Ballistol Gunk?

**Nucking Futs** · December 20th, 2012, 05:14 PM

Just got 3 cans of ballistol in, and so far I love it. It looks like it will make for my new lifte long gun oil.... EXCEPT

I cleaned my Sig and left alittle bit in where the top of the barrel hood rubs on the top of the slide. Its all shiny there. According to the website, if it is shiny, lube it.

I took the gun back apart to show a buddy of mine and the spot where I sprayed that little bit of excess, there was all ALL KINDS OF SHIT in there. It looked like heavy tar. Im just glad i saw it prior to shooting! Also it was inside of the barrel, and there was even some on the chambered round I extracted...

With this stuff are you not supposed to leave any "wet" residue of it? Just spray, let it sit and soak, then wipe it dry and that is sufficient amount of lube? Its true that the stuff makes the metal feel like a coated teflon or cured skillet, but is that sufficient? I used to use hoppes gun oil and put a drop on my finger tip to smear up there on the inside of the slide, around the barrel and lug, on the 4 post rails etc and I have never seen anything like that. Maybe this stuff just doesnt work the same way?

**USMC3531** · December 20th, 2012, 09:31 PM

sounds like you didnt get all the carbon out while cleaning

**GrumpyBear** · December 21st, 2012, 12:37 AM

Originally Posted by USMC3531

sounds like you didnt get all the carbon out while cleaning

What he said.

**Nucking Futs** · December 21st, 2012, 12:57 AM

let it set and soak longer then wipe to ensure all the carbon is out the first time? Its like it formed after i put the gun back together and it sat the day or so.

**GrumpyBear** · December 21st, 2012, 09:40 AM

Originally Posted by Nucking Futs

let it set and soak longer then wipe to ensure all the carbon is out the first time? Its like it formed after i put the gun back together and it sat the day or so.

Pulled out my can,very limited directions,but I agree let it soak longer and then wipe down.

**harold63** · December 21st, 2012, 01:47 PM

Originally Posted by USMC3531

sounds like you didnt get all the carbon out while cleaning

Originally Posted by GrumpyBear

What he said.

Yep...You just got this gun, correct? How likely is it that you got all the shipping grease out of it in the first place? Ballistol claims it is a cleaner, as well as a lube, so anything in there is going to turn black and will be gummy once mixed with this cleaner. You haven't noticed it before because the shipping grease was too thick to run. This stuff (storage and shipping grease) can be a little tough to remove and will show up everytime you clean it until it is all gone. Ballistol + dirt, cosmoline, burnt gun powder, etc, = tar like substance. My P220 had this stuff in it (cosmoline of some sort) and I simply soaked it in mineral spirits, overnight. Every bit of it came out the next night with a little air pressure. It was bare metal clean (metaphorically speaking). In my honest opinion, there is really no terrible lube for a gun other than just not lubing it, at all. Smooth metal rubbing against smooth metal in the short strokes that a pistol slide has with the frame already does not create much wear, at least not in the same way a fully automatic P229 would after shooting 10,000 rounds as fast as one could keep putting in a new mag. As far as the debris that builds during a normal range session, that stuff comes right out during cleaning and should not be a tar like substance, but more of a black oilly liquid. Your P229 is also dishwasher proof, just be sure to spray lube it well and give it a nice wipe, afterwards, should your wife loan you her dishwasher.