Ballistol oil stinks bad

[Hawg]

Pyrodex's rep is undeserved. I once left a revolver uncleaned for nine days after shooting it with full loads of Pyro. I frequently go two or three days.

[Old Stony]

I just recently pickup up another 4" S&W and digging around in an old box of holsters in my garage, I found a holster to fit it. I set it on my workbench and after a few days decided to clean the holster up as it had green around the snaps and needed a good cleaning. I have a squirt can of Ballistol sitting by my bench, so I gave the holster a squirt or two and rubbed it down with a rag. Boy does it stink, and really didn't do much good. I don't know why I ever bought the stuff....I guess just since I'd heard it was so good.

[B.L.E.]

Ballistol may have a somewhat disagreeable odor, however, it is not a strong odor that permeates the whole house when you use it. Hoppes and Kroil are the opposite. If I use either one of these, the room smells of those chemicals, I have learned to clean my guns outside when using these.
I can wipe the bores of my guns with Ballistol inside the house and not get in trouble with she who must be obeyed.

[FrontierGander]

Exactly Hawg. Folks love to blame pyrdoex but in truth, its the person that last "cleaned" it. I've used hundreds of lbs of it over 18 years and its always been a great powder. Folks using pyrodex and having problems most likely are using bore butter as well.

[Hawg]

Folks using pyrodex and having problems most likely are using bore butter as well.

I use Bore Butter in the bore and chambers. I use whatever is handiest in the action and somewhat the same as an external wipe down but I prefer 3 in 1 oil for that. When I was little dad didn't use anything but 3 in 1 on his guns and to me they don't feel clean if they don't smell like 3 in 1.

[B.L.E.]

Hey, medicine needs to taste bad in order to work, and gun cleaner needs to smell bad in order to work. That's just the way things work.

[JohnKSa]

Ballistol has 2 smells to me. When it's first sprayed, it has a really objectionable odor that I would describe as a sort of a rotting/foul smell. After that initial smell wears off, it smells something like licorice which is not unpleasant at all to me.

[MoDock]

Ballistol smells like somebody ate a pound of licorice and threw it up about 6 hours later. Sure does work good though.

[B.L.E.]

I don't know exactly what is in Ballistol because what's in it is a trade secret, however, I strongly suspect that they use anise oil as the surfactant that causes the spontaneous emulsification when water is added. This is known as the Ouzo effect.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouzo_effect

Anise is the herb that gives licorice its flavor and that would account for the licorice odor of Ballistol.

[Hawg]

The smell of licorice comes close to making me gag. I can't stand the stuff.

[smd4]

Hmmm. I like the smell.

[Texas Reb]

I haven't used it, but licorice is nasty.

[drobs]

Yeager Bomb - anyone?

[B.L.E.]

Yeager Bomb - anyone?

I really don't think Ballistol is a good substitute for Jägermeister, it's missing the important thing, alcohol.
And I'm not real keen on Red Bull either.

Just what I need right before an off hand rifle match, two cups of black coffee chased down with a Red Bull.

[chadio]

Guess I am missing out on something. (goes to find local Ballistol)

[DD4lifeusmc]

you can make your own
start with equal amounts in melted form of beeswax and lard/tallow
Mix together let cool if too hard for your use add more melted tallow until you get the viscosity you want
make a bit thicker for warm months thinner for cold months.
All natural and no real smell to it.
also good for BP revolvers

Use animal lard / tallow not crisco and no paraffin

[B.L.E.]

Guess I am missing out on something. (goes to find local Ballistol)

I wouldn't drink the stuff, even though its supposed to be made with natural food grade materials. You might end up having an emergency unscheduled bowel movement.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I use Ballistol all the time. I don't clean with it, water based mixtures are better at dissolving BP fouling than Ballistol is, but I use it as a preservative and lubricant once I'm done cleaning.

I don't think Ballistol smells so bad, but maybe that's because I have been using it for years. Personally I think Hoppes #9 smells worse, and Hoppes #9 is toxic, Ballistol is not.

Regarding oils being absorbed by BP fouling and preventing moisture in the form of water vapor from being absorbed into the fouling, absolutely true. Think of the fouling as a dry sponge. Once a sponge gets saturated with water it won't absorb any more water. Same with BP fouling. Saturate it with oil and it cannot absorb any water from the air. It's the water absorbed from the air that causes most of the corrosion from BP fouling.

In addition to relatively new guns with shiny bores, I have quite a few antique rifles and revolvers. Most of them have old pitted bores. It takes tons of elbow grease to remove 100% of the fouling from inside all those tiny pits. I stopped trying to do that years ago. After a good, thorough cleaning with a water based BP solvent, I run a patch soaked with Ballistol through the chambers and bores. Then I mop up most of it with a dry patch, leaving a skim of Ballistol behind. The Ballistol soaks into the tiny bit of fouling left in the pits, and prevents further corrosion. You can do this with any oil, but Ballistol is convenient for me. I also squirt some Ballistol down inside the action so I don't have to completely disassemble the fire arm every time I shoot it with BP. The Ballistol soaks into any fouling that made its way into the mechanism, rendering it harmless. When ever I completely disassemble one of these guns, there is always plenty of black, oily gunk inside. Never any rust. Been doing it for years.