Alcohol

[Jeff Peters]

When putting you long rifle away for a while you wipe the bore down with a good oil to protect it.

What oils do you use?
What do you use to remove this oil before shooting?

I usually wipe with an alcohol patch followed by a dry patch.

Jeff

[roundball]

After cleaning & drying, I run a large, dripping sloppy wet WD40 patch up and down several times, and a couple minutes later dry patch it out...then run a patch "heavily" coated with Natural Lube 1000 up and down a few times...and stand the rifle muzzle-down in the cabinet.

Before a hunt or range trip I run a dry patch down and back up, then wrap it around a .22cal brush to slide all the way down into the patent breech and ensure there's nothing there...pipe cleaner through the vent, an alcohol wipe on the flint, pan, and frizzen, and load up.

If you use actual oil, you might need something like alcohol, but WD40 is so thin there's apparently nothing left to worry about after using it as I mentioned

[Harnic]

I too use good old WD-40.  I spray the bore liberally using the pump spray bottle that you get with the gallon bulk cans of WD, then set the barrel muzzle down on some scrap cardboard & leave it over night.  The WD sems to lift anything, including water that might be in the breech plug & it runs out the muzzle.  The next day I lightly coat a patch & wipe the bore several times.  If it's good & clean I put the gun together & hang it back on the display plaque in my office, if there's any colour on the patch I repeat the process.  I've never found rust in the bore using this technique, even over 6 months when I didn't shoot the flintlock last winter.

[Roger Fisher]

Define 'awhile'!!     Til the next weekend shoot, over several months??

Anyhow, after the bore is clean and dry I use ballistol sloppy on a patch in the bore but not in the lock, that holds her til the next shoot.  Prior to the first shot I simply run a dry patch thru her, then pop a couple caps or simply wipe the pan and it's surround if she  happens to be a flinter that day!

[Woodbutcher]

 Roger:
 Please tell me, why no ballistol on the lock?
                                                                        Woodbutcher

[Majorjoel]

If I know a rifle is going to sit around for a long period of time (many months), I give it a good swabbing with RIG grease. I also use rig in my antique guns that may never see black powder again.

[long carabine]

 I run a patch down the barrell sloppy with motor oil. I also spray the lock with rem oil. Tim

[Roger Fisher]

Roger:
 Please tell me, why no ballistol on the lock?
                                                                        Woodbutcher

My shooter does not sit too long without being used; but I'm told by shooters I know well that it jells after a while. Notice: I refer to IN THE LOCK! One shooter had trouble with the fly not working and after cleaning the lock of the jelled up ballistol and using other oil/oils problem kaput!!  I took it as a word to the wise and therefore do not use it in a gunlock...  Also, I need all the help I can get

[RichardW]

After cleaning, I run a patch wet with ClenzOil.
Before using, I run a moist patch with same, followed with dry patch.  I've never noticed any buildup with ClenzOil.

Richard

[T*O*F]

I'm told by shooters I know well that it jells after a while. Notice: I refer to IN THE LOCK! One shooter had trouble with the fly not working and after cleaning the lock of the jelled up ballistol and using other oil/oils problem

Ballistol is a mineral oil base.  One can easily reproduce the jelling by spraying a small puddle of it and licking the flame of a propane torch across it.  You'll end up with a pile of gummy worms.

Likewise with all this other junk guys put down their barrels.  If it says on the can that it contains petroleum distillates, that usually means kerosene or near derivative.  If left long enough for the volatiles to evaporate, it will leave behind varnish.  I don't give a hoot what you use and what you think did or didn't happen.  It's a scientific fact and it will happen.  You can't observe a micro-thin layer of varnish in your barrel, but it's there and will continue to build up over time if you keep using that stuff.

It just boggles my mind that people continue to do the same thing and deny the facts.  I guess ignorance truly is bliss.

[Mike R]

I just swab it good with tallow [lately Mink tallow from TOW]. My last cleaning step--after a good water scrub--is to use a leetle dab of LVL, then wipe dry, then swab with tallow.  Works for me and is pretty close [except the LVL] to what our ancestors did. 

[Woodbutcher]

 Thank you roger and TOF.  Woodbutcher

[Dphariss]

I'm told by shooters I know well that it jells after a while. Notice: I refer to IN THE LOCK! One shooter had trouble with the fly not working and after cleaning the lock of the jelled up ballistol and using other oil/oils problem

Ballistol is a mineral oil base.  One can easily reproduce the jelling by spraying a small puddle of it and licking the flame of a propane torch across it.  You'll end up with a pile of gummy worms.

Likewise with all this other junk guys put down their barrels.  If it says on the can that it contains petroleum distillates, that usually means kerosene or near derivative.  If left long enough for the volatiles to evaporate, it will leave behind varnish.  I don't give a hoot what you use and what you think did or didn't happen.  It's a scientific fact and it will happen.  You can't observe a micro-thin layer of varnish in your barrel, but it's there and will continue to build up over time if you keep using that stuff.

It just boggles my mind that people continue to do the same thing and deny the facts.  I guess ignorance truly is bliss.

LOTS of petroleum oils will gum in time. WD-40 forms a film but calling it a varnish is a stretch, this process will not form the "varnish" found on the inside of gasoline engine valve covers for example. Unless your gun parts are heated far enough to produce vaporization of the oils and then the products are somehow recondensed on the parts.
Grease maybe, varnish no.
Break Free CLP is designed to go on as a liquid and them form a grease film to enhance protection. For this reason I do not use it on any moving parts and I seldom use it at that. But it is *good* for long term storage.
I have used a product called G-96 Gun Treatment since the 1960s and I have NEVER seen the slightest indication that it has gummed anything up. Period.
It has petroleum distillates and silicone. It is also an EXCELLENT rust preventive.

Dan

[t.caster]

I apply a good coat of RIG inside & out, including the stock.

[Daryl]

I have been using WD40 for just about 25 years and haven't need any gumming or varnish.  Over time, if it is indeed building up, varnish would dull the surface if not anything else. This is not the case inside my barrels.
; I have a tin of G96 and may try that, but I use WD 40, in a pressurized spray down the 'dryed' tube 'till it runs out the vent, then distribute it up and down the bore with a patch blasting the excess WD40 and any residual water out the vent. I then wipe the gun down with Wd40 on that same patch that came out of the bore.  It is always spotless. In the future, I may or may not try further patching out the WD40 and using G96 as a preservative, depending on storage times.

 Engine parts rust underneath engine oil.

[Dphariss]

I have been using WD40 for just about 25 years and haven't need any gumming or varnish.  Over time, if it is indeed building up, varnish would dull the surface if not anything else. This is not the case inside my barrels.
; I have a tin of G96 and may try that, but I use WD 40, in a pressurized spray down the 'dryed' tube 'till it runs out the vent, then distribute it up and down the bore with a patch blasting the excess WD40 and any residual water out the vent. I then wipe the gun down with Wd40 on that same patch that came out of the bore.  It is always spotless. In the future, I may or may not try further patching out the WD40 and using G96 as a preservative, depending on storage times.

 Engine parts rust underneath engine oil.

The sulfur in petroleum motor oils can form sulfuric acid in the oil is any water is present. A true synthetic oil usually will not.
I use WD 40 to dry things (bores included) but not for protection. I used WD-40 on a Colt Commander years ago, far away in a wet climate and it rusted overnight indoors. Salvation Army gave it to me in a bag of stuff.

My mother wrote the company that then made G-66/96 (which I had been using at home) and Dri-Slide and they sent me stuff free. I still have a can of Dri-Slide in the shop that I use for things that need a dry lube, like the slide on my CC gun, though I have kinda switched to syn motor oil. Then I used it on the inside of the upper on my M-16. But I filled the bolt carrier with LSA so when i shot it the first time it was "wet". But the Dri-slide picked up no dirt in the meantime. Where I "worked" dust was often a problem too.
Everything has a use and there are a lot of different products out there most are pretty good. I understand that WD 40 changed to formula sometime in the 1970s. IIRC it used to have chlorinated solvents.
As I may have stated before synthetic motor oil would great on some firearms applications. ATF will help dissolve carbon in some "grey powder wonders".
I should be inletting a lock.
Dan

[omark]

i use pennz or quaker state. [parafin based]. when shooting next,i just run patches until dry and snap a cap or pan a couple times

[Daryl]

Dan- I have two plastic bottles with stoppers in the shop for 'lube' jobs. Once has ATF in it while the other is 100:1 Synthetic 2 stroke oil.  I find either much better lubes than most 'store-bought' gun lubes. The 2 stroke oil is by Amsoil, I think - been a long time - 8 ounces goes a long way. As the 2 stroke oil is ash-less when burned, it's good for any 'hot' applications.  It also takes big 'heat' to make it burn - hense 100:1 ratios.

[Paddlefoot]

To store over any period of time I like corrosion-x. You can get it at some gun/fishing oriented sporting goods stores now, but I buy it in bigger cans through Aircraft Spruce & Specialty. Alcohol or lighter fluid to wipe her out with.

[Woodbutcher]

 Daryl, 100 what to 1? What are you diluting the 2 stroke oil with?
                                           Thank you,   Woodbutcher

[Daryl]

100:1 - is the way/name the oil is marketed. Some 2 stroke oil is listed as 100:1, 50:1, 32:1 and so on. Some of these may be petrolium oils or may be petrolium/synthetic blends.  You do not want blends as yhou do not want petrolium oils in your bore or lock.  These #'s are the ratios for mixing with gasoline for use in their listed engines.  I use the 100:1 2stroke oil as it HAS to be 100% synthetic, can-not be a synthetic/petrolium blend. Amsoil 2 stroke oils are ALL 100% synthetic, even the 50:1 ratio mix as far as I know.  I prefer the 100:1 oil as it has a higher film strength than the other oils.   Due to it's higher film strength and higher flash point, it is not burned off as easily as petrolium oils. It is safe to trust Amsoil products - read the label.

  It takes only a very thin wipe of this oil for a lasting lube.  For inside locks, there is nothing better than Amsoil synthetic grease.  Applied to dry parts, it will stay there and is very resistant to wiping or washing off with water.  Once lubed, you can submerse the lock in water and scrub the pan, frizzen and cock with a toothbrush and the grease will not rinse off the innards. it stays and continues to lube and protect these parts. Their grease stays soft in temps that causes other greases to become solid like ice. Same goes for their gear-box oils and motor oils.  Their gear oil pours at -60F. Try that with a peotrolium gear oil, or motor oil for that matter.

[Woodbutcher]

 Thanks Daryl! Gonna get me some of that stuff! Woodbutcher