo.  The book is WELLINGTON'S SMALLEST VICTORY, The Duke, the Model, and the Secret of Waterloo, by Peter Hofschroer, 2004, Faber & Faber, London.  ISBN 0-571-21768-0

When the modeller, William Sibourne was modelling the terrain he used "sweet oil" between the modelling clay and the plaster that would result in the base of the model.  The book states, at page 77, that "sweet oil" is olive oil. 

[Adirondack Jack]

I use a concoction I call "Beaver Oil" that is primarily olive Oil with a few little secret additives.

Straight OO works pretty well too as a lube and cleaning aid, but it's not great as a long term storage lube.

For BP or Sub use, I carry a squirt bottle of Olive Oil based lube and give base pins, ratchets, cylinder faces, forcing cones, and rifle innards a liberal wetting before a day's shooting.  At the end of day one of a two-day match, revolver cylinders get doused with hot water and oiled with OO.  The Marlin gets a funnel stuck in the muzzle and a teakettle of hot water run through it, followed by a dry patch and a good shaking, then slobbered with OO and it's ready for the next day, even though black goo may ooze out by morning.

It's all natural, biodegradeable, doesn't smell bad or stain clothes, and it works pretty good.

For LONG TERM STORAGE gun oil is better.

[Adirondack Jack]

sweet oil is olive oil, as I understand.

For short periods, it just fine.

For long periods, it will start to break down unless something like glycerin or a mineral oil is added.


Ballistol is what I use on Cap-n-ball and black powder guns. I use Kroil for barrels regardless of what I shoot.

Olive oil break down?  Not unless something is digesting it.  One of the BEST things about olive oil is it is a non-drying oil that will lay right there until rapture, stoppered or open, and nothing happens to it.  It does gel at a relatively high temp of about 35 degrees, but once thawed is good as new.  I've got some in my cart for two years, stored in winter in the cold and used on the line and stored in hot storage in summer and it's probably still fit to eat (though I won't try it), and sure enough acts and smells like brand new.

[Cyrille]

Pardon my ignorance, but isn't Olive Oil rather expensive to use on machines {a gun can be called a machine of sorts can't it?)

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Here it is about $22 CAD for 3 litres.  BALLISTOLis more expensive than that.  BTW, OO works well on leather as well.

[James Hunt]

I use olive oil. I use water and tallow mostly, but use sweet oil to lube cylinder pin and internal parts. Seems to work with no ill effect and is correct for the period, I'd use sperm whale oil but don't want to alarm greenpeace and others of that ilk!!! If I clean any revolvers at home rather than at the site that I shoot at I take the cylinder and simply hose it down in the sink, if using a pre-73 colt I also hose the barrel down in the sink. Then I dump the cylinder into a well used tub of olive oil and also immerse either end of the barrel, the olive oil displaces the water and I'm, good to go. I wipe everything down and then lube the bore with tallow - why the tallow if there is already olive oil in it, I don't know I just do it cause I use tallow exclusively in the field. I have never, ever seen any rust on my guns ever. If I come home and leave the guns for a day or so and there is a little surface rust forming the tallow will lift it right of with light rubbing. OH, I have found that by dumping the cylinder in the olive oil the chambers remain exceedling slick for cartridge guns, you will do well to run a patch of alcohol thru there before using - particularly true for blanks as I clean my CMS guns that way also.

It is cheap, it is period, it does work.

[Delmonico]

James, sweet oil is olive oil.  They just charge more if you buy it as such over in the pharmacy.  Most old time cook books call it sweet oil, you don't see the term olive oil in cook books printed in the US till around the 1930's.