Solvent for WD 40?

[EddieCoyle]

A friend recently got engaged and I was helping him move out of his house, and into the the house he and his wife-to-be will occupy. We were removing the last of the stuff from his place when he pulled out a box from the attic, opened it, and inside revealed an M1 Carbine that belonged to his late father. His wife to be (she's very anti gun, he's gun-neutral) flips out when she sees the M1, acting as if it was going to load itself and chase them around the house. She tells him in no uncertain terms that she will not be in a house with a gun.

He turns to me and says, "You want it?"
I say, "Will I have to give it back when you get divorced?"
He said, "Nope. It's yours."

He then tells me that it should be in "good shape" because before he put it away (10 years ago) he poured WD 40 down the barrel and into the action. :banghead:

I haven't had a chance to examine it closely, and won't have time to clean it until the weekend, but it looks like somebody poured a mix of caramel, maple syrup, and glue into it. The magazine is stuck, the bolt barely moves, etc.

So, can anyone recommend a good solvent for WD 40?

 

[loumarch]

Get some Break-Free CLP. It will slowly dissolve all that mess. Then use a good foaming bore cleaner down the barrel and let it soak at least 30 minutes.
Brush with a brass or synthetic brush and dry with patches. You'll probably need to reclean it a couple of times to get it perfect. You can also use brake cleaner on the action to break up everything.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

A friend recently got engaged and I was helping him move out of his house, and into the the house he and his wife-to-be will occupy. We were removing the last of the stuff from his place when he pulled out a box from the attic, opened it, and inside revealed an M1 Carbine that belonged to his late father. His wife to be (she's very anti gun, he's gun-neutral) flips out when she sees the M1, acting as if it was going to load itself and chase them around the house. She tells him in no uncertain terms that she will not be in a house with a gun.

He turns to me and says, "You want it?"
I say, "Will I have to give it back when you get divorced?"
He said, "Nope. It's yours."

He then tells me that it should be in "good shape" because before he put it away (10 years ago) he poured WD 40 down the barrel and into the action. :banghead:

I haven't had a chance to examine it closely, and won't have time to clean it until the weekend, but it looks like somebody poured a mix of caramel, maple syrup, and glue into it. The magazine is stuck, the bolt barely moves, etc.

So, can anyone recommend a good solvent for WD 40?

Try automotice carburetor cleaner. If that doesn't work, move up to brake cleaner.

 

[SIGarmed]

A friend recently got engaged and I was helping him move out of his house, and into the the house he and his wife-to-be will occupy. We were removing the last of the stuff from his place when he pulled out a box from the attic, opened it, and inside revealed an M1 Carbine that belonged to his late father. His wife to be (she's very anti gun, he's gun-neutral) flips out when she sees the M1, acting as if it was going to load itself and chase them around the house. She tells him in no uncertain terms that she will not be in a house with a gun.

He turns to me and says, "You want it?"
I say, "Will I have to give it back when you get divorced?"
He said, "Nope. It's yours."

He then tells me that it should be in "good shape" because before he put it away (10 years ago) he poured WD 40 down the barrel and into the action. :banghead:

I haven't had a chance to examine it closely, and won't have time to clean it until the weekend, but it looks like somebody poured a mix of caramel, maple syrup, and glue into it. The magazine is stuck, the bolt barely moves, etc.

So, can anyone recommend a good solvent for WD 40?

Why not just break it down and clean it like you normally would? I don't think the WD 40 is going to hurt it. That stuff was made to spray on metal and electric parts in the first place. You're going to have to break it down and clean it before you shoot it anyway.

 

[P95Carry]

Never tried to ''de-yuk'' WD40 but would proceed by removing all woodwork and then dunk whole darned gun in kerosene - for staters. See if that will loosen up sticky parts. Maybe even acetone too but watch your skin re getting all its grease getting sucked out - ventilated area too.

Then well - I start thinking of carb cleaner - gub scrubber type deals - real solvents. This should hopefully cut thru the gum eventually. After that - dissassemble and clean components followed by lube and reassemble.

Others may already have tried this and know what works best.

What a sad, sad, case re your buddy and ''that'' wife of his.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Why not just break it down and clean it like you normally would? I don't think the WD 40 is going to hurt it. That stuff was made to spray on metal and electric parts in the first place. You're going to have to break it down and clean it before you shoot it anyway.

You'd really have to see it. After a time, WD 40 dries to a hard glaze. In places where it settled, it is about 1/8" thick. You can't even dent or scratch it with your thumbnail. The magazine looks like it was varnished into place.

I like the idea of removing the wood (if I can get it off - I'm worried about splitting the stock trying to remove it) and soaking it. I made up a 4 foot length of rain gutter with caps on both ends for similar gun-soaking projects.

Will kerosene dissolve WD 40?

 

[P95Carry]

I doubt kero' will dissolve the WD40 ''varnish'' / gum. But I'd try it to see if it'll soften things up - may take days.

Once things soften then hopefully some disassembly might be possible and then step up the solvent aggressiveness.

To get wood off - maybe some Kroil around vital spots - which might help ease wood away and even if desperate - put whole darned gun in kero' !! I reckon the wood can be dealt with after and purged of the kero' - tho a messy and smelly job.

Still - hope someone else has actual hands on experience of this - the better to set you on right path. I am only thinkin' out loud really

 

[Oldnamvet]

You've got WD-40 varnish - use varnish remover. It is meant to remove varnish from wood (has lots of methylene chloride in it) so it shouldn't harm the wood. Just be sure to do it outside and avoid the fumes. Wear gloves, goggles, and a rubber apron is also good to keep it off your clothes.

 

[rustymaggot]

wd40 disolves wd40 varnish. soak it again in the stuff and wait a few days. carb cleaner is to harsh on things as well as harsh on your lungs. eventually the varnish will soften up with repeated spraying of wd40.

hoppe's number 9 will disolve that stuff too, but hoppe's is more expensive. save that for the final cleaning.

i am so green with envy here! i love m1 carbines! i wish my buddies would give me one.

 

[Flatfender]

Call WD40 and ask. 888-324-7596

http://www.wd40.com/index.cfm

 

[Pilgrim]

His wife to be (she's very anti gun, he's gun-neutral) flips out when she sees the M1, acting as if it was going to load itself and chase them around the house. She tells him in no uncertain terms that she will not be in a house with a gun.

Your friend received a very important clue. I hope he studies it before going any further with this proposed marriage.

Pilgrim

 

[EddieCoyle]

Call WD40 and ask. 888-324-7596

http://www.wd40.com/index.cfm

I just called. They told me to go to www.wd-40.com and send an email. If you click on that link, you'll see that it's under construction.
www.wd40.com works though.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Your friend received a very important clue. I hope he studies it before going any further with this proposed marriage.

Pilgrim

Yeah, I agree. That's why I asked if I could keep it after the divorce. He won't though.

 

[nfl1990]

Try some brake clean on it.

 

[grizz5675]

sounds to me like you have more then just wd40 ,i would say you have wd40 mixed with cosmoline.

 

[sm]

50% solution

Give the gal $200 in ones, have her dress in most skimpy outfit and dump her at a male strip club. Forget her.

Use mineral spirits to clean M1 Carbine, take the guy shooting and pay for ammo, range fees and lunch.

Better to have half this couple on Pro Gun side than both on Anti Gun side.

50% winnings beats a 100% loss any day.

 

[trapperjohn]

I think I would try giving it a good soaking in Ed's Red.

 

[TonkinTwentyMil]

You owe your buddy a big favor, now.

I suggest you have an attorney draft a PRE-NUPTIAL AGREEMENT for him (for his own protection). With that ditz-brained/lib-snot b**ch, he's gonna need it.

 

[brerrabbit]

I go with RustyMaggot on this one. I use WD-40 on a lot of relatively hi temp systems. Eventually it will turn to a varnish. More WD-40 and a little wiping seems to soften it right up.

 

[mete]

Boiling trisodiumphosphate should work well [don't use on aluminum !!!] or trichlorethylene.

 

[jerkface11]

Try the WD40 to remove the varnish. If that won't work gumout or break cleaner will.

 

[JMusic]

About every thing said wil eventially work. WD -40 has paraffin in it and WD -40 is probably the best solvent to melt this back to its liquid state. I would then use a metal degreeser to get rid of WD-40. It works good for porch swings and garden rakes but it is a big no no for firearms. I was brought a Remington 7400 that a guy had and said it would not fire. He thought the firing pin was broken. What had actually happened was he used WD-40 to lube his firearms and generally would spray inside the action. It was so gummed up the firing pin could not build enough energy to mark the primer. Once clean it worked fine. I used the technique above to clean it.
Jim

 

[6inch]

I wonder which one is going to wear the wedding dress??

 

[EddieCoyle]

I heard back from the folks at WD40.com. Big surprise, their answer was...

More WD 40!

I'll pick up a gallon at Home Depot and let it soak for a few days. Thanks all for your help.

You owe your buddy a big favor, now.

Not really, I've helped this guy move about 10 times - I figure we're even.

 

[Darrellbear]

WD40 sucks bigtime. Get some Kroil, it's everything WD40 wishes it was. Soak it down and let it set for a while, then start working it, things should start freeing up.