gun smells

[alexander45]

I recently picked up a new ria 1911and it's a beautiful gun other than the fact that it came covered in what looked like used motor oil and smelled a lil worse.
so it got wiped out and sprayed down with some rem oil I had from the last time I owned a firearm (I was 12) and ordered up some hoppes #9 to give it a proper cleaning, as well who doesnt love the smell of hoppes from there great granfathers gun cabinet.
So what are some of the better or stranger smells you have gotten from guns, gun products, or gun byproducts (smell of a burnt powder or something).

 

[gspn]

Tri Flow gun oil smells just like those candy circus peanuts…and I love them both.

 

[alexander45]

Tri Flow gun oil smells just like those candy circus peanuts

Think I'm going to have to buy some of this lol

 

[Jim K]

G96 Gun Treatment (which I use and like) has been described as smelling like bubble gum.

Jim

 

[morcey2]

Cosmoline!

 

[brody]

I used to love the smell of cordite while shooting. Must of changed formulas because I don't smell it anymore.

 

[rcmodel]

It never got any better then the smell of fired paper shotgun shells from my youth in the 1950's.

I'd get so enamored with sniffing them I'd forget to go pick up the game I shot with them.

Gun smells don't get no better then those old fired paper hulls on a crisp fall morning.
Or any other time!

BTW: Most folks younger then 100 have never smelled Cordite powder on this side of the big pond.

And the smell of Cosmolene?
Seriously?

rc

 

[vamo]

Cosmoline!

Beat me to it. Another member whose name I am forgetting refers to the smell as "new old gun".

 

[gspn]

Gun smells don't get no better then those old fired paper hulls on a crisp fall morning.

rc

Yep…some of my earliest gun memories involve those paper hulled shells. I have one out in my reloading room…I keep saying someday I'll shoot it just to experience the smell again.

 

[alexander45]

BTW: Most folks younger then 100 have never smelled Cordite powder on this side of the big pond.

Iv seen some old 303 packed with it but didn't get to smell it fired as the owner didn't trust it and pulled them all. It's a really weird looking long stick powder.
(side note I'm just under a quarter of the quoted age)

 

[SlowFuse]

I've had some odd smelling ammo, but one that stands out is a lot of Fed AE 223. Reminds me of ammonia.

 

[bottom shelf]

Nothing brings back my youth like the smell of burnt shotgun powder when there's a layer of snow in the woods. Ahh... memories.

 

[rule303]

My favorite gun smells are fired shotgun shells, and Hoppes. T/C Bore Butter also has a nice, peppermint fragrance. I have fired a lot of .303 British surplus loaded with cordite. Sorry to burst every authors bubble, but it doesn't smell much different than most other smokeless powder.

 

[morcey2]

And the smell of Cosmolene?
Seriously?

Beat me to it. Another member whose name I am forgetting refers to the smell as "new old gun".

The smell of cosmoline at my house means that I have a "new old gun." It's like smelling the mix of cow manure, silage, and fresh-cut alfalfa. It means I'm somewhere I like to be doing something I like to do. Smells like victory.

BLO and Hoppes are tied for a second.

Matt

 

[hariph creek]

I need to market some "Real Man" air fresheners. Scents like: new tires, leather, spent smokeless powder, CLP, paper hulled shells, Hoppes #9, unsmoked pipe tobacco, etc...

 

[mgmorden]

I have a "gun room" in my house that just due to the combination of all things I do in there (reloading, gun cleaning, etc) has taken on that a gun shop smell. Kind of enjoyable actually .

About the only thing that I really hone in on though is a gun that has been cold blued. Its a heck of a stench that doesn't seem to go away. That one is NOT a pleasant gun smell.

 

[trux59]

hariph creek someone has marketed you idea.

 

[Ed Ames]

Black powder (the real stuff) smoke gives me warm fuzzies.

Kroil has a certain je ne sais quoi too.

 

[Quentin]

Rifle range, Ft. Bragg, 1966. Love the smell of burnt powder in the air!

 

[Deus Machina]

I like cosmoline, I actually don't like the smell of Hoppes.
Maybe it's not the smell I dislike, just that it always smells so concentrated. It's cloying.

My Saiga came smelling...Russian, I guess. Like, is there a cheap Russian WD40? It smelled like whatever you're thinking of, I promise.
I don't like the high-end Wolf .22 smell, or some Eley and such. It's like burning hotel soap.

 

[Blue Brick]

Deleted.

 

[alexander45]

It's like burning hotel soap

some one had an interesting childhood? Lol

 

[wojownik]

Love Hoppes. Wish they would make an aftershave

One of my worst smelling rifles was a Chinese Type 53 - smelled like a combo of cosmoline, mildew, must, diesel fuel, and rotting fish.

Speaking of fish, one of my Finnish M39s smelled vaguely like dead fish until I cleaned out the barrel. Fish, as in a fish tank full of dead tropicals that you forgot to feed before going on a long summer holiday (but that's another tragic tale ... and odor never to be forgotten...).

Separate from rifles, another smell not to be forgotten was the strange industrial reek that came out of a Romanian 5.45 ammo spam can - this was the military stuff that came in back in the mid 1990s. Popped the tin, and then we had to evacuate the room it smelled so bad (and we didn't know what the heck it was ...). Had to air out the room for the rest of the day, and deported the ammo to the garage. Chucked the spam can - it had some kind of dried orange substance along the bottom, almost like a large battery leaked.

 

[Old Dog]

I need to market some "Real Man" air fresheners. Scents like: new tires, leather, spent smokeless powder, CLP, paper hulled shells, Hoppes #9, unsmoked pipe tobacco, etc...

hariph creek, I see that you are a man of distinction ... (don't know why I harkened back to that old commercial from the '60s).

 

[GBExpat]

I love the aroma of the inside of my north gunsafe. It is full of, mostly, oil-finished milsurps so the smell of BLO & Tung Oil is strong ... MMMmmmmm ...