I tried WD40 for cleaning.I had already cleaned all the blackpowder out of the barrel. When I run a patch down, it come out clean.I poured WD40 down the barrel with a toothpick stuck in the touchhole. Let it set the first time for about 1 hour. When I poured it out and run a patch down this reddish stuff was on the patch. I figured it was old preservitive from the factory. Any way I kept running patches till it come out fairly clean, I did this twice, and both times the same thing on the patch. Finally, I poured it down the barrel and let it set overnight. The next mourning, I run patches and they were finally clean. Anybody had this experiance or tried the WD40 cleaning method? I have always wondered if WD40 would be a good cleaner. Any comments or thoughts appreciated.
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WD40 cleaner
- Thread starter bigmike
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WD-40 is good for water displacement, it will get the water out of the bore after you get the bore clean, but I would'nt trust it as a long term persevative, others do and have no problems. You will find all sorts of opinions on it, I use CLP to prevent rust.
WD-40 can be a bad thing on any gun. As stated it is for water displacement over time it will dry out and build up. I have seen this on many modern guns. I clean with warm water/soap then use a good gun oil to protect the bore. Just my $.02 worth.
Gray Fox01
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A gunsmith friend of mine said he always got a ton of business the first week of dove season from all the guys who at the end of the last season sprayed down their auto shotguns with WD-40 and then left them in the safe or closet until the next year. He said it was just like they had used spray varnish on them
He had to pull all the wood off, then soak the entire gun in a solvent tank so that the could then to a detailed breakdown, clean and relube them. Now, how this applies to a ML rifle I'm not sure. GF
He had to pull all the wood off, then soak the entire gun in a solvent tank so that the could then to a detailed breakdown, clean and relube them. Now, how this applies to a ML rifle I'm not sure. GF
matt denison
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bigmike said:
WD40 = $28.00 per gallon
water = free per gallon, use as much as you want, works great.
Gray Fox01 said:
Any lubricant that is applied too liberal and then left set for an entire year is bound to gum things up especially in an auto. I've used WD40 for allot of years but I only use a small amount and it does dry. Large amounts attract attract dust/dirt which make things worse. I've never used WD40 to clean my MLs but did use it allot of years before putting them away as the final lubricant for storage. I did however use it to clean in my smokeless guns as they were not that dirty to start with.
I am not leaving it in the barrel for days, just overnight to dissolve any gunk or factory preservative. I wiped all of it out, and coated in in 3-in-one oil.I was just wondering how you people thought of it as an overnight solvent. It seemed to work good for me.
I couldn't leave it overnight like that. As soon as I stop shooting I make a bee line to the house to clean imediatly.
Personaly I do not consider it a cleaner. With warm soap/water I have my gun clean in about 10 minutes. I have also used other products that have been designed for cleaning but I always go back to soap/water then oil the bore. If it works for you keep with it.
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Im with laffindog on this one. Water,dry then bear oil. Been working for several hundred yrs :thumbsup:
i use WD-40 but not as a cleaner. for cleaning i use denatured alchohol and it works great. after cleaning with alchohol i apply a layer of WD-40 and have had zero rust problems.
when it comes time for shooting i clean as much of the WD-40 out as i can with the denatured alchohol.
when it comes time for shooting i clean as much of the WD-40 out as i can with the denatured alchohol.
bigmike said:
It is a petroleum solvent. It is not a BP fouling solvent.
If you get it on the wood in any quantity it will oil soak the wood and will likely soften or dissolve natural stock finishes.
There are a nooks and crannies in MLs, even the ones that are carefully breeched, that running a patch up and down the bore will not touch.
Once you soak BP fouling with petroleum then load and shoot it it will begin to take on the characteristics of black concrete.
So its better to wash to fouling out. Water will wash it perfectly clean from hidden areas if enough water is used and its turbulent as it is in a hooked breech cleaned in a bucket by pumping water through the bore with patch in the bore.
Or a plain breech gun has the vent plugged or nipple sealed and water sloshed in the bore by up ending the gun with the muzzle sealed with 4-5 inches perhaps a little more water in the bore.
Wash away most of the fouling, wipe with wet patches until clean.
Then you can dry it and oil it.
If you shoot corrosive substitute powders then soak overnight even with WD-40 it may do more harm than good.
There is a reason why even the commercial BP solvents are 90% or more water. It works best.
BP fouling is amazingly easy to get from a bore.
In a BPCR two wet patches and two-three dry ones will clean the bore and dry it if not leaded. WD 40 will not do this.
This is why its best to WASH all the fouling out. One of the things the makes a non-hooked breech harder to clean is pushing fouling into the breech with the first patch. If water is sloshed and dumped 2-3 times a great deal of the fouling will be washed away before a patch is pushed down.
Dan
bigmike said:
For oil denatured alcohol would have been easier.
If the barrel was hot tank blued the black/brown manure that comes out is RUST from the bluing process, its not some oil or grease preservative.
The best way to get rid of this is JB Bore Compound or the slightly more aggressive JB Polish they also sell. If this is used the patches will come out REALLY ugly if the barrel is blued internally. But it will take a long time to get it all out so polish it for awhile, till it gets boring, then shoot the gun.
Removing a grease or oil is "degreasing".
Cleaning on a BP sight suggests removal of powder fouling.
Dan
laffindog said:
Home fuel oil = $2.00 per gallon.
WD-40 is basically aerosol fuel oil. We use it in the winter to spray into diesel engine intakes for easier starting - the propellant and the thinner oil help get things popping.
I have heard 'stories' like that for many years. To all of them I say, "bull butter". I have been using WD-40 for 40+ years and have never seen this happen. I use on guns and tools. I have tested just to try to get this effect and nothing happens. It simply does not 'varnish' up metal. I had a gunshop and did a lot of trades and repairs. I have seen 'varnished' and gunked up guns but it was always caused by other products. Test it yerself, spray on an old, unused, tool and set aside. Nothing will happen. Nothing, nada, zip.
My experience mirrors Rifleman1776's, although I haven't 40 yrs. experience with it (more like 20). Here's a chemical analysis of it: http://www.wd40.com/files/pdf/msds-wd453764182.pdf
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