Revolvers as "oil wells?"

[GBExpat]

You don't shoot much double action then? Watch some of the guys shooting USPSA and IDPA with their revolvers. They are getting splits between shot down below .2 seconds. That is very kinetic on the hand, star, and cylinder stop along with a few other parts of the internals.

I think that only a tiny percentage of revolver owners/shooters put their revolvers thru the paces anywhere near like you guys do (I know that *I* certainly don't) ... a small enough representation to reasonably be considered to merit Special Case consideration.

 

[bangswitch]

I clean my range guns after every outing. Once I've cleaned the bore and chambers with a solvent (Hoppes) and brushed out and wiped off the residue on the cylinder face and around the forcing cone, I oil the bore and chambers with oily patches. Then I remove as much oil as I can with dry patches. One small drop at the yoke pivot, one small drop on the extractor rod (push the extractor rod in and apply under the star), work them and then wipe off all visible oil. Maybe once a year, or less often, I'll put a drop in the channel the hand runs in. Then I use a silicone impregnated cloth and wipe the entire external surfaces down, and return it to the safe, which is humidity controlled. An EDC gets the same treatment with a frequent wipe down.

 

[sonora]

I live in a dry, dusty environment. Dust is everywhere, outside and inside. It's in the air. I feel that lubrication is best used in moderation. Oil seems to attract dust and hold it. This is a recipe for abrasion of metal parts that move and have contact with each other. I try to practice restraint with lubrication.
I would like to ask forum members a question about corrosion and condensation. When I lived in Alaska I was an avid photographer. In the cold winter after being outside photographing for hours the equipment was very cold; very. We would place our cameras and film in sealed plastic bags before going back inside to a heated environment. This was done to prevent condensation. When the equipment warmed up it would be removed from the bags. When outdoors with firearms in cold weather, would condensation be of some concern? Would this condensation cause rust on the internals of firearms?

 

[J-Bar]

Condensation can only form on a surface that is colder than the air next to that surface. It’s physics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, whatever. Sealing things in plastic bags minimizes the air in contact with the endangered surface, and therefore reduces the amount of condensation that can occur. You would have to draw a vacuum in the bag to totally eliminate the risk of condensation. But getting most of the air out of the bag is a reasonable step to take. Taking equipment from a warm cabin to the outside in cold weather does not promote condensation because the equipment surface is warmer than the surrounding air until the equipment temperature equilibrates to the outside temperature. Taking cold equipment into a warmer more humid area is when condensation occurs. Condensation can occur wherever the warmer air can reach. If air can get to the gun’s internals, then condensation could occur there also.

(My first degree was in Chemical Engineering, in case you were wondering.)

 

[natman]

I live in a dry, dusty environment. Dust is everywhere, outside and inside. It's in the air. I feel that lubrication is best used in moderation. Oil seems to attract dust and hold it. This is a recipe for abrasion of metal parts that move and have contact with each other. I try to practice restraint with lubrication.

If you're in a really dusty environment, there are a number of dry lubes that won't hold dust. I've had good luck with White Lightning bicycle chain lube. Mountain bikers are very familiar with the issues of dirt and oil, so go to your local bicycle store to see a large selection of dry lubes.

When outdoors with firearms in cold weather, would condensation be of some concern? Would this condensation cause rust on the internals of firearms?

Yes and yes.

 

[Hiredgun48]

Im a newbie -have a S & W 686 -have a cleaning question -after cleaning do you recommend oiling the bore and chambers with Hoppes Lubricating Gun Oil and then running a dry patch thru the chambers and bore to remove any excess -thanks

 

[.38 Special]

Im a newbie -have a S & W 686 -have a cleaning question -after cleaning do you recommend oiling the bore and chambers with Hoppes Lubricating Gun Oil and then running a dry patch thru the chambers and bore to remove any excess -thanks

I generally leave them with the thin film left behind by an oily patch. I wipe them out with a dry patch before I shoot them, but for storage I'd rather have peace of mind. When I expect more than a few months before a particular gun is used again, I will use RIG grease rather than oil.

Of course, for a good stainless gun like yours it all becomes less important. While it still can rust, it's much more resistant than is a blued gun. My stainless revolvers tend to get wiped down and then tossed back into the safe without further thought - but I do live in a dry climate.

 

[GBExpat]

I generally leave them with the thin film left behind by an oily patch. I wipe them out with a dry patch before I shoot them ...

This! I have two cleaning rod racks (1/ea pistol & longgun) that I keep full of rods with clean-patch-loaded slotted patch holders.

Before I exit my basement firearms bunker, all bores & chambers of my selected-for-todays'-activities firearms get a quick run-thru with a clean, dry patch to remove any remaining protective oil.

 

[rbernie]

I live in a dry, dusty environment. Dust is everywhere, outside and inside. It's in the air. I feel that lubrication is best used in moderation. Oil seems to attract dust and hold it. This is a recipe for abrasion of metal parts that move and have contact with each other. I try to practice restraint with lubrication.

The US Army did a bunch of dust tests, a decade or so back, driven by the environment in which they were operating. Paraphrasing the results - they found that more lubrication has a 'floating' effect, in which the dust was migrated away from the metal-to-metal contact points by the lubricant. Given this, and my own practical experiences, I'm pretty much sold on the idea that (until you reach a point where the lube is interfering with cold weather performance) more lube is better in a dusty operating environment than less lube.

Just be sure to clean 'em up again when you get back, so that the dust doesn't accumulate into spooge.

 

[sonora]

This! I have two cleaning rod racks (1/ea pistol & longgun) that I keep full of rods with clean-patch-loaded slotted patch holders.

Before I exit my basement firearms bunker, all bores & chambers of my selected-for-todays'-activities firearms get a quick run-thru with a clean, dry patch to remove any remaining protective oil.

After cleaning and I have a nice dry and shiny bore, I like to run a clean patch down the bore that has a light amount of oil on the patch. Just enough to leave a very light coating. Just enough to prevent rust, but not enough to raise pressure if the weapon is fired. If the weapon is going into storage I will use grease. Remove the grease before the next use.

 

[Dave T]

Years ago I had several 1911s built by Jim Hoag in Southern California, where it varies from a Mediterranean to a desert climate. Hoag advocated and recommended you run the gun "wet", for the same reason as stated above.

YMMV,
Dave

PS: I never got oiling the bore or chambers. If they need oiling perhaps you didn't clean them well enough. Then too I've spent the last 49 years in the desert. Maybe it's different in Florida or Louisiana.

 

[GBExpat]

I never got oiling the bore or chambers. If they need oiling perhaps you didn't clean them well enough. ...

In my case, I just think that it is a good habit ... both that and dry-patching before heading out to shoot.

If you do run an oil-damp patch thru last thing before putting them up it is not going to hurt anything, even if you don't dry-patch them before shooting.

If you don't run an oil-damp patch thru last thing before putting them up, and just leave them as clean steel, it just might, depending upon the storage environment.

With many/most of us it is probably moot because we store our firearms in controlled-environment gunsafes (or live in a desert ).

 

[UncleEd]

Rbernie and DaveT,

I think your comments are more toward automatic pistols
and not revolvers. Autos, I believe, do need to run "wet,"
hence the finding of the U.S. Army and advice of a 1911 guru.

 

[rbernie]

Rbernie and DaveT,

I think your comments are more toward automatic pistols
and not revolvers. Autos, I believe, do need to run "wet,"
hence the finding of the U.S. Army and advice of a 1911 guru.

My expectation is that lubricants floating dust/debris from in between mating surfaces under pressure is not a phenomenon unique to semiauto pistols or rifles. YMMV.