I try to be smart about the small money things as well as the big money things. It seems to me if anything is specifically sold for gun maintenance it seems to be pricey. So, I needed some gun oil and was in Lowes and bought some old-fashioned THREE IN ONE oil only now it is in plastic instead of metal. Knowing it may or may not be the quality of name-brand gun oils I bought it mainly for when I put a few drops on a rag to wipe down my a gun surfaces before it goes back in the locker. However, I was wondering what all of you think about using it internally when you put a drop or two on the star of your SW revolver or in the guts of your Marlin 60 or such? I appreciate your reply. (Yes, I have RemOil and RemOil dry lube, etc.) You know, just to gab, I have a nephew whom I love to shoot with and he had this little container of cheese cloth like rags that were wet with oil for convenient wiping down of guns. It had a price sticker that said over $8. I use little pieces of old cotton t-shirt and a few drops of oil and has always worked fine for me. BTW....I got 8 oz of the Three in One for about $4 at Lowes and I see 2-4 oz bottles of like Outers or Hoppes for around $4 at the outfitters stores. I have rambled enough.
Question about gun oil
- Thread starter moewadle
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Jim Watson
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I don't know about the current product, but at one time Three in One oil had the same reputation as WD 40 does now. A cheap product suitable for oiling door hinges, not first choice on your gun or Mama's sewing machine.
ranger335v
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As Jim says, the old 3-in-1 "oil" wasn't much. It was just a bit of parafin wax dissolved in kerosene. I know they have changed it, just don't know how much or what it is today.
Fact is, most any oil gives all the lubing and rust protection guns need...for a short time.
What we need is an oil that penetrates well, drys very slowly and leaves little or no surface residue. That last part is where most common oils fail us, most leave a "varnish" residue that's hard to remove, gums up the works and has no rust protection value.
WD-40 is GREAT for displacing water on a metal surface, but that's all it's good for with guns! And, to be fair, water displacing is all it was really made for. I always use it on my guns when coming in from hunting in the rain, but I follow it up with a better type within a day or so.
The best real "gun" oil I've found, at any price, is common Automatic Transmission Fluid. ATF has excellant penatration, plenty good enough film strength for our needs, drys very slowly and leaves no gummy surface residue. And it's INEXPENSIVE! Any of the "Dextron" types work fine.
ATF is sold in the auto lube departments of X-mart stores for low cost, it's even cheaper than 3-in-1.
Fact is, most any oil gives all the lubing and rust protection guns need...for a short time.
What we need is an oil that penetrates well, drys very slowly and leaves little or no surface residue. That last part is where most common oils fail us, most leave a "varnish" residue that's hard to remove, gums up the works and has no rust protection value.
WD-40 is GREAT for displacing water on a metal surface, but that's all it's good for with guns! And, to be fair, water displacing is all it was really made for. I always use it on my guns when coming in from hunting in the rain, but I follow it up with a better type within a day or so.
The best real "gun" oil I've found, at any price, is common Automatic Transmission Fluid. ATF has excellant penatration, plenty good enough film strength for our needs, drys very slowly and leaves no gummy surface residue. And it's INEXPENSIVE! Any of the "Dextron" types work fine.
ATF is sold in the auto lube departments of X-mart stores for low cost, it's even cheaper than 3-in-1.
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gunsmith Grant Cunningham has a nice writeup on gun lubricants at http://www.grantcunningham.com/lubricants101.html and says that Dexron automatic transmission oil is cheap and good.
JMusic
member
Many companies that sell Beeman Products sells a lube for rust protection. It has lasted over a coup;e years for me as long as not touched. Its callled MP5. The guys thqat run the nitro cars 1/8 , or airplanes use ATF long term staorage. I don't think there is much out there other that dipping in cosmoline that will work any better.
Jim
Jim
JMusic
member
Many companies that sell Beeman Products sells a lube for rust protection. It has lasted over a coup;e years for me as long as not touched. Its called MP5. The guys that run the nitro cars 1/8 , or airplanes use ATF long term storage. I don't think there is much out there other that dipping in cosmoline that will work any better.
Jim
Jim
jimmyraythomason
Member
WD-40 doesn't deserve the reputation that it has which continues even though it has been repudiated time and time again. Perhaps 3 in 1 doesn't deserve it's bad rap either. The reference to "mama's sewing machine" is a good one. My mother was a professional seamstress for 45 years. I don't know what her sewing machines were lubricated with at work but her machines at home only saw 3n1 oil. Her mother before her also used it on her Singer treddle machine. I personally use (and have for 40+ years) WD-40 as well as many of the commercial gun care products. Use what you want,it all works.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
+1
Wonder why it is WD-40 keeps my tools & shovels from rusting in the garage for years on end, but will ruin any firearm if it gets in the same room with it?
See this:
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=...nic__Knowing_the_Limits_of_Rust_Preventatives
Because it is so cheap, I use it all the time for flushing dirt & grime out of old guns I work on, and am not concerned if I leave some inside when I get done!
With that said, I'm not a huge fan of 3-in-1 oil for firearms rust protection.
That was all I had growning up, and it didn't work worth a damn for that!
rc
Wonder why it is WD-40 keeps my tools & shovels from rusting in the garage for years on end, but will ruin any firearm if it gets in the same room with it?
See this:
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=...nic__Knowing_the_Limits_of_Rust_Preventatives
Because it is so cheap, I use it all the time for flushing dirt & grime out of old guns I work on, and am not concerned if I leave some inside when I get done!
With that said, I'm not a huge fan of 3-in-1 oil for firearms rust protection.
That was all I had growning up, and it didn't work worth a damn for that!
rc
Gun Slinger
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mfcmb: said:
At the risk of turning this thread into an impromptu meeting of the American Petroleum Institute...
This may be of interest to you, or it may not
, but ATF(s) lack quite signficantly, the AnitWear/Extreme Pressure (like ZDDP among others) and "anti-scuff" additives, detergents, dispersants, and to a lesser extent, the anti-corrosion compounds and metal deactivators found in much greater quantitites in PCMOs (Passenger Car Motor Oils). ATF(s) actually offer quite a bit less protection and corrosion resistance than the PCMOs.With all due respect given to Mr. Cunningham and his well-intentioned opinion, he erroneously represents ATF(s) as being the superior of the two fluids, when in fact automotive oils are indeed the clearly superior choice of the two for this application (firearms lubricant) if only for their superior additives packages.
Kindest regards,
Jim Watson
Member
We already had a 7 page thread meeting of the API. The catalog of alphabet soup oil additives was not persuasive. A gun is not a very demanding application as compared to an IC engine or industrial equipment. About anything will work if you just keep some of it on there.
jimmyraythomason
Member
"About anything will work if you just keep some of it on there." Sounds good to me.
Gun Slinger
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Nice "sig" line.
Jim Watson: said:
ranger335v
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"but ATF(s) lack quite signficantly, the AnitWear/Extreme Pressure (like ZDDP among others) and "anti-scuff" additives, detergents, dispersants, and to a lesser extent, the anti-corrosion compounds and metal deactivators found in much greater quantitites in PCMOs (Passenger Car Motor Oils). ATF(s) actually offer quite a bit less protection and corrosion resistance than the PCMOs."
Valid statement. And, for autos, surely no one would suggest putting ATF in the crankcase. But, for guns and other fine instuments, all that auto engine oil stuff is irrelivant.
WD-40 does leave a gummy varnish like residue when the carrier evaporates and that happens fairly quickly, a few weeks at the most. It's not immediate but the varnish can eventually build up enough to foul rifle triggers and revolver actions. ATF does not.
Test any oils for penatration and varnish as you wish. Put a single drop of WD-40, ATF and any other oil you wish to test on the top of a single 4" x 4" sheet of white paper, labeled. Thumb tack each sheet to a wall and leave it until the volitiles are gone. Eventually, it will take weeks or even months, you will see which oils leave a colored dry residue and see how far down the paper it has spread. A good gun oil will "penatrate" well down the paper fibers and leave little or no discoloration on the white paper when it drys, as all liquids eventually do. Those oils leaving the most color are the most prone to gumming and varnish formation. That gum will build over time and repeated applications, there's no other way it can be. But, some will leave virtually no visible trace and that means no gumming.
Valid statement. And, for autos, surely no one would suggest putting ATF in the crankcase. But, for guns and other fine instuments, all that auto engine oil stuff is irrelivant.
WD-40 does leave a gummy varnish like residue when the carrier evaporates and that happens fairly quickly, a few weeks at the most. It's not immediate but the varnish can eventually build up enough to foul rifle triggers and revolver actions. ATF does not.
Test any oils for penatration and varnish as you wish. Put a single drop of WD-40, ATF and any other oil you wish to test on the top of a single 4" x 4" sheet of white paper, labeled. Thumb tack each sheet to a wall and leave it until the volitiles are gone. Eventually, it will take weeks or even months, you will see which oils leave a colored dry residue and see how far down the paper it has spread. A good gun oil will "penatrate" well down the paper fibers and leave little or no discoloration on the white paper when it drys, as all liquids eventually do. Those oils leaving the most color are the most prone to gumming and varnish formation. That gum will build over time and repeated applications, there's no other way it can be. But, some will leave virtually no visible trace and that means no gumming.
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jimmyraythomason
Member
It is obviously pointless to argue against an urban legend as deeply entrenched as the WD-40 gumming myth. Suffice it to say You use yours and I'll use mine. I've used WD-40 on my guns since 1972. They are rust,gum and wear(excessive) free.
musick
Member
Agreed.
Any good light weight machine oil works well. I grew up using three in one, then switched over to WD-40. In the ensuing decades I've tried most of the products on the market, but have come full circle and like a good light weight machine oil. The military calls it VVL-800.
hwp
Member
The lube requirements of firearms are very tame. Just about anything will work.
Rust/corrosion protection is a different matter.
I have used everything everything under the sun including the urban legend gun killer wd-40 with good results. The only lube that ever failed me was remoil. A remoil lubed sig shoots itself dry in about 50 rounds and needs relubed or it starts to hang up. No other oil (even wd-40) caused this to happen.
Rust/corrosion protection is a different matter.
I have used everything everything under the sun including the urban legend gun killer wd-40 with good results. The only lube that ever failed me was remoil. A remoil lubed sig shoots itself dry in about 50 rounds and needs relubed or it starts to hang up. No other oil (even wd-40) caused this to happen.
Elbert P . Suggins
Member
Ed' Red is equal parts of ATF, Mineral Spirits, and Kerosene and works great even for corrosive ammo cleanup. The mystery about Marvel Mystery Oil is that they are probably the same thing if analyzed.
Compression Engine Oils, (that is Diesel Engine Oil) have more of these additives.
Automotive oils are outstanding lubricants. Millions are spend in engine oil research, but $.02 per year is spent on gun oil reasearch.
I suspect that most gun oils are simply repackaged industrial lubricants. Take a look at a Grainger catalog and see all the lubricants that you can get.
I stopped using 3 in 1 after I did a rust test on nails. I put a bunch of nails in test tubes filled with sea water. The 3 in 1 nail rusted faster than the uncoated nail. WD-40 did very well. Probably due to the silicone that stays on the surface when the light oil evaporates.
j-easy
Member
back to saving money on gun cleaning products,
walmart has the cheapest prices around here for gun cleaning stuff, and mine stocks CLP, rem-oil, gun scrubber, and #9 and other assorted hoppes products. its all cheaper than the gun stores
walmart has the cheapest prices around here for gun cleaning stuff, and mine stocks CLP, rem-oil, gun scrubber, and #9 and other assorted hoppes products. its all cheaper than the gun stores
jcwit
member
Ed's red correct formula per www.frfrogspad.com/homemade.htm
1 part Dexron II, IIe or III Automatic Transmission Fluid - GM Spec D20265 or later
1 part K1 Kerosene
1 part Aliphatic Mineral Spirits federal spec TT-T-2981F (CAS# 64741-49-9) or Stodard Solvent/Varsol
(CAS#8052-41-1)
1 part Acetone (CAS#67-64-1)
Hopes this helps. jcwit
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I use Tri-flow. It goes on thin, penetrates and then thickens to stay put. It is an excellent lubricant, it's clear so it doesn't stain and it even smells good.
I bought a can for about $5. I used it for years and then lost it on a field trip. So I bought another. That's about $10 for fifteen years worth of gun lube, or roughly 66 cents a year.
Just think of how much I would have saved with motor oil.
I bought a can for about $5. I used it for years and then lost it on a field trip. So I bought another. That's about $10 for fifteen years worth of gun lube, or roughly 66 cents a year.
Just think of how much I would have saved with motor oil.
hwp
Member
I have used tri-flow and it is great. Maybe one of the best.
If I could find it in anything other than aerosol I would use it all the time. Aerosol just wastes so much when all I really need most of the time is a few drops.
If I could find it in anything other than aerosol I would use it all the time. Aerosol just wastes so much when all I really need most of the time is a few drops.
Here's the frfrog's page: http://www.frfrogspad.com/homemade.htm
I got an error message with the link posted above.
I got an error message with the link posted above.
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