The Definitive Rust Prevention/Bore Oil/Lock Oil/Stock Wax Thread

[Bob McBride]

Spending the day perusing the search function (lazy, rainy day) I found myself looking through dozens of pages of rust prevention, bore oil, and exterior oil and stock wax advice and suggestions. What I did find was usually in a thread that peters out in a single page, but most of which is scattered and fractured. I know that no consensus is to be had, but I'd really like to hear perhaps a bit more than your favorite rust prevention/oil/wax regimen but also the path you took to get there and why you settled on what you did and how it compares to what you used to use. I mainly use Ballistol for cleaning and bear grease for rust prevention, RIG for under the barrel, and gun oil and grease in the lock mechanisms but perhaps with enough posts in a single thread there will be something to be learned by our posterity looking for some knowledge but without all day to look.....

[MuskratMike]

Well you are probably going to get multiple responses and all will be different with each swearing their's is the best. In the 1970's it was clean with hot water, rinse with hot water, let barrel dry and swab with Hoppe's gun oil.
Now days it isn't all that different. I always remove the lock and plug the vent hole with a wood toothpick. I run water on the inside and outside of the lock scrubbing with an old toothbrush. Set lock out in the sun to dry, if it's a rainy day I towel dry the lock and blow any remaining water out with a compressor or one of my wife's "canned air". After the lock is dry I usually spray the lock works with WD40, wipe down and apply a little gun oil on the moving parts.
As to the barrel I fill it with cool water, let sit for a minute or so pull the toothpick while I have the barrel inverted in a sink and let it drain. I attach a nylon bore brush to a range rod and scrub the barrel (mostly at the breech area). I then attach a breech scraper to the range rod and scrape the breech. Repeat the barrel flush generally two more times. Wipe bore with a damp patch followed by as many dry patches as necessary to achieve a clean bore (3-5 patches). Once the bore is clean and dry I run a patch soaked in WD40 up and down the barrel. After a couple of hours (with the barrel pointed downward) I run 1 dry patch down followed by a patch with gun oil or if I think it is going to sit for a long time 1 patch coated in patch lube.
I never remove the barrels from my rifles (I hope my buddy Bob McBride will show how to remove the barrel from a Kibler SMR in a video soon).
Every other cleaning I wipe the entire rifle down after the cleaning process (wood and metal) with a pure lemon oil and beeswax solution, let dry and rub down with a towel.
There you go Bob. Long answer to a short question but I do believe I covered it all.
"Muskrat" Mike

[flinchrocket]

I use Dragon Wax on the outside of the barrel. For long term its RIG in the bore, it's all I have used for 40 years. Grease on the bottom of your barrel will soften the wood.

[Bob McBride]

Grease on the bottom of your barrel will soften the wood.

See, already something that never occurred to me.

[bob in the woods]

I use bear oil on the lock internals , as well as in the barrel. My barrel channels and stocks are finished with shellac and then oil varnish, or , on some I have used heat and pure beeswax to finish the complete stock.
The beeswax will completely permeate the fore end so exterior and interior are protected.  The bottom of the barrels get a coating of bear oil / beeswax mixture.   That is also what I use to buff the stocks with.

[Frank]

I use a mixture of Ballistol and water 50/50 to clean the barrel. Takes about 4 or 5 patches. Then squirt some WD 40 down the barrel and follow up with a dry patch. WD 40 is forced out the touch hole. Done. Follow up the next day with a WD 40 patch. Put the lock under the faucet with running hot water and a toothbrush. Dry off with a paper towel . Remaining water evaporates due to the heat. Spray lock down with WD 40. Done. Add a couple drops of oil to moving parts. Use Chamber oil for all my stocks and never needed anything else. Been doing this since the mid 70s, except for the Chambers oil finish. Never any rust or any problems of any kind.

[alacran]

I do not understand why so many of you feel the need to clean the inside of your flintlock. I suppose you all must have locks that do not fit up tight against the barrel. I remove the lock from the stock and clean all external parts with my cleaning solution, followed with 90% rubbing alcohol then dried. Oiled with whatever oil I happen to have at the time. I prefer barricade but I can't always find it.
As far as the internals go. I never have any powder residue or any kind of dirt there. I lightly oil the internals. Periodically I take a q tip to remove the old Lubriplate from the friction points and replace with fresh Lubriplate.

[Marcruger]

Hello all, 

No need to post opinions on lubes and corrosion protection products.   

A HUGE scientific test was done back in 2014 on lubes, and I would highly suggest everyone going and looking at it.  Side by side, long-term testing outdoors on steel.  Lubrication and corrosion protection were tested.  This is sort of like a Consumer Reports test.  Or Pletch's priming powder testing with high speed cameras.   

Who else here is going to go to the trouble to test this many lubes over this long of a time period?   

Google "Alaska Shooting Forums" and "Results of gun care product evaluation".  It will take you to it. 

Many "favorites" didn't come out very well, like Ballistol.  A note is that Frog Lube was found to get gummy over time.  The One Shot is good, but is expensive, comes in a tiny amount, and isn't really an oil. 

Well worth your time to go look and read it. 

God Bless,   Marc

[Marcruger]

https://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/forum/alaska-shooting-forums/alaska-shooting/139238-results-of-gun-care-product-evaluation

This is the link to the lubricant test mentioned above.  If likes aren't allowed, please delete moderators.  Googling the terms above will get you there. 

[WadePatton]

Thanks for the info Marc, but of course you know we of this ilk will remain divided as some will only entertain his/her notions of what is PC or not, whilst others will use whatever modern concoctions they prefer because it all looks the same in pictures more or less.

[Clark Badgett]

https://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/forum/alaska-shooting-forums/alaska-shooting/139238-results-of-gun-care-product-evaluation

This is the link to the lubricant test mentioned above.  If likes aren't allowed, please delete moderators.  Googling the terms above will get you there.

I got a nice chuckle from that test. The product that did best on the test has the most recorded misfires within other shooting disciplines. Labs and real world often get completely different results.

[Tilefish]

Has anyone tried WD40 specialist corrosion inhibitor. It is suppose to be better than regular WD40. Can't say I have really had any problems with the original.

[Daryl]

I haven 't tried that one, Chad. I use the regular and with our average humidity at 50%, WD40 works for me & did when
I lived in Smithers, too - 230 miles closer to the ocean. I think the average there is still low 50's.
I also think it is important that there not be a great deal of WD40 left in the bore and breach area.
 I also store my ML guns, muzzle down, so there is no chance for pooling or as some have said, the formation of a shelac-sort-of coating
after it dries. Nothing but the thinnest coating. My guns do not rust from one cleaning to the next time it's shot and cleaned. I do not have
to re-clean it as some say, 1 or more days after cleaning after shooting. There is no need for that, for me.

[Molly]

Looks like that age old much discussed question is finally put to rest and we'll never again discuss it!

But while on the subject let me just add we have the WD40 long term corrosion inhibitor product as our #1.  Expensive at about $22 for a small can and smells odd but it's not a lingering odor.

[Tilefish]

I haven 't tried that one, Chad. I use the regular and with our average humidity at 50%, WD40 works for me & did when
I lived in Smithers, too - 230 miles closer to the ocean. I think the average there is still low 50's.
I also think it is important that there not be a great deal of WD40 left in the bore and breach area.
 I also store my ML guns, muzzle down, so there is no chance for pooling or as some have said, the formation of a shelac-sort-of coating
after it dries. Nothing but the thinnest coating. My guns do not rust from one cleaning to the next time it's shot and cleaned. I do not have
to re-clean it as some say, 1 or more days after cleaning after shooting. There is no need for that, for me.

Thanks Daryl. Going to get a can and try it. Are weather in florida is always very humid and getting rained on during a hunt is normal. Have never had any problem with rust in the bore but the outside of the barrel always has a little surface rust after a hunt in the rain.

[Brian Stuart]

I've had some luck with "seasoning" metal parts like one does with cast iron cookware, specifically using flaxseed (linseed) oil. Some years ago I read this blog post on seasoning cast iron, and it worked so well for my skillet I decided to try the same techniques on my rifle barrel. I used a much lower temperature to avoid damaging any heat treatment done to the barrel, but since the smoke point of flaxseed/linseed is very low (225F), I think I used 275F for one hour and the results were good. I used raw linseed oil since I didn't want to accidentally contaminate my oven with heavy metals, but if you have a "shop" oven that's never used for food it wouldn't matter.
The seasoning results in a tough, water repellent finish that's held up well for several years now.

[Eric Kettenburg]

I think a lot of stuff is overcomplicated.  I would not grease under the barrel, it just seem to funk up the wood.  Better to wax.

Water cleans just fine.

I have big gallon jugs of CLP that I use for any oiling because I also use it copiously on multiple other black colored rifles that shall not be named.  Never have any rust problems even with our PA 200% humidity.

[Bob McBride]

I’ve got renaissance wax but don’t really use it on contemporary guns. Sounds like it would be preferred for under barrel rust prevention. I always just used a super thin coat of grease under the barrel and never noticed much transfer to the wood, but if it’s bad on the wood I’ll cut it out.

[Greg Pennell]

A career in the Army put me firmly in the CLP camp, too.  I use it on every steel part after cleaning, inside the lock, bore, triggers, and anywhere rust might be an issue. I’m also fond of RIG for longer term storage (over a month or so).  I just try to remember to swab the bore out with a dry patch before loading for the first time.

I use Johnson’s paste wax on my stocks, when needed. A coat on the barrel before and after hunting seasons helps prevent any damage under the wood, because I always manage to get rained on.

After shooting, I clean the bore with Windex. I use the kind that has vinegar in it. I plug the vent with a toothpick, spray a few squirts down the bore, and let it soften the fouling while I clean and re oil/grease the lock. Then I pour out the gunk, and spray a stack of cleaning patches with the Windex until saturated, and mop the bore until clean.  Dry patches until dry, then one heavily saturated with CLP. It takes longer to type than to clean a rifle. I was turned on to the Windex with Vinegar by a fellow BPCR shooter nearly 20 years ago, and have used it ever since.

This has worked for me for a long time, but like most things YMMV...

Greg

[Daryl]

From what I've been able to glean, CLP was invented or used, to keep the rifles operational in Viet Nam.

[Not English]

What is CLP? I frequently have problems figuring out what is meant when initials are used in posts.

Thanks, Dave

[Greg Pennell]

Dave, the brand name is Break Free, CLP. The initials stand for Cleaner Lubricant Preservative. I don’t know who actually developed it, but it’s all we ever used on our small arms for the entirety of my 24 year Army career. 

[RVAH-7]

Well you are probably going to get multiple responses and all will be different with each swearing their's is the best. In the 1970's it was clean with hot water, rinse with hot water, let barrel dry and swab with Hoppe's gun oil.
Now days it isn't all that different. I always remove the lock and plug the vent hole with a wood toothpick. I run water on the inside and outside of the lock scrubbing with an old toothbrush. Set lock out in the sun to dry, if it's a rainy day I towel dry the lock and blow any remaining water out with a compressor or one of my wife's "canned air". After the lock is dry I usually spray the lock works with WD40, wipe down and apply a little gun oil on the moving parts.
As to the barrel I fill it with cool water, let sit for a minute or so pull the toothpick while I have the barrel inverted in a sink and let it drain. I attach a nylon bore brush to a range rod and scrub the barrel (mostly at the breech area). I then attach a breech scraper to the range rod and scrape the breech. Repeat the barrel flush generally two more times. Wipe bore with a damp patch followed by as many dry patches as necessary to achieve a clean bore (3-5 patches). Once the bore is clean and dry I run a patch soaked in WD40 up and down the barrel. After a couple of hours (with the barrel pointed downward) I run 1 dry patch down followed by a patch with gun oil or if I think it is going to sit for a long time 1 patch coated in patch lube.
I never remove the barrels from my rifles (I hope my buddy Bob McBride will show how to remove the barrel from a Kibler SMR in a video soon).
Every other cleaning I wipe the entire rifle down after the cleaning process (wood and metal) with a pure lemon oil and beeswax solution, let dry and rub down with a towel.
There you go Bob. Long answer to a short question but I do believe I covered it all.
"Muskrat" Mike

If I recall, in Eric Bye's book, the only thing I disagreed with was waiting to scrape the face of the breech plug. Why not scrape BEFORE you begin the intense cleaning process.  Kinda' like washing the sides of your pickup and then going back to begin up on the cab and hood. Or am I missing something?

[hanshi]

Hmmm...I learn something new every single day here.  Normally I'll scrape the breech, then plug the touch hole & fill the bore with water.  Remove the lock & re-oil prior to patching out any fouling in the bore.  I do use alcohol & WD40 in the cleaning process with patches.  The bore is almost always protected with Barricade or Break Free CLP.  Most any good oil - and I've used everything from "3 IN 1" to Outer's over the decades - does a good job of bore protection in my experience.  The underside of the barrel is waxed with Johnson's Paste Wax and the stock barrel channel is treated with True Oil.  This is all done when the gun is "new".  All outside wood is occasionally waxed with the JPW.  But the stock, barrel and everything else exterior is wiped down with a rag dampened with Type "F" transmission fluid (paraffin based).  Never any rust on the metal even after being in the rain plus the stock takes on a nice "sheen".

[Wingshot]

Probably sacrilege to post this but for at least 20 years I’ve used nothing on my wood and externals other than Wonder Lube. I smear it on everything, let it stand a while and then buff it off with a clean, dry cloth. If I do scrub my lock I drop it in a bucket of scalding hot water, pull it out and let it dry, while it’s still very warm, I run the same lube soaked patch over the internals. I’ve never had a corrosion or surface rust issue. I’ve not had a functional issue in any type of weather extreme. As for the bore? Water, swab dry, run a patch with bear oil down and call it done. I’ve used wonder lube in the past as a patch lube but have evolved in my thinking with that. For everyday shooting it’s spit, hunting it’s a very sparse amount of bear oil.