Ballistol to clean black powder?

[The Original Lumpy Gritz 3,894]

1 hour ago, Dutch Wheeler said:

 

...then which vegetable oil product are you referring too that goes sour/rancid? 

Moose milk.

OLG

[Snakebite 651]

20 hours ago, Silver Sam, SASS #34718L said:

I've used all of the above recipes and they all work well,

but none work as good as Dawg Wizz

1 part Murphy's Oil Soap, 1 part Hydrogen peroxide, 1 part rubbing alcohol .... and 1 part water "optional"

It takes very little to clean up and a batch lasts a Long Time.

 

Black Dawg Powder Company use to sell it & Wally the original Dawg Nose gave me the recipe.

 

If you want to make that mix even better, add Antifreeze... the bright green stuff that has plenty of Glycol in it.

[J-BAR #18287 1,856]

By now you should have realized that there are lots of ways to skin this cat.

 

I like Ballistol, but it is not the only thing I use.  Experiment and draw your own conclusions.  If you find rust or experience other problems make a change.  Finding out what works for your guns with your powder in your climate is what will make you a Soot Lord.

 

Welcome to the madness!  

[Wild Ben VanDorn 97]

21 hours ago, Lead Monger said:

I've never found anything that melts BP fouling faster than water. Hot or cold water and a bore mop just wipes the crud away. The problem is getting the parts dry before rust forms. Ballistol and water mixed works pretty darn good for cleaning and a shot on a sticky carrier will free it right up.

 

That's where the HOT water comes in - it warms the metal and evaporates much faster, preventing the rust.  I'll use room temp water in the field, but at home, I use as hot as I can stand.  It makes a difference. 

 

Gotta disagree about Ballistol being over touted - well, maybe it is over touted - but it sure does work.  Prevents rust second best to anything I've ever used, and I've spent most of my life in the Rust Belt.  What's the BEST gun oil you ask?  Simple: pure bear grease.  My flintlocks love it.

 

. . . Ballistol is easier to source, however. . .

 

 

Keep your powder dry,

Wild Ben

 

[Cusz M. Dutch SASS Life 55326 62]

16 hours ago, Snakebite said:

Yer not missing anything... Ballistol is one of the most over touted items on the SASS wire. I am totally mystified at the number of people that have bought into the hype of this stuff. If you mix up their so-called Moose Milk and use it, you had better do a very good job of getting it all out of the gun or you will find yourself with a bunch of rust.  Water with Just about ANYTHING, including water will clean BP fouling just fine. Windex is fine. After you are finished,  Wipe it down... then use............….duh.... NOT something that mixes with water, but something that displaces water..... duh, like WD-40... yep, someone along the line decided that no Black Powder guns should have anything to do with any petroleum product. Well that is just not so.  After you've cleaned your gun and displaced any water that is left, then OIL IT UP!.  Grease your balls too!

 

Snakebite

 +++ Had the same problems with Moose Milk and or Murphy.  Hot soapy water stills seems like the best way to go and use the residual heat to help dry out the water.  Get the barrel hot enough so it is uncomfortable to the touch to help drive out the moisture.  I do keep it in the gun cart to help rinse crud out during a shoot.   Comes in to use a lot on those BP only shoots and you find a smokeless shooter giving it a try.

[Sedalia Dave 3,662]

Use caution if you have a water softener. The salts used in the process will cause rust to form on your firearms.

[J. Mark Flint #31954 LIFE 638]

I shoot guns, I can't afford a water softener!

[Nate Kiowa Jones #6765 259]

On 1/30/2019 at 6:27 PM, Tyrel Cody said:

I think I'd rather use Windex with VINEGAR to clean it and Eezox or Frog Lube to wipe it down with after that. Ballistol is great during the matches.

 

On 1/30/2019 at 8:22 PM, Billy Boots, # 20282 LTG-Regulator said:

Like Tyrel mentions, I use Windex WITH VINEGAR to clean then I do follow with Ballistol.  True with smokeless cleaning also.  I often try different cleaners but seem to most always come back to WwV and follow with Ballistol.

 

Listen to Billy Boots. He is a long time BP competitor/champion.  Most of the methods mention will do an OK job. But, I grew up on the Gulf Coast. In this humid atmosphere you can actually see thing rust.  The only product I have found that works to neutralize the salts in BP is Windex with vinegar. The vinegar adds a diluted acid to counteract the salts. Windex with vinegar used with hot water to flush. To dry I use Auto-Zone brake parts cleaner to flush out any water. Then I spray them down with just WD-40. Some people bad-mouth WD-40 because it can leave a gummy varnish like residue. Still beats rust

 

 

On 1/30/2019 at 8:42 PM, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Best BP cleaner there is!

WD-40 works well during the match......

OLG

 

On 1/30/2019 at 9:51 PM, Dutch Wheeler said:

 

Hey Lumpy, you have made that statement many times in the past, but isn't WD40 a petroleum distilate product that can contribute to hard fowling?

 

The no petroleum in a BP gun is a myth. Hard fouling is all about bullet lube. The BPCR folks have proved this. 

[Lead Monger 257]

If you beleave petroleum gun oil is compatable with Black Powder go ahead and lube the arbor of your 1851 or 1860 revolver with it. I will continue to use olive oil on mine and let's see how many rounds can be fired before the guns bind. I have fired 100 rounds through one Pietta 1860 in one setting using GOEX 2F, Hornady .454 balls, olive oil on the revolver and 50/50 lard/beeswax over every ball. Hot water, a bore mop and Q-Tips cleaned it easily. Ballistol works very well preventing my guns from rusting.

Edited February 2 by Lead Monger

[chestnut louie 8]

On 1/30/2019 at 8:34 PM, Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971 said:

You may find this video useful in cleaning your revolvers.  I personally do not clean with Ballistol but do lube with it after cleaning and during a match.

These two videos are just what the Doctor ordered

 

THANKS!

[Snakebite 651]

I've been somewhat successful shooting Black Powder and using Petroleum products. Been doing it since I started with BP guns back in the 1960s. Here is an interesting quote from some guys that know a little about BP guns over at the Shiloh Rifle forum.  I know that the old Mountain men used Bear Fat and such...… I wonder if it was because there were not too many petroleum products available out in the wilderness. Don't know.. I do know that most any lubricate will work, some better than others. I also know that this "Story" that goes around about Ballistol mixing with water, and then the water evaporates and leaves that wonderful Ballistol to protect the metal is just not true. Coating you gun with something that absorbs water is a formula for rust. 

 

 

"This idea of not mixing petroleum products and black powder is the biggest -piece of crock- BS I’ve heard in years. I haven’t said any thing before, but when I’m seeing nice guns rusting and pitting from the lack of a little oil it’s time to say something.
I and Dennis have been using petroleum products – grease and oil in our black powder guns for over 40 years. We used grease from the grease gun at the service station we worked at for a patch lube in our muzzle loaders. Grease was the only thing we used on our cap and ball revolver cylinders, we put liberal amounts of the grease on shaft the cylinder turned on and pushed it into the recess in the frame where the back of the cylinder goes. We could shoot all day long and never had trouble with the cylinder locking up from fouling.
We used 3-in-one oil to oil the bore and the whole gun when we finished cleaning. Our guns still look like new except for handling wear.
About 20 years ago I started using Sheath, a Birchwood Casey product, I started using it for its moisture displacing properties and at one time it also had finger print remover in it. I oil the bore with it and spray the whole gun with it and then wipe off the excess I leave the bore wet with it and then wipe it with one dry patch before I shoot it, I wipe so the patch on the bullet doesn’t get soaked with oil when I chamber it.
I still use 3-in-one oil to oil moveing parts in a firearm."