Gun cleaner

[Blammer]

Was at the gunshow in Hickory today browsing around.

Decided to look for some "wipe out" gun cleaner, and CLP as it's what I normally use.

NONE.

so I start looking at lots of other stuff.

What I want is a barrel bore cleaner that will clean, I don't have to worry about it setting too long to 'eat' the barrel and it acts as a lube/preservative too. Like Wipe Out does.

Well after reading a bunch and not learning much from the cans. I thought I'd try some Ballistol.

anyone use it? comments?

What do you use for gun cleaning and oiling/protecting your firearms for when you either put them away for a week or so or go out hunting with them.

[nhrifle]

I found this a good read:

http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/HowTo/Ed.pdf

[fouronesix]

I use Ballistol mixed with water for blackpowder cleaning and swabbing at the range then hot soapy water and hot rinse water for final cleaning. For smokeless cast bullet shooting I use Hoppes #9. For smokeless Jbullet shooting I use Butch's Bore Shine followed by Remington Bore Cleaner followed by Hoppes #9. For short term storage I use WD 40 or LPS-1. For longer term storage I use CLP.

[MarkP]

Funny I bought all of the ingredients a few years ago and never mixed it up to try. I showed the recipe to a co-worker (fellow gun nut and a PhD in Chemistry) he said it is similar to what he uses and should work well.

I found this a good read:

http://www.castpics.net/subsite2/HowTo/Ed.pdf

[country gent]

I use ballistol 30-70 with water for black powder cartridges and range cleaning. A windex bottle of it is almost always with me. Fore smoke less loads its shooters choice 50-50 with kroil. Ballistol is supposed to be a very good cleaner protectant. I use Breakfree CLP for lube short storage. Long term is rig grease. As a preservative and just to be safe I will wipe outsides down with Birchwood casey Barricade. A new gun get wiped down 5 days in a row, Just a light coat with a cleaning patch. It seems to work into the pores of the metal over several days. Ive gotten caught in rain with guns that have been in the safe all winter and the water still beads up.
I dont care for wd 40 as it can get gummy over time. I like Hoppes #9 but its getting hard to find around here. I used to use starret insterment oil for lube. But on disability work no longer supplies it. Kroil is good penetrating oil but not sure about preservative. Most light oils dont take long to run off a surface where as the rig grease stay put. The red high temp grease works like this also. All you can do is ask around, and read labels.

[Dale in Louisiana]

+1 for Ed's Red or any of the variants. I'll be darned if I'm gonna pay eight bucks for a bottle of something that came out of the same refineries as the stuff we use to make Ed's Red.

I might consider something a bit more exotic if I had problems with copper fouling or leading, but for day-to-day, season to season, it's hard to beat ER.

dale in Louisiana

[Cosmiceyes]

Remember the PVC tube? It has another use. fill with any cheap cleaner,even kerosine.Attach a fish tank pump hose so it goes to the bottom.drop in bbl or all parts.Plug in pump,and walk away.24 hours later remove bbl.wipe clean an oil as needed.Will not remove lead or copper,but will remove everything else.No fuss no scrub! 's

[Blammer]

so ballistol is good for blackpowder cleaning only?

anybody use it on other cast boolits and jword bore cleaning?

[ktw]

I've only ever used it for blackpowder. It's all you really need for that (patch lube cut with water, cleaner and rust preventative used straight).

The manufacturer recommends it for use as a cartridge firearms cleaner. Wikipedia says the German Army used it for that purpose between 1905 and 1945.

I wouldn't consider it to be as aggressive of a bore cleaner as something like Ed's Red. Think more along the lines of Hoppes #9, with a different smell.

-ktw

[Bad Water Bill]

Well you mentioned protecting and storing. 35+ years ago I suddenly had to stash my guns for ??? time.

All I had at that time was a sheepskin pad slathered with a product called RIGG.

When I finally felt it was safe to bring them out of their hiding place(25+ years later) not one spot of rust was found anywhere.

Need I say more.

[winelover]

Been using Kroil as a bore cleaner, for cast boolets, quite a while. Seems to get under and loosen any minimal leading. Got all I wanted from work. For jacketed, I've always prefererd Shooter's Choice. If and when, I use Hoppes #9, I make sure I'm outdoors. I'm one that hates the smell.

Winelover

[contender1]

Ballistol can be used for smokeless powder gun cleaning. In fact, once you start using it, you may find you like it for cleaning other stuff too. Quite handy on a lot of gun benches.
Ed's Red is also a good product. Inexpensive & easy to mix.

[onesonek]

Ezzox! Got all the rest beat for dry lube and corrosion protection. Cleans well after initial cleaning with it.
I did my own salt water bath test at 3x the salinity of sea water

The polished bar was divided into 1/3's. BF-CLP left, Hoppes middle, and Ezzox on the right, and given 2 coats of each. The pic was after a 2 week soak.

[jmort]

Ezzox is the best rust protection for sure. I like the non-toxic CLPs, Ballistol the original CLP, Frog Lube, and Gunzilla. Use Ballistol the most. It does well in rust prevention tests but nothing beats Ezzox.

[Sweetpea]

EEZOX is some awesome stuff, and SWMBO doesn't mind the smell.

FWIW, it's what Fred Smith (Bullberry) uses and recommends.

It can be hard to find, but I just pick it up from Bullberry by the quart.

Brandon

[gofastman]

EEZOX is my favorite, but for the OP's usage I think Kroil or BF CLP may be a good choice

[nicholst55]

so ballistol is good for blackpowder cleaning only?

anybody use it on other cast boolits and jword bore cleaning?

Cut with water, it works very well for cleaning up after corrosive-primed milsurp ammo. I made the project engineer buy me a bunch of Ballistol after the LC 43 .50 ammo they were shooting rusted their exceedingly expensive 3-barrel ballistic test fixture because nobody but me knew how to clean it. I told them, but they're all smarter than I am - they're engineers.

[Blammer]

eezox? hmm may have to look for that!

who sells it?

[Cosmiceyes]

Nice test. How much does it cost,say per gallon?

[Alchemist]

Kroil works great, Ballistol does too...smell takes some getting used to. If in a serious bind, you could use household ammonia for copper fouling, just get it out and oil the bore well afterwards.