I've used it since the early '90's as a general purpose lube around the house. The guy at the hardware store sold me on its' non-toxic nature. He sprayed some on his hand and licked it off. I haven't repeated the experiment, but I do like that it is non-toxic. It does have an interesting smell. Somebody suggested it smells like anise, which I got my brain to wrap around and now I don't find it so objectionable of a smell, but it is noticeable.
I really like CLP's for their ease of use. I do use them to clean, lube, and protect. I was a regular BreakFree CLP user, but a couple of years ago I gave Ballistol a shot on my pistols. To me at least, it seemed to do a much better job of cleaning than BreakFree CLP. I couldn't say if it is a better lube or protectant than BreakFree, but it is good enough.
As much as I like Ballistol, I mostly use it for garden tools now due to the smell. Currently I'm using SLIP 2000 on my pistols, that seems to have no smell. If all I had was Ballistol, I'd be OK with that. It is a good product, but if I can find something with no smell, I'll take that. The Ballistol smell will dissipate after a while.
Here is Hickock45 using it on his Glock.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZf4mUM10Vc
