MAY WE PRESENT ...

Your are now holding a new version of our “Small Gun Guide” that is no longer so small at all – you could say that the “Small Gun Guide” has ripened. Much research and discussion was conducted; some areas were elaborated in detail and others only touched upon due to their complexity – in such a large topic as the world of guns and gun care, a claim to completeness would surely be presumptuous. However, we are sure that our new Gun Care Guide is a really good source of knowledge for beginners in which all the professionals and “old hands” among you will also find a great deal of interesting information.

Therefore, at this point, we would like to say a big thank-you to the following people for their collaboration on our new Gun Care Guide.

Dr Christian Zettler

Technical director, graduate chemist

Many of the chemical details in this gun guide come from Dr Christian Zettler, the Technical Director of F.W. KLEVER GmbH and PRO Ballistol GmbH. The graduate chemist, born in Bergisch-Gladbach in 1973, has been responsible for production, research and development at BALLISTOL for more than 15 years. His high quality awareness in the development of oils, auxiliary materials and gun care products is outstanding.

Andreas Zettler

Commercial director, hunter and sports marksman

As Commercial Director of BALLISTOL GmbH and F.W. KLEVER GmbH, business manager Andreas Zettler, born in Bergisch-Gladbach in 1975, is responsible for the areas of marketing and sales at BALLISTOL. He has been a member of the shooting club since he was 13, followed the traditional route via pneumatic guns to large calibre guns, successfully obtained his shooting licence in Bavaria in 2015 and has since been an active and enthusiastic hunter. Much of his experience in the field has made its way into the gun guide.

Peter Abel

Gunsmith, graduate engineer Abel, from Frankfurt, born in 1948, is a graduate engineer in the subjects of optics and precision engineering as well as a passionate gunsmith and cutler. Since 1978 he has run his own shop in an historic square in Frankfurt/Höchst. The topic of training has long been a focus of Peter Abel’s and he has hence made it his mission to pass on the experience from the field that he has acquired over the decades. In 1993, he co-founded the Smith & Wesson®- Club 30 Germany, which he also led as 1st chairman for the first 10 years and influenced accordingly. He contributed his knowledge and ability from over 40 years of experience in the profession to the gun guide.

Roman

Hauber Sports marksman

Professional firefighter Roman Hauber, born in Regensburg in 1966, took up large-calibre shooting in 1999 and soon thereafter came his first titles at club and district level. Particularly in the DSB National and the BDMP National and International, Roman Hauber very quickly closed the gap on the top marksmen. He has been a member of the BDMP national team for more than 10 years and has won 7 world champion titles in this time. He has also been a devoted hunter since the start of 2004 and is thus superbly equipped to be a development partner and practice tester for the BALLISTOL brand. His motto is: “Clean gun shoots more X’ses”. Roman Hauber can thus be viewed as a true gun-cleaning pro.

Wolfgang Forstenaicher Hunter, graduate engineer

As a practitioner in daily hunting operations, Wolfgang Forstenaicher, a graduate engineer in forest engineering, provided valuable tips and suggestions for this gun guide. Born in 1975, he studied forestry at Weihenstephan University of Applied Sciences and has worked as a ranger for the Bavarian Forestry Administration since 2004. He has been a shoot tenant of a Lower Bavarian community hunting ground and conservancy leader of the Vilsbiburg IV conservancy for over 10 years. Additionally, after several years in the hunting advisory board, he has occupied the office of 2nd deputy government hunting advisor since 2017.

Professional armourbearers

Members of special operation forces of the police and the military were available to us for information regarding the special needs of professional armour-bearers; however, unfortunately we are not permitted to name these persons here.

Chapter 1

General Information

A Broad Field

Gun cleaning is a topic in which there are countless different tips, opinions and myths. Reasons for the large number of different points of view include the different uses of guns and the corresponding requirements. It goes without saying that professional armour-bearers look after their guns differently to collectors and sports marksmen differently to hunters.

Therefore, the first chapter of the gun guide deals with a few of the basic factors that are of interest to all and that play a superordinate role in the broad field of the topics of gun cleaning and maintenance.