Kerosene?

[Colonial Boy]

My friend, a 50+ year gunsmith, says WD-40 leaves a layer of film which hardens into a tarnish, which gunks up the innards of any gun. He's glad many shooters use it, he says that and aluminum cleaning rods put his son thru college.

Go along with that on aluminium rods and plastic coated ones as well, they pick up abrasive particles and become files.
There’s a good reason why most militaries use steel rods and even these need a muzzle guide.

 

[Colonial Boy]

Another aside on women and gun cleaning.
We Army armourers washed gun parts in either kerosene or Range Fuel [a low grade of petrol] depending on which one Ordnance had available, both were not kind to hands and we would rub our hands with raw linseed oil.
Never knew an armourer with rough hands.
In fact, at a get together one night one of the wives said that a benefit of being an armourer’s wife was soft hands, this met with a murmur of agreement from the other women.

I’ve used it on my hands since my twenties and never had a callus even on the few occasions when I did hard manual work.

 

[D Yager]

Thanks for that, tried it an’ it works.
One of the joys of this forum is the tips on doing things.

Has anyone tried just gluing a shield to the hammer?

I don't think a glue would work all that well to hold the action shield in place. DeLand wants to rivet his in place and if it works more power to him. I have tons of experience with rivets and it's not my first choice. He has been spouting off about making a cut in the hammer to hold the shield and claims it weakens the hammer, not the case, It's not under tons of stress in that area. I take a lot of what he says with a huge grain of salt. My procedure is to first measure how deep the slot needs to go, about .150 inch. A 5/64 hole is drilled and the slot is cut down to the hole. The hole drilled acts as a stress relief and prevents any cracks from forming. This is a common practice in aviation sheet metal repairs and it works on laminated glass as well to stop cracks from running. The action shield itself has one end folded over to make a kind of roll pin. This is driven into the hole as a press fit. I fill any gaps with JB weld. The shield is then fitted to the frame and clearance made for the trigger to work without hanging up on the shield.

 

[Ed C.]

I don't think a glue would work all that well to hold the action shield in place. DeLand wants to rivet his in place and if it works more power to him. I have tons of experience with rivets and it's not my first choice. He has been spouting off about making a cut in the hammer to hold the shield and claims it weakens the hammer, not the case, It's not under tons of stress in that area. I take a lot of what he says with a huge grain of salt. My procedure is to first measure how deep the slot needs to go, about .150 inch. A 5/64 hole is drilled and the slot is cut down to the hole. The hole drilled acts as a stress relief and prevents any cracks from forming. This is a common practice in aviation sheet metal repairs and it works on laminated glass as well to stop cracks from running. The action shield itself has one end folded over to make a kind of roll pin. This is driven into the hole as a press fit. I fill any gaps with JB weld. The shield is then fitted to the frame and clearance made for the trigger to work without hanging up on the shield.

Good point on using a drilled hole to stop a running crack on something that needs soldering, brazing, or welding. I've used that trick many times. I was lazy in my shield installs and just cut a slot and soldered the shield in place on the 1851 Navy and Walker. I had some doubts about it holding up but so far so good. I didn't bother with shields on my Remingtons as they just don't give me any problems in that respect.

 

[KingOfKindling]

I really detest it when someone misquotes and in this case I have made it clear, the flash rust gets removed - you are making a mountain out of a molehill or trying to. In 10,000 years maybe its an issue.

Yeah, really don't know what I misquoted. Maybe you can actually explain what I did. I'm actually kind of flabbergasted this is an argument. We've got two different methods here. Yours - which according to you leaves rust on the gun. And then there is mine, which as far as I've been able to see, has never left any rust on my guns. If it did, I'd find something else.

I spent 30 years education and getting myself educated on air. You don't have a clue. Granted you are not unusual in your ignorance or your illusions. But then I started my air career on t he pipeline driving trucks they decided that they did not need tanner gas for. Pretty funny coming up on Joe rig in the road stuck because the relief vented and stuck open due to ice.

No one cares about qualifications on the internet, you could be anybody, and so could I.

Why exactly are you bringing up air brake systems? They have little in common with a residential/shop compressor. The largest air reservoirs are generally separate from the compressor, and often up hill so to speak. The ones right at the compressor are way too small to trap water, at least on the ones I've messed with. In our industry, we really only need the very old stuff, so I haven't played with modern systems.

Of course you'd want water mitigation systems in such a situation, the base engineering, mode of operation, and stakes call for it. It has nothing to do with blowing the water off a small gun part. If you want to keep this discussion going, how about we talk about residential air compressors instead of giant industrial ones, or air-brakes.

The answer to a BP pistol cleaning is per 45D, pack it with synthetic grease.

Don't know what this has to do with anything. Maybe it was just an incidental comment.

Seems more like a method to avoid cleaning, which I can get behind. Been waiting for an opportunity for a tub of the stuff to show up on my radar so I can try it. Tubes are everywhere, but a pain to deal with.

 

[KingOfKindling]

Thanks for that, tried it an’ it works.
One of the joys of this forum is the tips on doing things.

Has anyone tried just gluing a shield to the hammer?

I haven't tried making a shield yet, but I'm considering soldering something on without cutting or drilling anything just to see how it goes. Got some barrels on a double barrel gun to solder back together, and working out soldering steel on a hammer seems like a good place to start.

 

[Coinneach]

Another aside on women and gun cleaning.
We Army armourers washed gun parts in either kerosene or Range Fuel [a low grade of petrol] depending on which one Ordnance had available, both were not kind to hands and we would rub our hands with raw linseed oil.
Never knew an armourer with rough hands.
In fact, at a get together one night one of the wives said that a benefit of being an armourer’s wife was soft hands, this met with a murmur of agreement from the other women.

I’ve used it on my hands since my twenties and never had a callus even on the few occasions when I did hard manual work.

We must be the same vintage mate, I remember the old 200 ltr drums cut in half on 4 legged stand full of "range fuel"; we'd cycle through bathing our Company weapons including GPMG's, I used Sorbalene for my hands after cleaning sessions.

Started my Army career with 3RAR in the early 70's.

 

[Colonial Boy]

We must be the same vintage mate, I remember the old 200 ltr drums cut in half on 4 legged stand full of "range fuel"; we'd cycle through bathing our Company weapons including GPMG's, I used Sorbalene for my hands after cleaning sessions.

Started my Army career with 3RAR in the early 70's.

Bit of a youngster .
I was finishing my army and associated career in 1970, finished up as Machine Shop foreman [civilian, Honorary Sargent 2 Base Wksp RAEME]
Transferred from 3 RAR after the 1955 Christmas break and joined RAEME in Jan.1956 after 3 years in the battalion., but I’ve always been a 3RAR bloke at heart .

 

[Coinneach]

Bit of a youngster .
I was finishing my army and associated career in 1970, finished up as Machine Shop foreman [civilian, Honorary Sargent 2 Base Wksp RAEME]
Transferred from 3 RAR after the 1955 Christmas break and joined RAEME in Jan.1956 after 3 years in the battalion., but I’ve always been a 3RAR bloke at heart .

In 1955 I was a 3 year old boy !

Well met fellow "Old Faithful" !

 

[Colonial Boy]

I haven't tried making a shield yet, but I'm considering soldering something on without cutting or drilling anything just to see how it goes. Got some barrels on a double barrel gun to solder back together, and working out soldering steel on a hammer seems like a good place to start.

Tip, thoroughly tin all the surfaces that will be hidden or soldered together, this will not only make soldering together easier but will protect the surfaces from rust etc.

 

[Colonial Boy]

In 1955 I was a 3 year old boy !

Well met fellow "Old Faithful" !

Thanks,mate.
I think it was the late ‘’Specs’’ Raffen [longest serving member of 3RAR] who once said that once you joined the Regiment you were a member for life.

Edit. Sorry for the digression, got a bit carried away.

 

[Coinneach]

Thanks,mate.
I think it was the late ‘’Specs’’ Raffen [longest serving member of 3RAR] who once said that once you joined the Regiment you were a member for life.View attachment 380591View attachment 380592Edit. Sorry for the digression, got a bit carried away.

"once you joined the Regiment you were a member for life."

There's no doubt about it, all of the blokes from my era still have reunions and keep in touch via Facebook. Through my 37 years of service I kept getting offered appointments back in 3RAR, when they transitioned into the Airborne Para role I was posted to Para Training School RAAF Williamtown while our blokes were coming through to qual as paratroopers.
"Brothers from different Mothers" we still call ourselves.

 

[bpd303]

The same with the U.S.M.C. once a Marine, always a Marine.

 

[Ed C.]

Seems more like a method to avoid cleaning, which I can get behind. Been waiting for an opportunity for a tub of the stuff to show up on my radar so I can try it. Tubes are everywhere, but a pain to deal with.

Yes it is. Less cleaning=more shooting. You can get Mobil 1 synthetic grease in a tub. Get a good turkey baster set with the thin needles and you can inject the grease into the internals after shooting. This will push out the dirty grease and set up your next level of protection. Also, grease is a good lube for the bolt tails and cam on the hammer. About once a year take the revolver completely down. I shoot more knowing all I have to clean is the barrel, nipples, and cylinder.

 

[M. De Land]

Go along with that on aluminium rods and plastic coated ones as well, they pick up abrasive particles and become files.
There’s a good reason why most militaries use steel rods and even these need a muzzle guide.

True story, all most as bad on crown wear as fiber glass loading rods.

 

[M. De Land]

Thanks for that, tried it an’ it works.
One of the joys of this forum is the tips on doing things.

Has anyone tried just gluing a shield to the hammer?

I tried attaching one by sweating it on with force-44 low temp silver solder . It finally let go but was not a fair test as I had made the shield a bit to long and it was making contact with the bolt leg at hammer drop which was an impact on the joint on a shear angle which finally broke it loose. I believe I posted that it had failed, not working as I had hoped. I next did the rivet attachment and length adjustment of the shield and that has thus far proven to work most satisfactory.

 

[Richard$58]

A can of compressed air for removing dust from computers works great to remove the moisture from trigger areas.

I’ve settled on a funnel and boiling kettle. First degrease with brake cleaner. Then Dawn. Then boiling water with muzzle pressed into cloth at bucket bottom to slow the draining. The metal gets hot so dries quickly after. Then moisture repulsing spray into everything. People suggest long life auto antifreeze because it’s water based and has anti corrosion additives. Also I now wipe outer areas with Vaseline to prevent soot residue while firing.

 

[Richard$58]

True story, all most as bad on crown wear as fiber glass loading rods.

Aluminum oxidizes immediately in air. So a rod is coated with abrasive. An aluminum key will scratch glass.

 

[Richard$58]

Exactly and anything else it does is clearly incidental. When somebody tells me it's a superior lubricant and even cures warts & leprosy....I tend to back away.

Kevin

You can laugh but Google “uses for wd-40”, it gets weird fast. The arthritic knee stuff is supported by test. The solvents get past skin and have some anti inflammatory properties but supposed are overall toxic.

 

[KingOfKindling]

Tip, thoroughly tin all the surfaces that will be hidden or soldered together, this will not only make soldering together easier but will protect the surfaces from rust etc.

That is a very good tip. I had already planned on tinning all the mating surfaces before hand. Didn't think about doing everything that would be hidden.