Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing A prime example of what NOT to do.....

M700 trigger - covered with residue from WD-40...:



Boys and girls, do NOT use that stuff on firearms... Please.

Sear was nearly immobile; the bolt stop was. The guy was lucky he didn't try to chamber a round. Somebody coulda died..

+1 Lee

However, it works pretty good on lures for the Walleye here in the spring:-)

Yeah, well, I gave up fishing years ago.. By the time you figure, license, tackle, boat, gas etc., that walleye in the store at $8/pound is about 1/10th the cost...





Oh, and here's the firing pin from this same rifle.. No wonder he said he was getting 'light strikes'...

And what do you use to clean up a mess like this.

Pretty sure it won't be the last one you'll see like this !

I have posted more than once regarding the mess that WD40 can make, these pics depict what I and others have been talking about. In my experience WD40 was completely immobilizing the firing pin in Browning BT99 shotguns. Anyone familiar with the BT99 knows they have a rather stout F/P spring, the varnish formed by WD40 was enough to prevent any movement of the F/P. Save the WD40 for fish attractant, squeaky hinges or whatever. Lube firearm mechanisms with whatever other lubricant is your lube of choice, there are a host of choices.

Ha da friends Auto 5 that had stocked working. Between wd40 and powder residue it wouldn't cycle.

I do wipe the outside with it when it is handy. Never on anything that functions.

I have seen this exact same thing with Rem Oil and other oils if left for a long time and more oil just added over it. I have seen Hoppes gun oil do that in one application if left for a long time. I'm thinking it has something to do with oiling it when wet or dirty and never cleaning it physically. The old paraffin based oils like Pennzoil would do this horribly. I never let WD or any oil puddle or pool. I always wipe or blow out the excess. When I get a gun in like this I use Simple Green to wash this varnish right off.

I have maintained my personal Remington 1100 since day one in 1978 with WD-40 and it has nothing like this in it. I use it for duck hunting and regular trap shooting. It is 100% as the day I bought it other than the rubber gas seal. I changed it about 10 years ago because I felt it wouldn't hurt to put in a new one before a big out of town hunt. The trigger assembly on that gun gets filled with unburned powder, water and residue from firing. It's the dirtiest running firearm I have seen other than neglected Remington semi auto rifles. I use a pump bottle of WD40 to hose down my trigger assembly and then blow it out with compressed air. Then wipe down all the metal with it. Keeps it looking and running like new. I buy it by the gallon and use it for polishing chambers, wet sanding metal, and cleaning things.

For a proper lubrication I prefer Tri Flow to everything else. If nothing else it smells good. In the right conditions I bet even it will varnish up just like in the picture.

Mostly elbow grease, stiff and/or power brushes to remove it.. KROIL actually helps quite a bit too. Normal mineral spirits or the like do bupkis..

thanks for posting

I can use this thread for folks who do this....

That's not from the WD-40
It's from neglect (not cleaning)

I would imagine Lee knew from the smell. Unmistakeable.

I use lighter fluid on trigger assemblies. It has enough lube to do the job.

acetone.

WD40 is a water displacement product and is a very poor lubricant. I don't believe it was ever intended to be a lubricant. I think diesel fuel would be better. Try using Kroil for lube. If you're hunting/shooting in cold weather area please get everything as dry as possible.

Simple Green and hot water washes dried oil varnish and powder residue right off. It what I use for all firearm detail strip and clean jobs. It is what we were taught to use in gunsmith school. It works as good if not better than using my regular solvent tank and I keep the harsh stuff in my solvent tank. Simple Green is much safer to use for your body.

I load all the parts into a magnetic tray or bowl and spray down with a 50/50 mix of Simple Green and water. Go over everything with my electric toothbrush and then rinse with hot water. Blow off with compressed air, then place in the oven for 30 minutes at 220 degrees. Cleaned this way all parts will pass a white glove test for dirt. Then appropriately lube for the job at hand and reassemble.

Kroil is a great penetrating oil but is so thin it makes a terrible lube. It runs off and eventually evaporates much the same as WD40.

I have a Remington 700 .223 that I let my kid use on prairie dog hunts. One day a bullet came out of the case spilling ball powder into the action and trigger.
I cleaned it as best I could and when I
test fired it fired when I closed the bolt. Needless to day that trigger will never see a drop of oil from now on.
I think it is a dangerous design.

VM&P naptha helps with a stiff brush or steel wool but I've never had one that bad. Not as volatile as lacquer thinner but volatile enough to be dangerous. Being an amateur I can afford to wait and work with the stuff in the garage with the doors open.

Say, would a hot tank cleaner like for bluing save time?

An ultrasonic is kind of handy.

I have t used anything except Eezox and CorrosionX in about 20 years. Dry to touch is way to go! Doesn't thicken in cold, gum, or collect crud

Kroil is solely a penetrating oil. Not a lubricant at all.

I use Tri-Flow or RemOil (or any teflon based oil). One person stated that this is a possibility with RemOil. Should I switch to a silicon dry lube??

Just don't squirt half a can in there, modern firearms require very little lubrication. For instance I maintain Remington 11-87 and 1100 semiautos for the local 4-H Shooting Sports trap shooting. They get lubricated about every two years after a thorough cleaning. I use a synthetic oil in a needlepoint oiler and lube no more than necessary and right where it's needed. I will use a synthetic moly-loaded grease on high pressure contact points but you couldn't tell by looking. The grease needs to be only molecules thick.

Thorough cleaning (every few years, as needed) involves a little more disassembly for access to all inside surfaces which are cleaned to the bare metal and treated with a rust preventive that leaves an extremely thin layer of rust protectant. After all, the protectant never leaves hidden surfaces not subject to handling. No oil/powder residue sludge buildup that way.

Of course the shotguns get field stripped and cleaned every week or so depending on use. No additional lube except what Ed's Red leaves on the magazine tube which is almost nothing. Surfaces subject to handling get wiped down for rust protection before going back into the safe, every time they come out.

Older firearms require a little more attention due to the nature of the steel used in those days. (IMHO)

That..


No...

I use brake cleaner to cut that crud instantly. $2.97 a can at Walmart. Just don't get on the stock finish or synthetic stock. I wear rubber gloves when using it and then dry with compressed air.

I use my ultra sonic turned up to about 50�C and it strips that stuff right off. Rinse with solvent and use only lighter fluid or dry lube on it. Dust will kill you if oily.

On 7/24/1999 I bought (3) shotguns for a total of $183 from some old guy.
Two semis and one double.
They reeked of fresh WD-40.
I wanted to get it out of there before it went gummy.
I cleaned and cleaned.
Under the double barrel shotgun butt pad was a surprise:
A 1936 Ohio hunting license for someone 26 years old. The cost of the license was $1.

Now THAT'S pretty darn cool!!

Wow...