[Steve Smith]

I am continuing to clean my "new" pre-ban AR when I get a chance and there is a very shiny "shellac" oily substance that is everywhere. My understanding is that this gun has about 300 rounds though it and that was done in the late 80's. Its sat ever sense. Wondering if this is what WD-40 looks like with some age on it. What a mess.

[HSMITH]

Sounds more like CLP to me, that crap leaves a hideous layer when it was applied heavily and dries.....

At any rate a good soak with WD40 will soften either up quite well and then you can hose it out with brake cleaner/contact cleaner and save a lot of labor. Kerosene will also soften it up nicely. Lots of other things work well for dried preservatives but are awfully hard on skin and lungs........

[saands]

My recollection of old WD-40 is that it gets gummy ... I suppose that "gummy" might be a mid-point from liquid to solid, though, and I can't say that I have any experience with 20 year old WD-40! The "gummy" stuff I had was after a couple of years.

Saands

[dfariswheel]

Who knows what it was.
Many lubes can dry into a mess the old timers called "varnish".
I've found any number of revolver side plates "glued" into place by dried out oils.

Careful what cleaner you use, so as not to damage the finish of the aluminum AR.

I recommend ordinary, cheap paint thinner. I buy this for a few bucks a gallon at Wal-mart.

An even better option is NEW CLP Breakfree, which will dissolve the old junk, AND impregnate the finish with a Teflon protective coating.
Just get a can of aerosol CLP Breakfree and spray everything off. Let soak for an hour or so, and wipe until dry.

[mete]

What the old timers called varnish really wa s. When oils oxidize they form a varnish and that is why proper gun oils have an anti-oxident additive. By far the worst offender of this was "3 in 1 oil" and guess who owns 3in1 oil ? WD- 40. They make a wonderfull couple !

[Steve Smith]

I use GM Top Engine Cleaner...works fine.

Thsi stuff is really disgusting. "Gummy" fits too. The old timer shoulda been hung for leaving this crap on so thick. We don't have rust in Colorado!

Oh well, the whole rifle cost less than $750 so I reckon I can do some cleaning for that price.

[280PLUS]

that should soften it up overnight, i would think

:D

[KC]

Bear in mind that the primary ingredient in WD-40 *is* kerosene. In my truly vast experience:rolleyes: WD40 wont dry into a shellac/varnish film. It will turn into this slightly sticky gunk that is great at attracting dirt and congealing into a sort of concrete.

Overnight in paint thinner wil get most of it off, what wont come off in the first night will the second. If you are really impatient, ther'e this stuff called "Zero-Tri" at Home Despot. It isn't as incredibly toxic as MEK ot Tric, but works about as good.

**Fun Fact** If you (for whatever reason) reeeally need MEK, go to the local large animal supplier. Horse people use the stuff as coolant for hair clippers :what:

KC

[Snake Eyes]

Bear in mind that the primary ingredient in WD-40 *is* kerosene. In my truly vast experience WD40 wont dry into a shellac/varnish film. It will turn into this slightly sticky gunk that is great at attracting dirt and congealing into a sort of concrete.

I've heard horror stories from several people about WD-40 doing exactly that--turning into shellac or varnish! I've also been told by a number of people who knew a lot more about guns than I (at the time) that WD-40 would: A) attract dirt, B) Turn into some really nasty awful stuff when the gun got hot from firing, and C) Penetrate primers and kill rounds if any got on them--creating a potential for no-fires if any WD-40 was left in the gun and found it's way into the magazine, for instance. (I know that seems unlikely, but some of my guns like a LOT of lube/oil and I HAVE found rounds in the magazine that was in the gun that have some small amounts of lube on them.)

Because of these tales, I have alway stayed away from WD-40 like the plague. I've been surprised to read several posts here saying WD-40 was suitable for cleaning firearms (some of the other stuff you guys use shocks the heck out of me too! Gasoline?? Kerosene?? Y'all are non-smokers and live in wet climates, I'm thinking!)

So--Did I get bad advice? Is WD-40 really the cats pajamas for cleaning guns? Or is it no better than any commercial "gun dedicated" cleaning product?

If y'all are just using it because it's cheaper than Hoppe's or MPro7, I think I'll stick with the stuff designed for guns.

If there's some magic in WD-40, spill the beans!!

Thanks.

[HSMITH]

Snake, WD40 is not anything special for cleaning or preserving guns. It works OK, certainly better than some dedicated products and worse than others. It is cheap and that is one motivation for using it. If it works and is cheap why not?

It does not attract dirt any worse than anything else, unless it was electrically charged how could it?

Heat ruining WD just is not true. Take some tin foil and make a couple little pockets in it, put WD in one and your favorite gun lube in the other. Put a lighter under each one for a little bit and see what happens to both at EXTREME temperatures. Be careful as most petroleum based lubes can and will flash into flame at high temps.

The primer thing is about half old wives tale and half true. Take some new commercial ammo or some reloads on fairly fresh brass that has never been over pressured and hose it down with WD40. Let it sit a week, and take some to the range. Let it sit two weeks and take some to the range. It just will not hurt ammo that is in good shape. Bare primers or loose primer pockets will be, but I have shot ammo that soaked in WD for 6 months with VERY few problems. WD is a pretty poor lube, so large quantities of WD on a gun just should not happen. It is a pretty decent preservative, so a light coat will not hurt anything and will do a decent job of protecting from rust.

The absolute worst product I have ever seen for gumming up guns is CLP. It is a decent cleaner, pretty good lube and an outstanding preservative. It is however very easy to overuse and when it dries it gets really thick and hard, it is a nightmare to get off when it hardens too. After my time in the military, as an armorer, I will not touch the crap with a ten foot pole unless using it for long term storage.

Please bear in mind that there are plenty of guys on here that won't use anything but magical big $$$$ ionized synthetic teflon high temp all weather won't hurt primer crap that supposedly does everything the best and that is the ONLY thing anyone else should use. Most anything will work OK, and there are a lot of products that work great. There are uses for even lowly old WD40 on guns if you know how and where to use it.

OK, I am ready for the lectures on how WD40 is part of the evil axis plan to take over the world and how it is ruining guns by the thousands every single day:rolleyes:

[Byron Quick]

I recently bought some machine tools that had been sprayed with WD40, wrapped in newspaper and put in plastic sleeves in 1979. Stored untouched since then. They all had a coating of a brown shellac or varnish. It was not gummy at all. It was hard. Soaking in kerosene for a couple of days dissolved most of it. The rest scrubbed off easily.

[martin]

I, too, am a firm disbeliever in CLP and have seen it work its magic too many times.

I can't say I use WD-40 on firearms.

I pretty much stick to Balistol for a light lube and also with a rag to wipe the exteriors of guns off. The stuff has been around 100 years and still works great - was originally designed for the German military and its secret ingredient is medical grade paraffin. I also use it in places where you would normally use something like WD-40 like squeaky hinges and the like. You can find it at Home Depot.

For long term storage I use Rig and corrosion inhibitor bags.

[Moparmike]

So what do I lube all the parts of my gun with? I took it all apart, soaked it in brake cleaner and mineral spirits (it was covered in Cosmo) and after wiping it all down and ensuring it was dry, sprayed CLP in the bore and everywhere else.

I am about to clean it with Hoppes #9, and then use the Hoppes #9 gun oil on the bore (as I figure that the bolt is peachy like it is.). Is this ok?

[Hkmp5sd]

Gun Scrubber is another good product for removing oil and grease from a gun. I use it for getting the cosmoline out of new C&R acquisitions.

[martin]

Moparmike,
You should be fine with the Hoppes Gun Oil. It really is nothing much more than a good grade mineral oil. If you plan on shooting the gun and not storing it for a few years you will be ok. As for the bore use of the oil, a drop or two on a patch through the bore is sufficient. Prior to shooting you should run a couple of dry patches through the bore to get any excess oil out.

Close to 40 years ago I was my dads gun cleaner after we would go out and shoot. All he ever kept was Browning Gun Oil for lube and to wipe down the rifles. It worked for him just fine all those years. Of course technology has changed quite a bit.