wd-40 on your guns?

[jeepman77cj5]

Anybody ever used/currently use Tri-flow? I know that was all that was used by my father and grandfather on all the family guns. I've got a few of those now, and not a single one has ever developed any rust. I can't remember the last time I've seen it on a shelf somewhere though, so lately I've been using RemOil with good results.

Honestly, I've never thought about googlin' it until now, and their webpage seems to be gears towards bicycles....seems I'll be stopping at one of the local bike shops tomorrow and see if they carry it.

 

[chipp]

alcohol.

I'm curiuos if anyone knows a reason to not use Isopropyl alchohol to displace moisture. Its available at drug store to 90%

I worked in a Chemical lab years aggo, We used alchohol to clean glassware
after water before solvent or after solvent before water. Although it maynot remove some solvents. As far as i know it will remove water.

whenever I want to get rid of moisture I use alchohol. Don't rmember If I ever used it on a gun though.

 

[Dr. Dickie]

I'm curiuos if anyone knows a reason to not use Isopropyl alchohol to displace moisture. Its available at drug store to 90%

I use IPA (isopropyl alcohol) to strip off oil before re-bluing. Isopropyl is not a great moisture remover, ethanol is a better desiccant. As to why: first ethanol is a desiccant because it can bind so well with the water (hydrogen bonding in the reason there is life on Earth), isopropyl is a bit more hydrophilic so better for oil.
Real reason not to use it, or acetone (acetone is worse) is that they evaporate too fast. With rapid evaporation, you get removal of heat (without going into details, things evaporate by taking in available heat to reach necessary temperature to go into gas phase) this cools the metal. In fact, cools it so much that moisture in the air then condenses on the surface. So while trying to remove water, you strip the oil and then coat the surface with water (the worse possible thing to do. Also, as you note, it is 90%, the other 10% is water!:banghead:
Geek mode off.

 

[chipp]

Thanks

Thanks Dr. dickie

 

[BADUNAME13]

Use it or silicon spray to clean, GREASE to lube.

 

[SamTuckerMTNMAN]

WD-40 is good for what it does. As you noted, displaces water. It is terrible as a lubricant.
I use it to remove the ATF

rad. how exactly do you do that? Kudos anyway!

 

[GeorgiaGlocker]

I would never use WD-40 on my firearms.

 

[SWModel19]

I used to as a kid (after all, the can says right on it to use if for firearms). But .22 is dirty enough, and the WD-40 only gums it up worse. When I was old enough to start buying my own, and shooting larger than .22, I asked the guy at the gunshop about cleaning. That was when I learned WHY my .22s always gummed up. I haven't used it since.

 

[Horsesense]

I have used alcohol after giving gun parts the hot water and soap treatment, with no problem. I use a hair dryer afterwards and end up with a clean dry piece.

If you want to fight rust, use a modern car polish an all non friction surfaces, and buff with a soft cotton rag, including the inside and outside of your mags, you will be amazed.


If you clean your gun in the bath tub, I'm guessing that your a single man?

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I sprayed some WD40 in a tin cup back in december.
It was runny like thin oil. As the solvent evaporated,
the remaining oil was thicker and slow. Last week I
checked it and it was slow as cold syrup.

WD40 is a solvent and a protectant designed as a
water displacement formula for electrical contacts,
etc. It is a cleaner and in a thin external coat a
good cheap available protectant. It is not a lubricating
oil and if sprayed where you cannot wipe it off and
leave only a thin film, it will gum up big time. And the
only thing you can count on to dissolve WD40 gunk
is fresh WD40.