Vaseline

It seems to be very effective at attracting certain species of butterflies.

L O L

Not to mention dirt.

I think Vaseline was a recommended lubricant for the American Eagle Luger of about 110 years ago.

I've seen it baked into pistol parkerizing in a kitchen oven, and used as lube inside an AR-15's upper receiver. Served pretty well in both capacities. But on the outside of a weapon? That sounds messy.

Vaseline was recommended to a friend of mine by his firearm-collector father to keep his AK clean. The friend took this message very literally and used Vaseline to clean the outside and inside of his AK, just slathering it on everything. Taking about 4 hours and 2 people cleaning, we got the AK working again. Never thought I would see an AK misfire.

As a long term storage preservative, Vaseline does the trick. Other than that it is not worth the trouble getting it out after short trips.

Seems like a hell of a way to trap moisture if a fella's not careful.

Seems like a hell of a way to trap moisture if a fella's not careful.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmoline

Petrochemical, it is cosmoline, with a little refining it becomes Vaseline.

F. Guffey

Seriously?

I've never known anyone to put vaseline, or any other messy lubrcant on the outsidef their shotguns. Now I can see how putting a protecive coat of the right stuff on a nice shotgun before putting it away might be a good practice, but not while hunting with it.

"Oops, dog gone it, I just dropped my 1956 Browning Lightening again, I don't understand why it keeps slipping out of my hands?"

GS

I guess it begs the question...."where are you planning on putting that barrel?".

I have used RIG, I have used Vaseline, I have used cosmoline, troops during WW11 used Bag Balm for all the same reasons. With a small difference, in the old days Bag Balm used a small percentage of mercury, today? Mercury is not listed as an ingredient.

I could waste my time explaining why oiling a rifle does not make it slick, to accomplish that would require a response that would be a few pages short of the book 'WAR AND PEACE'

F. Guffey

.22RF

A friend bought a house including everything inside. Along with many other items there was an old semi-auto Savage .22RF rifle. It had been fully coated with Vaseline and stored in a closet for over 30 years. The barrel and receiver did not pit but the entire rifle was covered with a fine powdery rust. It cleaned up well but had to be reblued. It worked out but there are better storage methods.

Mmmmm?

How do you know what it was coated with 30 years ago?

Did they leave a note with a Vaseline label stuck on it?

rc

Well you got me there RC, I wasn't there when it was applied but there was a mostly empty jar of Vaseline on the shelf above it in a brown paper bag. The caked goo that I removed from it resembled ancient Vaseline. I did the old ass-u-me trick again.
The elderly couple were both retired career Army Air Corp/Air Force. Made for a very interesting and respectful although tedious clean-up process.

I have used it on my carbon steel broad heads back in the 70-80's when I bowhunted. Nowadays I use Johnson's Paste Wax to coat blued guns and protect them from the weather.

My take on this is,,,

My take on this is,,,
People use what's available,,,
And then tout it as the best thing out there.

My grandfather used Vaseline for everything,,,
It's what was available and handy for him.

My Mom used 3-in-1 oil for everything,,,
It's what came with a sewing machine she bought.

My Pop on the other hand used WD-40 on everything,,,
He said it was the best lubricant ever created,,,
But really it was just because he had some.

Me, I use Rem-Oil on just about everything,,,
Is it the best lubricant out there?,,,
I have no earthly idea,,,
I just have some.

Aarond

.

"This is my rifle, this is my gun...."
One gets Vaseline, the other gets none

Keep in mind that not all really good products were included in that test.

One prime example is FIREClean.

I've been using RIG since forever.
A piece of sheepskin impregnated with the stuff works great for wiping down your guns after use and prior to storage.

Boeshield will actually do what you want.

farm23 said:

I have met hunters who put Vaseline on the outside of their shotguns at the end of the day when on hunting trips. I know Vaseline is petroleum based but I am not sure how effective it would be.

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If the purpose is to protect it from moisture gathered during the hunt and condensation from coming inside, a quick spray of WD40 and wipe down would probably be best. It's what we used to do to our guns in deer camp (shotgun only Massachusetts deer season).

The WD in WD40 stands for Water Displacement after all.