What perfume do you wear? Chanel #5 or Hoppes #9?

[Karen]

Recently I went to a friends house, and her Dad was not in his normal big chair watching TV. As I walked past his chair I smelled a very strong chemical odor. I recognized it immediately as gun solvent. So I looked around and pulled back the cushion, haha, there was his stainless Colt .44 magnum he loves so much. Busted!!! :smile:

That got me thinking. How often do people accidentally tell the world they are carrying a pistol, by the smell of cleaner and oil.


So yesterday when a friend asked me to help her clean her Dad's 100 + year old pistol, we soaked all the parts in liquid dish detergent. Then dropped them in a pot of boiling water. I cleaned the barrel with a brush wrapped in cloth and dipped in the detergent. The pistol came out amazingly clean. And the water evaporated instantly.

I then oiled the pistol in baby oil with no fragrance. Now it's totally clean and has no smell on the pistol or in the room. Normally,whatever room I clean a pistol in smells like chemicals for a few days.

My question is this, is there anything in dish soap that can hurt steel? Is the baby oil (petroleum mineral oil) a good lubricant for pistols?

Are there any other non stinky cleaners and oils I can use for gun cleaning?

Thanks

[Reload3006]

as long as you rinse the metal well there should be no issues using dish detergent to clean it. But if you do not rinse it good most soaps contain Lye a base that is caustic. I have never thought of using baby oil to lube and rust protect my guns but I don't see why not. as long as it creates a barrier to oxygen it should protect the metal. as far as lube I dont know it could be tacky and attract dust which could cause abrasive wear. I would caution you to check on that often until you know.

[Trey45]

Automatic transmission fluid.

[cbrick]

The aroma of Shooters Choice for me.

Fascinating though that a woman has the interest in shooting to post the question. One of the biggest problems with the shooting sports is very simply not nearly enough women shooters.

Rick

[MT Gianni]

Automatic transmission fluid.

And STP for a heavier lube.

[Jim]

..... One of the biggest problems with the shooting sports is very simply not nearly enough women shooters. Rick

I agree. I have seen some very good female shooters at some competition events, but they're far outnumbered by male shooters.

My wife shoots a S&W model 19 and she does very well. She doesn't shoot nearly as often as I do, but she does enjoy shooting when she does.

She will tell you herself that she's not as good with a rifle as I am. But, I'll tell you myself that I know better than to challenge her on the plate machine. Last time I tried that, she sent me home with my head down in shame.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I've often wondered about weapons smelling police dogs,
are they smelling gunpowder (burnt or unburnt) or oil/cleaning solutions ?
or a combination of everything ?
-if it had wood grips and I doubt I'd boil them,
but even if I did, I doubt those grips would ever
give up the smell of oil/solvents, if introduced to them.
-LASTLY and LUCKILY, I can't image a thug noticing a smell of gun oil/solvents
unless it was overwhelming...can crackheads and zombies even smell ?


Another thought:
About 10 years ago while participating in a rifle league,
there was a young female shooter (I think she was 18 or 19),
She outshot nearly everyone in the league...except her father,
He must have been a good teacher, He also co-ran the league.
Jon

[bruce drake]

If you are looking for a light oil that doesn't gum up the works as it dries and doesn't smell of gun solvent, than go with 3 in 1 oil.

I'm not sure Baby oil would give the same amount of protection as a dedicated machine oil.

Bruce

[Hardcast416taylor]

Break - Free has a sweetish smell to it, not like an oil or solvent.

I associate the smell of 3 - in - 1 oil with my mother`s old treadle sewing machine. I guess that is why to this day I refer to it as "sewing machine oil". Maybe my mother kept the family .30-30 hidden in the cabinet?Robert

[smoked turkey]

After reading Jim's post I got to remembering an even that took place a few years ago. A couple of law enforcement buddies and I were shooting falling plates in the back yard with my Smith 41 mag. The guys were making a few wild shots including shooting the leg of the rack, the roller pulley that is used to set up the plates and well you get the picture. My wife who is an excellent shot ventured into the back yard. I offered to let her join in. She took the 41, promply cleared all six plates, handed the gun back to me and returned to the house without a spoken word. Yes I find most women can do fine in the shooting sports.

[geargnasher]

I wear Ed's Red, but the smell is appropriate because I usually have grease/oil stains on my clothes and ball cap.

Gear

[EMC45]

Kroil.

[Pigslayer]

G-96 here.

[Blacksmith]

I have taught and coached junior shooters all my adult life and without a doubt girls are better shooters than guys. Girls don't think they know everything so they listen. Girls practice what they are taught. Girls stay focused.

Girls become women and most go on to other things stopping their practice giving men a chance to catch up. Thats why most shooting competitions have seperate classes for men and women, so the men won't feel bad.

[stubshaft]

Kroil or Marvel Mystery oil for me.

[white eagle]

What perfume do you wear?

H-110

[Echo]

Depends. For my women, I prefer Chanel #22, For me - well - the women have to put up with what they find.

[725]

30 years ago I had a co worker of low repute who would dabble Hoppes #9 about his person whenever he cheated on his wife. Said it overpowered any of the associated odors from his activities.

[Bullwolf]

I have cleaned guns using a toothbrush, really hot water, and dawn dish soap before.

Typically I would only do that with stainless, or alloy guns, but I have done a few really dirty blued steel guns that way as well. It's a great way to get crud out of an action, or a receiver.

I would always make sure to dry them off completely, and wipe them down with a high quality lubricant and rust preventative after.

I also like to use a high quality gun grease for places where I want the lubricant to stay, and not migrate. I don't really notice the aroma of say, Tetra brand gun grease. I can smell the petroleum distillates pretty easily in a lot of the other popular gun lubricants out there.

Not really sure about the baby oil, but if its working for you with no signs of corrosion, I would say go with it. I like to use baby oil (the scented kind) as a cleaner to remove boolit lube when I am indoors, or to wipe down cases with.

You can probably find a decent synthetic, or a petroleum based oil with a non gun smell if you are really worried about using the mineral oil.

I have used a sewing machine needle oiler before to get at those hard to reach places, and it was virtually odor free. I would also imagine that food quality oil, like what would be used on a meat slicer, would have virtually no aroma. I just would hope that they worked as well as a lubricant and rust preventative, as the more odorous oils and greases.

It's always refreshing to hear another take on things.


- Bullwolf

[Three-Fifty-Seven]

.....

[375RUGER]

what perfume do you wear?

H-110

oh yeah!

[NSP64]

JP-4
(jet fuel)
gets me raped everytime I come home covered in it. GF loves the smell of it. LOL

We used to clean our M-16s with dawn, toothbrush(new), and rinse with hot water. Then wipe down steel parts with CLP.

[omgb]

All of the BP shooters know this...hot water and soap are an excellent cleaning solvent and pose no threat to metal if the gun is dried properly. It's cheap too.

I save chemical solvents for specific jobs such as copper removal or, the removal of leading. An intermediate solvent I use frequently is a mix of Balistol and water.

For the most part I stopped using Hoppes years ago. Cost was a big factor as was the lingering odor. If I need a heavy solvent I have a gallon of Ed's Red on hand with the lanolin I might add.

[292]

I use ballistol as gun oil. But, my wife smells much better than me. Also, I posted earlier about getting a reloading press for Christmas, my wife got a S&W M&P9 Compact.

[parson48]

All this has got me thinkin' that, in light of our aging population, there just might be a market for concealed carry lube in aromas such as:

foot powder
Ben-Gay
Geritol
Poli-grip

Could be some serious money to be made here!

[DODGEM250]

Definitely Hoppes #9 / BlackPowder Solvent. But most of the year I wear Solder #60/40

The fumes can get pretty intense on this CB radio workbench LOL

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Definitely Hoppes #9 / BlackPowder Solvent. But most of the year I wear Solder #60/40

The fumes can get pretty intense on this CB radio workbench LOL

Not much smell to that solder...But the hot/fuming rosin flux,
that's a hole nudder tang.

I worked for a PCB Mfg'r for 8 years !
That company quit using MEK (methyl ethyl death) as a flux cleaner about a year before I started working there...thank God. Most of the old timers there said it worked great, but they all had health problems...I thought it was just a coincidence at the time.
Jon

[Reload3006]

actually I like the smell of Hoppes LOL I think I saw a car air freshener in Hoppes #9 scent My kind of fresh air. :bigsmyl2:

[pmer]

I go half and half Shooters Choice and Kroil. And preserve with Break Free.

[ErikO]

I'm quite fond of kroil as is my wife. :D

[AggieEE]

Dodgem250
I know what you mean about the flux smell. We had a roll here one time that smelled like baby powder when you used it. It made me sneeze every time I used it. Later Guys, AggieEE

[bbs70]

I love the smell of G96.

[Defcon-One]

#1 choice is Hoppes #9, Break Free CLP is second!

I would not use Baby Oil on any of my guns. It is usually petroleum based, so it might be OK, but I figure whatever makes it good for a babies skin probably makes it less good for our firearm applications. I doubt that it will protect as well and probably does not stay on the surface as well either.

John B: I used MEK (Methyl Ethyl Keytone) in many of my printing machines as a solvent when working as a Manufacturing Engineer. A great solvent, but I agree it is deadly to human tissues, especially the eyes I'm glad that my exposure was limited, but I survived without any known affects. At least, so far!

[Houndog]

I can't vouch for the Baby Oil, but my Benchrest 22 gets cleaned with Ed's Red and the bore coated with plain old Mineral Oil from the drug store. No problems using the mineral oil I can detect, no smell, and the first shot out of a clean barrel is always on target. An old Olympic shooter put me on to the Mineral Oil, and since he had one of them Gold thingies in his trophy case I wasn't about to question his use of the stuff!

[Certaindeaf]

I wear a custom blend often. It varies. Tell you a little story.. a ways back, I was courting a gal. She was fairly nice and all but had this herculean sense of smell.
I'd go over to her place freshly showered and fresh washed duds. She'd always detect some sort of objectionable smell emanating from me. She further attributed it to my clothes. This is understandable because even with fresh washed clothes, I live in an older house that has a certain mustyness to it. You can only wash out so much must I guess.
Anyway, one day I was in the (my) driveway drinking beer, smoking a cigar, covered in grease, oil and gasoline working on a motorbike and had probably just ate raw onions etc.
I called her and told her I didn't think this was going to work out.

[DLCTEX]

I think the lanolin in Baby Oil will prevent rust. When I was in basic training we showered with our M-14 to clean it. I used hot water and dish detergent to clean my BP guns.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

CLP on plastic guns , hoppes or eds red on the rest with eds red oil for a wipe down

it would take a trained nose to be able to tell what you used , form having just filed up at the gas station or come from the garage.

the carry gun is plastic , i haven't noticed any strong smell from it after wiped off

neets foot oil on the leather , then there is my smell , often that isn't good , or so i have been told

if your close enough to smell my carry gun or my belt , your to close

[MajorJim]

Baby oil is basically mineral oil and does not have very good lube qualities. Temperature changes cause it to break down quickly and lose any lubricating qualities. And then it becomes gunk. No rust protection, and the chemicals in baby oil can start rust to form.

Great for babies 98.6 degree skin. Bad for metal to metal contact.

Synthetic oil like Mobil One is great for cleaning, lubing and rust prevention. And does not have the telltale armory odor.

Dawn dish for water wash - it is much kinder to metals than other detergents.

[Tom W.]

Whatever rubs off of Lori is what I wear....:bigsmyl2: