Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors CLENSOIL?

I bought a pretty nice shotgun last year and the dealer put me onto CLENSOIL which cleans, protects and lubricates the bore, the metal parts and the wood as well. Works great on the shotgun and makes the wood (oiled walnut) and metal look great. I still use Hoppe’s on the bore (habit I guess) and light grease of course on the trunnions, etc. Does anyone have any experience with this?

No, I haven't but it sounds a lot like Ballistol, no?

Yes it does. They both consider themselves CLP.
Ballistol is fully compatible with all metals including aluminum. However, Ballistol dissolves traces of copper, zinc, lead and tombac and can, therefore, be used to clean brass, bronze and silver.
BallistoL is compatible with all types of unfinished woods. Ballistol is compatible with paints and varnishes which are chemically resistant to petroleum. Caution is recommended when using Ballistol on antique furniture or antique musical instruments. Paints and varnishes from past centuries may not be resistant to Ballistol.
Ballistol can be used on all smooth leathers. Its use on suede is not recommended, since it will spoil its looks. Ballistol can be emulsified with water and mixed with gasoline, diesel fuel or antifreeze. Ballistol will chemically interact with and partially or fully neutralize substances of an acidic nature such as, but not limited to, human sweat, battery fluid, residues from tannic acid in leather.
Ballistol - Alkalinity
Ballistol has a pH of between 8.5 and 9.5. This variance occurs, because the pH of Ballistol can only be measured, when Ballistol is emulsified with water and because the concentration of Hydronium ions varies with the concentration of Ballistol in the emulsion. With an emulsion of 50 gr. of Ballistol in 1000 gr. of water a pH of 9 should normally result.
Ballistol as a Corrosion Inhibitor
Most corrosion inhibiting lubricants can only protect against normal oxidation. They do so by covering up the surface, which they are supposed to protect, and prevent contact with water and air. Due to its alkalinity Ballistol can also protect against galvanic corrosion, acidic corrosion and salt water corrosion. Ballistol contains oxygen binders. They make the oxygen, contained in water or air, unavailable for oxidation. Due to its low surface tension, Ballistol is capable of creeping into the smallest openings even against gravity. Accordingly, Ballistol provides not only passive but also active protection against corrosion. However, Ballistol is not a permanent coating or paint. Its protective effect will be the

"ding" book marked for later reference. I really appreciate the depth of knowledge and experience being offered here, Thanks!

Ballistol was a German invention, and first employed on a large scale by the German army in WWI. Those guys even drank the stuff as a curative for the maladies they encountered in the pestilential trenches, as well as for cleaning their Mausers and Maxim guns and treating leather goods subjected to the mud and slime of their environments. There are differing accounts as to the stuff's effectiveness which I chalk up to variations in how it's utilized- we are humans after all, and not noted for following instructions and preferring to lay the blame on the product.

I have a small jug of it that I was gifted a while back. I still haven't broken the seal on it. Maybe I'll swig some the next time my Crohn's flairs up! Or not. In the meantime I'll continue using the CLP that has served me well for 35 years now.

On the subject of prophylactic measures to prevent rusting of steel gun parts, here's an anecdote that might make you smile. Back in my Revolutionary War re-ennacting days, keeping our muskets shiny and rust free was a never ending challenge. Most of us employed "modern" treatments (done away from the prying eyes of the "civilian" tourist-types) and enjoyed generally good results. One character insisted on using "period correct" techniques, and rubbed his Brown Bess down with bacon grease. As much as we warned him that the salt in the grease worked against him, he didn't listen and his musket was eternally a picture of red rust. It was so bad we took to joking about Dan and his "rustket". He then switched to sheep lard which returned much the same results. We humans are an odd lot, aren't we?!

Having won a case of 9 bottles of Cleansoil, I have a little experience with it. It is basically the same as BreakFree CLP except Cleansoil is a little better cleaner in my opinion. It is still not a good cleaner but not as bad as Breakfree. I used the two interchangeably with little difference to note.

As Cleansoil is a petroleum based oil/cleaner I have my concerns regarding its affect on wood. I considered it no different than any other gun oil of the last 100 years or more and therefore do my best to keep wood and oil apart. I'm sure the wood looks nice after an application but I will pass on the Cleansoil and use something made specifically for wood when I need such treatments.

Overall, I liked Cleansoil but not enough to consider using it exclusively. If I need a CLP substance and it is available and competitively priced I'll buy it but not for a premium.

Used as a wipe down on everything, it’s handy, being as its not supposed to hurt anything including wood. Can make wood a bit slick. Smells good. Underwhelmed by its cleaning prowess, but ymmv.

It is however extremely light-bodied. It runs, it puddles, it dries up, if item sits a while. Rather use ballistol instead for serious clean/lube of all types of actions for that reason; at least the waxy film it leaves behind stays put. Hinge pins and trunions, dab of grease, sure.

If fair weather hunt or few rounds of clay games, will use just clenzoil on sxs’s. But if filthy, or a modern steel actioned gun, there are much better (Faster) cleaners and imo better lubes.

So exactly what is the best "period correct" way of protecting a piece like a Brown Bess?

Sperm Whale Oil as a firearms protectant and lubricant was highly regarded back in the day. That said, not sure of how readily available it was.

Yep. That and beeswax as a protective barrier on the exterior. Whale oil was everywhere back then. All the countries in the civilized world had huge fleets of whaling ships out scouring the oceans for whales, and they weren't eating them, they were rendering them into fats/oils. There were no petroleum-based products at all, distilling of such was unknown. Remember, lighting at night in the 18th century was strictly by either candle or (whale) oil-fueled lamps.

In the British army, brick dust on a wetted or oiled rag was used to keep the bright (unblued or browned) exterior surfaces scoured. Woe befall the soldier who allowed his musket to get rusty or go uncleaned after firing. It meant a whipping.

Hmmm. So I guess Automatic Transmission Fluid would be the closest modern equivalent?

I've never tried 'Clensoil', have seen it spelled 'Clenzoil' also. My #1 bore cleaner has always been Hoppes #9, but have tried a number of em over the 57 years I've been shooting. Around 15 years ago a shooting friend turned me on to Ballistol for cleaning black powder rifles and handguns. Mix it 10-50% with water and cleans the black powder residue like a charm and won't leave a residue that reacts with blk powder like petroleum based cleaners. Have used it 100% strength also.

Use it at times also for cleaning smokeless powder firearms when a real soaking is needed. Ballistol will soften lead for easier removal if needed in leaded barrels and I found it is better than any solvent I've ever used for copper removal from barrels. First tired it on a British Enfield 303 that I had previously used Hoppes and alot of elbow grease on. Ran a saturated 100% patch of Ballistol up and down the barrel and let it set for a few days. The first patch came out greener than my lawn as did additional patches. Ran another down with Ballistol and let it set a few more days-the patch that came out wasn't as green as the first, but I was able to scrub that barrel free of copper residue from untold FMJ bullets. Has worked well removing copper fouling from all of my MILSURP rifles and other rifles that have had alot of jacketed rounds through them. I hate the smell of most solvents geared to remove copper residue-stinking ammonia smell. Smells like chicken houses back in the day when ya had to hand clean them out. The smell of Ballistol doesn't bother me either. Just sayin'!

I use Ballistol for a lube for some applications, works good, but do have others I prefer. CLP works good for what it is intended for. For a lube I prefer it's bother LP, seems to stay put on a friction area better than CLP. Brownell's sells its own version of CLP that works just as good as the original, cheaper also-probably comes out of the same vat. One of my favorite lubes is Sperm Whale Oil. No longer available as far as I know, in the US anyway. I still have half a pint I bought back in the eighty's from Brownell's. A little goes a long way. Perfect for fine lubing and staying put. Back in my LEO days, my fellow officers used to say my Colt MarkIII Trooper 357 smelled like a tuna can, but it never missed a beat. Still one of the best lubricants IMO.