Used WD-40 since I was 10yrs old on CF and BP weapons. Hunting from -10 up to 90's. NEVER an issue, NEVER any rust. ARID here though. Works wonders for some, cant be trusted by others (kinda like everything else in the world? :youcrazy: )
WD-40 Issues
- Thread starter rodwha
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This is a general reply - not intended for any one person :v .
I was born & raised in NJ hunted and competed in the rain, snow, hot, cold, shotgun, pistol, rifle modern & muzzleloader. I always cleaned my guns after use with a good bore solvent mostly Hoppe's #9 for modern and water for the black powder group. I swabbed the bore with WD-40 then ran a LIGHTLY oiled patch down the bore :wink: . The outside was wiped down with a cotton cloth that I sprayed LIGHTLY with WD-40. My company transferred me to CA in 1998 (YUCK) and now I just target shoot except when I hunted in AZ for wild boar a year ago (did shoot a 250 lb one) :hatsoff: . I use the same cleaning and lube regiment as I did in NJ even though the climates are vastly different :hmm: . I never had an issue with rust on any of my firearms. Bottom line is use a good cleaning regiment, oil and lube with a quality product before you put up your firearm double check in a few days if you live in a hostile environment and be happy because some day when you die your family will sell all of those nice guns for cheap :thumbsup:
I was born & raised in NJ hunted and competed in the rain, snow, hot, cold, shotgun, pistol, rifle modern & muzzleloader. I always cleaned my guns after use with a good bore solvent mostly Hoppe's #9 for modern and water for the black powder group. I swabbed the bore with WD-40 then ran a LIGHTLY oiled patch down the bore :wink: . The outside was wiped down with a cotton cloth that I sprayed LIGHTLY with WD-40. My company transferred me to CA in 1998 (YUCK) and now I just target shoot except when I hunted in AZ for wild boar a year ago (did shoot a 250 lb one) :hatsoff: . I use the same cleaning and lube regiment as I did in NJ even though the climates are vastly different :hmm: . I never had an issue with rust on any of my firearms. Bottom line is use a good cleaning regiment, oil and lube with a quality product before you put up your firearm double check in a few days if you live in a hostile environment and be happy because some day when you die your family will sell all of those nice guns for cheap :thumbsup:
I'm one that has never had a problem, I tend to think it they had enough to gum up the works, they were using it heavy. I just spray a little down the bore and mop it after. Sometimes I would wipe a thin coat on the barrel.
With modern guns..., don't know if it was "mixed" with other lubricants in the action and "reacted" but found that WD-40 gummed up the internals on a pair of SxS shotguns something fierce. They had been treated and stored for about 6 months. YES I know, if they had asked me I'd have told them to use Barricade (well it was called Sheath back then).
The worst was a modern revolver stored for 25 years after being doused with 3-n-1 oil....it hardened...but that's not what you asked about.
Have not had a recent problem. I use both WD-40 and Balistol.
LD
smoothshooter
50 Cal.
I use 70/30 isopropyl alcohol a lot for cleaning.
Yes, it does have water in it, but the water seems to give the alcohol part a little longer " dwell time ", so everything doesn't evaporate too soon.
When the last of the alcohol part evaporates 2 to 3 minutes later, it takes the last of the water with it. Or so it seems. Then I follow up with some kind of oil.
The more I use Ballistol, the better I like it.
Hoppe's #9, Break-Free, Ballistol, and 70/30 Isopropyl Alcohol are all I have used on all my guns, modern to muzzleloaders, for many years. Have seen no reason to change.
Yes, it does have water in it, but the water seems to give the alcohol part a little longer " dwell time ", so everything doesn't evaporate too soon.
When the last of the alcohol part evaporates 2 to 3 minutes later, it takes the last of the water with it. Or so it seems. Then I follow up with some kind of oil.
The more I use Ballistol, the better I like it.
Hoppe's #9, Break-Free, Ballistol, and 70/30 Isopropyl Alcohol are all I have used on all my guns, modern to muzzleloaders, for many years. Have seen no reason to change.
I use a lot of WD-40, it is great stuff, don’t know what I would do without it.
I don’t use it as a lube or rust a preventative
Although if it is a weapon that I use daily or weekly I would not worry about it where I live.
For fun.
I buy, sell, trade.. metal lathes, milling machines, metal working shapers and the like.
To say that they can be grubby, grimy, mucky, dirty. Caked hard and thick can be an understatement.
I hose them with WD-40 first.
For fun.
I buy, sell, trade”¦. Firearms, they too can be all of the above.
The ones with caked on crud and sludge get hosed with WD-40 first
The ones that the old oil has turned into varnish get hosed with WD-40 first.
Not for fun.
In Viêt Nam,
WD-40 Washed the crud out my weapon.
WD-40 and duct tape kept the choppers in the air.
Used WD-40 on some radio equipment too, work good ”¦.mostly.
William Alexander
I don’t use it as a lube or rust a preventative
Although if it is a weapon that I use daily or weekly I would not worry about it where I live.
For fun.
I buy, sell, trade.. metal lathes, milling machines, metal working shapers and the like.
To say that they can be grubby, grimy, mucky, dirty. Caked hard and thick can be an understatement.
I hose them with WD-40 first.
For fun.
I buy, sell, trade”¦. Firearms, they too can be all of the above.
The ones with caked on crud and sludge get hosed with WD-40 first
The ones that the old oil has turned into varnish get hosed with WD-40 first.
Not for fun.
In Viêt Nam,
WD-40 Washed the crud out my weapon.
WD-40 and duct tape kept the choppers in the air.
Used WD-40 on some radio equipment too, work good ”¦.mostly.
William Alexander
Thank you for your service :hatsoff:
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I use W-D by the gallon as well for glass installation in rubber gaskets but only for removing water in gun applications.
It will remove bluing over time as it slowly dissolves it.
It will remove bluing over time as it slowly dissolves it.
"Not for fun.
In Viêt Nam,
WD-40 Washed the crud out my weapon.
WD-40 and duct tape kept the choppers in the air.
Used WD-40 on some radio equipment too, work good ”¦.mostly."
William Alexander
Same here.
Maybe it was because I was only 19 and didn't know any better, but I'm now 71 and have always had a can of it somewhere around my house ever since.
In Viêt Nam,
WD-40 Washed the crud out my weapon.
WD-40 and duct tape kept the choppers in the air.
Used WD-40 on some radio equipment too, work good ”¦.mostly."
William Alexander
Same here.
Maybe it was because I was only 19 and didn't know any better, but I'm now 71 and have always had a can of it somewhere around my house ever since.
Thank you both for your service.
I used to use it to WD-40 after cleaning, then wipe with a dry patch, then oil. Now I just dry then repeat a couple of dry patches, followed by oiling. The only place I use it now is a quick spray around The bridle/sear/tumbler assembly. I’ve not had a gumming issue.
I used to use it to WD-40 after cleaning, then wipe with a dry patch, then oil. Now I just dry then repeat a couple of dry patches, followed by oiling. The only place I use it now is a quick spray around The bridle/sear/tumbler assembly. I’ve not had a gumming issue.
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I've had quite a few people bring guns to me that were gummed/jammed up from using WD 40. However, most of the time it was because the people had used too much of it and had not wiped it fairly dry afterwards.
On more than one occasion I've heard people recommend to spray it into an action or inside a lock or barrel until it runs/flows out and left it that way. Tried to warn them whenever I heard it, but some folks just would not listen.
One fellow gummed up his action with WD 40, I cleaned and correctly oiled it and warned him about it. Two months later he brought the same gun back and it was gummed up again. Yep, he went back to using WD 40 after being warned. Don't know if he went back to using WD 40 again as I was transferred across country a couple weeks later.
Gus
On more than one occasion I've heard people recommend to spray it into an action or inside a lock or barrel until it runs/flows out and left it that way. Tried to warn them whenever I heard it, but some folks just would not listen.
One fellow gummed up his action with WD 40, I cleaned and correctly oiled it and warned him about it. Two months later he brought the same gun back and it was gummed up again. Yep, he went back to using WD 40 after being warned. Don't know if he went back to using WD 40 again as I was transferred across country a couple weeks later.
Gus
:metoo:
Colorado Clyde said:
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Snakebite
45 Cal.
Before my first tour in Germany in the Army in 1984, I left my guns with my father in Victoria Texas, (hot and humid). I wiped everything down with WD-40 inside and out and 3 years later they were just like I left them. WD-40 has always worked for me with no problems.
"It" meaning WD-40
But, then neither was DNA, transmission fluid, Windex, Deft, Murphy's oil soap, water soluable oil. Or even bear oil, whale oil, peanut or olive oil. Please tell me sumptin that was specifically designed for ml use. Oh! Wait, I know. Bore Butter in a yellow plastic tube. That's just what the original mountain men used. :wink: :rotf:
jrmflintlock
45 Cal.
Artificer, How did you clean it out? I have a Cap and ball revolver that was soaked in WD-40 as you said, sprayed until it oozed out from everywhere and then just superficially wiped down and put away. No Rust that I can see, but the action is frozen up pretty tight.
Is there a way to clean it without totally disassembling it?
Is there a way to clean it without totally disassembling it?
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jrmflintlock said:
First, Jimbo is right that you have to take the stocks off.
I don't know if dish soap and hot water would do the trick, though. I'm not saying it won't, I just don't know. Also, unless the water is VERY Hot, it may/probably would cause rusting inside the frame. So you will have to oil the parts separately anyway.
What I recommend is careful disassembly, then cleaning the parts with the Green Military "All Purpose Brush" that looks like a Toothbrush and either Acetone or Lacquer Thinner when the Acetone doesn't work well. Then immediately drop them in some good oil, take them out and put them on a few layers of folded paper towels - in order you took the parts out. Then when the parts and frame are cleaned of the gummed up material oil the frame too. Then wipe excess oil off and re-assemble.
If you have never disassembled that type of frame, there may or even probably is something on the Web or on YouTube that will show you how to do it and for free.
You will have to get screwdrivers to fit the screw slots, if you don't have them.
Gus
robinsroost
50 Cal.
It dosen't add anything to this argument, but WD-40 sprayed on a plastic worm adds to the attraction to the local Bass population. robin 
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