Teflon in gun bore?

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1911ShooterTJ

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Does anyone know anything about the possibilites of cleaning products such as Rem-Oil and BreakFree CLP (both of which contain teflon) in damaging a gun's bore? :confused:

I have heard a few things, but a post search and Google search came up with very little information.

I usually clean my guns with a CLP product, usually Rem-Oil, and was curious if it is potentially harmful for the gun.

Thanks!
Tristan
 
There was a company advertising for a while that was electropolishing bores to remove toolmarks and make them smoother. They stated that the coating left by certain products (IIRC "Tetra Gun" was one) interfered with their process.

That's the only thing I've heard, other than firing a round with too much oil or grease left in the bore.
 
Layman's response:

AFAIK, Teflon is almost completely inert and doesn't stick to anything (except pots and pans, but that's done by magic), so I can't concieve of HOW it could damage your gun.

I can hear the anti's now:
fictional anti-gun newspaper said:
With it's teflon-coated barrel, this extremely deadly gun is capable of propelling a bullet faster than the speed of sound, fast enough to shoot a 747 airliner in the engine from a mile away, even if the plane is flying away from the shooter at top speed! We asked some folks what they thought of teflon-coated gun barrels:

"I can't believe that stores would even sell these teflon bullet lubricants! Teflon belongs in non-stick cookware or not at all! Actually, Teflon should be banned! I'll start cooking with butter if it gets these guns and the evil and dangerous spray lubricants off the streets!"

"Teflon in a gun? What, are they not powerful and deadly enough yet? I can't see why you would need a teflon gun barrel to hunt deer!"

"What about the children? How many more children will die each year if every gun had teflon in it?"

"With bullets going faster, won't police and innocent bystanders have less time to duck?"

Dispite public outrage, the pro-baby-killing lobby NRA has failed to comment on this issue.
Click to expand...
 
Well teflon as a lubricant in gun cleaning products is ineffective I think. I'd heard that the heat from shooting breaks down the teflon and the gasses may be caustic and damage the barrel. I also heard it hasn't been a component of breakfree for quite some time.

personally I wouldn't worry about it, but clp is a better corrosion inhibitor than remoil anyway so that'd be my choice to run down the bore.
 
If you teflon-line the barrel, it means that once the gun gets hot, you can scramble eggs (without them sticking) by passing them down the bore.

:neener:
 
Teflon in gun bores.......

Hehe, since teflon melts in the 300-350 degree C range, which is 570-660 deg F. I'd suggest that after the first round down the bbl, it'd be all gone. Far more danger from the physcial volume if you left it in the barrel. The thermal breakdown products are fairly toxic, but the amount from what might be left in a gun barrel are pretty miniscule, so I don't forsee anybody dying from organo-fluoride poisoning at their local gun range. And, the physical action of a bullet in a barrel would pretty much remove the teflon as well. Try scraping your wife's non-stick teflon skillet with a fork. it won't be the teflon that'll get ya from that, I guarantee ya!!! Sounds like more hoop-la from the cheap seats to me.
-HowardC
 
10 times as toxic as phosgene

Teflon is a solid, the formulations usually have a small particle size but it's still a solid and can cause wear in tight fitting areas. Slick 50 was shown to damage engines in tests, I'm not sure who ran them but it was sometime in the 90s.

http://www.fluoridealert.org/pesticides/teflon.decomposition.prod.htm

Overheating of PTFE generates fumes of highly toxic PFIB and poses a serious health hazard to the human respiratory tract. PFIB is approximately ten times as toxic as phosgene [2]. Inhalation of this gas can cause pulmonary edema, which can lead to death. PFIB is included in Schedule 2 of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), as a result of the prompting by one delegation to the Conference on Disarmament [3]. The aim of the inclusion of chemicals, such as PFIB was to cover those chemicals, which would pose a high risk to the CWC. Subsequently PFIB, specifically, was included in the final text of the CWC.
 
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You're right , and electronics that have wires insulated with teflon can be a hazard if there is a fire in thos eitems.
 
Not enough fluorocarbons there to be toxic, but I WOULD be worried about corrosion promotion. Fluorine is one of the most reactive elements in nature, and fluorine and some fluorides will etch glass (which I'd say is fairly corrosion resistant)...
 
OMG. Sorry, don't mean to be offensive, but this is just silly. Teflon will not "hurt" the bore of your gun. CLP (which contains Teflon) has been a recommended product for use in military weapons (M-16) since the Vietnam era.

Use any Teflon product that is made by a recognized maker of gun care products with total ease of mind.

K
 
BenEzra said,
Not enough fluorocarbons there to be toxic, but I WOULD be worried about corrosion promotion. Fluorine is one of the most reactive elements in nature, and fluorine and some fluorides will etch glass (which I'd say is fairly corrosion resistant)..
Click to expand...

And you sprinkle salt on the food you eat, which is sodium, a highly reactive element that almost explodes on contact with water, and chlorine, also a highly reactive and toxic element. Basic chemistry: you can't extrapolate the properties of elements to the compounds that contain them. I have two Gortex patches in my abdomen (hernia repairs). Gortex is also a fluorine containing compound.

K
 
Rem oil is probably fine for moving parts I'd just keep it out of the bore. Without severe testing it's hard to condem any lubricant.
 
And you sprinkle salt on the food you eat, which is sodium, a highly reactive element that almost explodes on contact with water, and chlorine, also a highly reactive and toxic element. Basic chemistry: you can't extrapolate the properties of elements to the compounds that contain them. I have two Gortex patches in my abdomen (hernia repairs). Gortex is also a fluorine containing compound.
Click to expand...
I'm aware that polytetrafluoroethylene and many other fluorine containing compounds are very inert (though sodium fluoride isn't particularly so). My concern is that under the conditions in the throat area of a rifle being fired--in excess of 1000 degrees Fahrenheit and 50,000 lb/in^2--that PTFE could decompose into much more reactive compounds that could attack steel. I know that frying pan coatings decompose at temperatures well below 1000 degrees, and that some of the gaseous decomposition products are highly reactive. And since the initial combustion products of gunpowder include some highly reducing reactants (hydrogen and carbon monoxide come to mind), there is the potential for some interesting and potentially corrosive fluorine compounds to be generated in the mix at those temperatures.
 
ben

Good points. However, we are talking about really miniscule amounts of PTFE that would be on the surface of the bore. But, I think the main thing to discount this concern is the real world long-term use of PTFE containing lubes and CLP-type products. I'm not aware of any issues of this type ever being reported.

K
 
You can't be too careful. Chemicals can do funny things. Oxygen dihydride is present in almost every home and hundreds of people die from its misapplication every year.
 
STW: Strange you should mention it...

...oxygen dihydride, and its sister compound, dihydrogen monoxide have been around for centuries. Splitting the dihydride from the monoxide is a difficult chemical problem. Together, they have been both a boon in moderate amounts and a bane in larger amounts. As you noted, Many deaths occur each year from these compounds, yet they continue to be used in almost every facet of our lives. There are organizations promoting the dangers of these materials.

More information can be found at: http://www.dhmo.org
It's time the public really knew the true facts concerning these dangerous chemicals.
-HowardC
 
I keep seeing people saying clp has teflon. Does anyone have any proof that modern clp still has teflon? I heard its been out of CLP for quite a number of years now.
 
I always put teflon in the barrel of my gun before going on my covert tactical missions. The teflon, along with my dark ops knife and 1911 with laser and surefire 462 lumen fashlight is mission essential equipment.
Click to expand...

Good for you:scrutiny:
 
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