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Ballistol vs Murphy's


Possum Skinner, SASS#60697

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The active ingredients in Murphy's are surfacants - cleansers. Having worked in the soap industry at one time and without going into all the chemistry mumbo jumbo, the ingredients are what are known as fatty acids. Natural products, usually rendered from oily plants. The same ingredients can be found in several dishwashing liquids, like Palmolive and Ajax. It also has citronella oil, so I guess it would help make your guns bug resistant.

 

Interestingly enough one of the ingredients, EDTA, is used in chelation therapy to remove heavy metals like lead and mercury from the bloodstream.

 

Ballsitol is a better lube than it is a soap, so making the change probably wouldn't really accomplish much.

 

As a side note, it was originally developed for the German Army in 1904 as a gun lubricant, leather and wood protectant, and minor wound & skin irritation treatment. And, it's made from coal.

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Howdy

 

Ballistol is more expensive than Murphy's Oil Soap. That's why I only use it to lube after I have cleaned with Murphy's Mix.

 

When you get right down to it, it is the water in Murphy's Mix that really does the dissolving and cleaning of BP fouling. The Per Oxide is about 97% water, the alcohol is about 20% water. The 3% pf Per Oxide makes some nice fizz, to help lift off the fouling, the alcohol helps with evaporation. The water does the work, the oil soap leaves a nice oily film behind. I have already explained a zillion times why I prefer Murphy's Mix to plain water for cleaning, no point repeating it here.

 

I clean with the Murphy's Mix. It is cheap enough that I can afford to slop it all over and inside the gun. That is one of it's virtues, leaving it inside the gun.

 

When I am done cleaning, I use one patch soaked in Ballistol to wipe down the gun and the bore and chambers, followed by a dry patch to wipe up most of the excess, just leaving a thin coating behind. Straight Ballistol is a terrific lubricant, it ain't such a great cleaner.

 

There are other folks who dilute Ballistol with water to use as a Black Powder solvent. Another successful approach. There are probably as many ways to clean Black Powder as there are Black Powder shooters. I just prefer to reserve the 'expensive stuff' for lubrication and use it sparingly.

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Tried 'em all, keep coming back to Murphy's mix to clean and Ballistol to lube. For long trem storage, you might want a heavier lube than Ballistol, or at least an occasional bore swipe. We have almost 6 months off, so I usually make another pass with Ballistol down the bore mid-winter.

 

CR

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Don't use Murphy mix. Use hot water and Balistol. Use a little Birchwood Casey BP solvent on nipples. cleans them better than water, Balistol, or Murphy's.

 

Fingers (had a bad experience with Murphy mix once) McGee

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Personally, the only thing I think Ballistol is good for is treating stiff leather boots. It leaves a film behind that turns to a slick "soap" when it comes in contact with moisture.

 

Coffinmaker

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I have a plastic tote that's just the right size for my longest barrel pistols. I call it my Moosemilk Spa. My last Spa fill lasted me three years. I put my pistols in the spa and clean my long guns with a spritz of Moosemilk and a tug of the boresnake. Then, I fish out my pistols, wipe 'em down and pull a boresnake thru and I'm done. If I'm shootn' C&B I blow out the chambers with compressed air.

 

The residual Ballistol protects and lubes my guns. For long term storage I use Boeshield T-9.

 

http://www.wisementrading.com/hunting/ballistol.htm

 

I get it here for $60 per gallon can. It lasts me a LOOOOOOOONG time.

 

DD-DLoS

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Some of the contents listed in Ballistol are mineral oil(lubricant) and isohexane(solvent) and has that entrancing smell. :D Looked for MSDA on line ,but didn't want to sign up or login the current web sites for MSDS. A couple 16oz. Ballistol cans do last a long time for me and the spray bottle (several years). DO NOT lube guns with Ballistol and store them in a gun case with foam lining or will rust. Mineral oil seems to be the main ingredient in Ballistol and mineral oil also good for drowned fleas on the dog.

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Some of the contents listed in Ballistol are mineral oil(lubricant) and isohexane(solvent) and has that entrancing smell. :D Looked for MSDA on line ,but didn't want to sign up or login the current web sites for MSDS. A couple 16oz. Ballistol cans do last a long time for me and the spray bottle (several years). DO NOT lube guns with Ballistol and store them in a gun case with foam lining or will rust. Mineral oil seems to be the main ingredient in Ballistol and mineral oil also good for drowned fleas on the dog.

 

My wife would be mad if our dog came in smelling like Ballistol.

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Howdy Again

 

The question of the ingredients of Ballistol came up just the other day at CAS City. Scroll down to about the 5th post on this thread, John Boy printed them out:

 

 

Ballistol Ingredients

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I always clean with HOT Murphy's Mix, that fizz action Driftwood spoke of really does make the cleaning job go quicker. I use either Bore Butter or Ballistol, depending on time of year and location in the country to prep guns to shoot a match. Bore Butter clumps up too much in cold weather. Eezox is for storage and rust protection.

 

To Driftwoods point about being cheap, I go through a couple of cups of Murphy's Mix each time I clean. I can afford to be generous with it.

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Back when I did Civil War re-enacting, we would clean our muskets at day's end by stoppering the nipple and pouring straight hydrogen peroxide down the barrel to clean out the fouling. You want to see fizz! It would bubble up and the reaction would also heat the barrel, so you knew something was happening. After it settled down, we'd pour it out and follow with a dose of boiling water, swab it good, and the last pass was with an oiled patch. Clean as a whistle, and never a problem with rust.

 

Moving from muzzle loader to cartridge gun, putting a small O ring around the base of a fired case and closing the action effectively seals the bore so you can apply the same technique without flooding the works.

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Possum, I use both but as a 100% BP shooter I use the Ballistol mixed into Moose Milk. I use EEZOX as a final stage to protect my guns. If you have never tried it read the test by John Boy as that is what sold me on it's use. It is carried by Midway. It is 100% synthetic and is super thin. I put it on patches for the bore and a rag for all outer parts including the wood.

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