Oil rifle bore.

[stchman]

Hello all.

I had a friend of mine tell me the other day NOT to oil the bore of a rifle/pistol/revolver at all!!!!!

He claims that the oil will increase the pressure in the bore and you can blow you firearm up.

I wonder how he prevents bore rust.

Is there any merit to what he is saying?

Thanks.

 

[Fremmer]

If you slop a bunch of oil into that bore, you might have problems with increased pressure. Not to mention you don't want it dripping into the action or onto the floor (depending on how you store the rifle).

A nice light sheen of oil in the bore won't cause any problems, and will prevent rust.

 

[Rio Laxas]

I have always heard that it is a good idea to remove all oil from the bore prior to firing. I was under the impression this had to do with accuracy more than pressure spikes, but I guess if there is a ton of oil or grease in the barrel then it would be a problem. I believe it is more critical that the chamber be dry before firing so the brass expands and "grips" the sides of the chamber properly.

 

[wishin]

After cleaning, oil the bore......Before firing, remove the oil...............

 

[CoRoMo]

Like anything that you might put into the bore of any gun, remove it before you plan on firing the gun.

 

[stchman]

I take a patch and put a decent amount of oil on the patch and run it through.

I have been doing this for a long time with no troubles.

 

[rcmodel]

If you ever served in the military, you were taught to oil the bore after cleaning with a light film of oil on a patch to protect it from rust.

Nobody ever said anything about removing the light film of oil before getting into a fire-fight!

As stated above, the only effect of a light film of oil will be a change in POI for a few shots.
Not enough to matter with a battle rifle, but it might make a differance on an accurate varmint or hunting rifle.

There is no safety issue unless you leave a thick coat of grease or oil in the bore or chamber.

rc

 

[Habeed]

Would it really cause problems if you fired the weapon with the oil still in it? At the ridiculous pressures generated inside a firearm (tens of thousands of PSI), one would think a little oil would make no difference at all. (after all, there's enough pressure to deform the lead bullet and force it through the rifling)

Also, the heat would probably cause the oil to burn off pretty quickly.

 

[rcmodel]

The bullet seal forms a "wipe" as it passes through the bore, pushing whatever oil or grease there is in front of it.

Given enough oil or grease, it can become a partial bore obstruction and raise pressure.

But like I said above, that does not apply to a light protective film of oil, as there isn't enough to do any harm.

rc

 

[stchman]

If there was a thicker than needed layer of oil in the barrel, would not the first shot blow all the excess out. Plus my rifles get stored vertically, would not any excess simply run off. I use Rem-Oil anyway and that is really thin stuff.

 

[GunsAmerica Fan]

The thinking would be that oil, like water, can't be compressed. But... all the metals used in bullets can be, the are completely maliable and are swaged when they hit the rifling. There is also an easy egress point, ie the muzzle. I think the guy just wanted to sound smart.

 

[KBintheSLC]

Run one patch that is covered in oil, then follow it with a dry patch to remove any excess. This will protect without leaving too much oil in there.

 

[481]

Like KB said: a "wet" patch followed by a "dry" patch and you are GTG.

No need to "over-complicate".

 

[Sav .250]

I get the drift of what your friend is saying. Now, maybe one of his "friends" will tell him .......how to properly clean/maintain a weapon.

 

[Ed Harris]

Heavy oil or grease which cannot readily flow out of the bore acts as a bore obstruction and may cause ringing, especially in high velocity smallbores. The key is to use only a light film of a light weight oil. Military weapons oil is required to pass a low temperature viscosity test. A good quality light machine oil meeting Mil specs VV-L-800, VV-L-820 or Mil-L-63460 is ideal. An acceptable field expedient is to thin mineral oil, USP or SAE30weight motor oil with equal parts by liquid volume of aliphatic mineral spirits or deodorized kerosene.

Correct application is to thoroughly wet the bore by passing a saturated patch through several times, and then to remove the excess oil by passing a dry patch through the bore once. Use wet patch after it has been passed through the clean bore to wipe off exterior metal surfaces before returning the weapon to storage.

 

[Manco]

Run one patch that is covered in oil, then follow it with a dry patch to remove any excess. This will protect without leaving too much oil in there.

That's exactly what I do, and it doesn't hurt to use an oil that is known to be good at preventing corrosion (I currently use Weapon Shield but there are plenty of good alternatives and some not-so-good ones such as Militec-1). Then when I take the gun to the range (or need to actually use it in self-defense) I don't perform any maintenance to prepare it for firing--it's always ready to fire.

Long-term storage would be a different consideration, though, in which case I would probably use a good anti-corrosion grease that will have to be thoroughly cleaned out before firing.

 

[warnerwh]

In an area like where I live in Oregon or anywhere near the ocean you can have problems if you don't oil the barrel. Near the beach is a great place to make something rusty quickly. Personally I've always just used enough oil to coat the bore. Never have wiped it clean before shooting.

 

[MachIVshooter]

I take a patch and put a decent amount of oil on the patch and run it through.

I have been doing this for a long time with no troubles.

Exactly. Worst that can happen is a slight mist from the muzzle on the first shot.

 

[NMGonzo]

I always used a sheen of oil without ill effects.

Not buried in axle grease; just a little.

 

[docsleepy]

On my 223 target rifle, I run a moderably oiled patch through at the end of the cleaning session.


For benchrest accuracy, the CHAMBER needs not to have oil on its surface, so the case can grip as it expands after ignition. I try and remember to run a dry patch through that when setting up at the next session.

Difference between my first and second shots is usually less than a half inch at 100 yards. Maybe due to the oil, probably more due to laying down a layer of residue.