Brownells Busts WD40

[Mal Paso]

They were kinder than I am. Here's what they say.

https://www.brownells.com/guntech/sm...ontent=Content

[M-Tecs]

WD40 is great stuff when used properly of some specific applications. Normal gun is use is not a proper application.

I love it for the end of day spray down on my mills or lathes. For that is a good general-purpose cleaner and mild rust preventive.

For firearms it gums things up, however, it is a great source of revenue for the average gunsmith.

https://www.wd40.com/history/

[farmbif]

water displacement formula #40 was developed for the space program to be applied to exterior of rockets to aid in shedding the ice from the exterior.

[Thundermaker]

I can add a number of horror stories to that.

[fatelk]

I've seen guns gummed up with old varnish, I mean WD40, too. Years ago a friend of mine asked me to look at his wife's deer rifle. They had been getting ready to hunt, and the first round chambered went off without pulling the trigger! The rifle had previously been "cleaned" with WD40, then stored in the closet for a couple years. The WD40 had congealed in the trigger group. Fortunately it had been pointed in a safe direction (thank you hunter's safety education!) so no harm done. I did just what that Brownell's article says, and used WD40 to clean out old WD40. Another time I bought a beautiful vintage Ruger Standard for a bargain, then spent a couple hours cleaning the decades old WD40 varnish out of it. I'm sure most of us who have tinkered with guns for a while all have similar stories.

I thought it had become common knowledge that WD40 was not a do-all household "oil", but I guess not. I still like and use it from time to time, for specific purposes. It works pretty good as a solvent for dissolving and digging gunk and gunpowder residue out of the nooks and crannies, but I always wipe it off and apply real lube afterwards.

[Tripplebeards]

I bought a browning gold stalker semi auto 10 gauge brand new around 90’. Think it was $1200 at the time. I sprayed wd40 in and on it after a wet hunting outing. It melted the plug and all the plastic internals. Expensive lesson learned.

[reddog81]

How long does it take to gum up? Years ago I used it on numerous guns without issue.

[FLINTNFIRE]

Most oils will gum up set up or collect dust and lint over time , more so when applied to heavy , wd-40 gets the most blame , but it happens with oils and lubes over time .

Bought a gun that was oiled heavy and stored it had set up like cosmolene , wd-40 is good for light wipes and to displace water when wet , then clean and oil lightly , as to brownells when I access their site they pop up additional brownells pages , I consider them to be a virus of websites and they price high to boot .

Never seen wd-40 melt plastic , but a lot of oils will over time work on plastics , but I do not oil plastics , most firearm parts like the newer pistols should be oil resistant , time will tell if you are soaking your gun .

[megasupermagnum]

To me WD40 is the same as Marvel Mystery oil. Lots of people use it, but what is it really? The sad truth is it is not good, I don't buy it at all anymore. It's ok for de-icing locks and such in the winter, but just about anything in a can will.

The water displacement? Worthless. I have never sprayed WD40 on something that didn't rust. The two most notable being my Benelli Nova after a rainy duck hunt. Sprayed with WD40 to "displace" the water, and about 30 minutes later it was covered in rust. The other was a brand new dirt bike chain, those things aren't cheap, some are over $200. A guy I ride with kept on me about how after he washes a bike he uses WD40 on the chain. Well I did it, and I sprayed WD40 on it, and it rusted bad. I was irate that time, guy swears he never had an issue with it. Well come to find out he uses a ton, follows it with a towel dry off, and then another ton.

Its crap. If something is wet, dry it off with a towel and use a real oil once it's dry. WD40 wont displace water, and it wont protect against water. Don't have a gun oil? Use a motor oil. Seriously, the motor oil in your car is one of the best gun oils there ever was. As far as I can smell, WD40 is mineral spirits mixed with some other junk that serves no purpose but to separate a dollar from a wallet. If you need to clean something, use mineral spirits.

[gnostic]

How long does it take to gum up? Years ago I used it on numerous guns without issue.

That was my experience, I used to drench my guns in it before the internet and I didn't know better...

[Rcmaveric]

WD40 to clean guns and displace water here. Inuse a lot of WD40 cleaning metal parts. Corrosion preventatives to prevent corrosion and protect parts (hard to find but lowes, homedepot and marine boat stores have it), and the correct lube for moving parts. Gun oils are just light oils to prevent build up and gummin of small parts like triggers and bolts, but can take that high heat of the action. Knowing that you can use what ever you like. I dont like paying "specialty" oils or "love potion oil 9" name brands. Just money for gimmicks to me.

I always Oil Additive on hand and 4in1 and lucas red and tacky. You can find those any where and cheap. Use that on everything. Bolts get very lightly oild with Oil additive, triggers get 4in1 and buffer springs get red and tacky (helps with that buffer spring noise in my AR also).

If I were a watch collector and kept watch oil on hand or sewing machine oil then i would use those for my triggers. I dont though. So 4 in 1 it is.

Most oils are the same and just thinner or thicker depending on the delecacy of the parts.





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[Rcmaveric]

I just happened to get an education in oils and lubes years before i got into guns and automotive repairs. So that kind of influenced my choices and opinions.

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[GregLaROCHE]

I mix 10% motor oil with mineral spirits and put it in a spray bottle. I use it around the shop in the various ways as people use WD40. It’s less expensive. To undo frozen nuts and bolts, I use a real penetrating oil, because it works better than WD40. However, I usually have a can or two around.

[David2011]

WD-40 was invented by gunsmiths to generate more business.

[Idaho45guy]

I don't own any WD-40. For the garage, I use Liquid wrench or PB Blaster. Finally ran out of my Breakfree CLP from the 90's and replaced it with Lucas Oils CLP for my guns. The slide rails get Mobil 1 5w20. Very happy so far. RemOil for a quick wipe down of the exterior.

[JRLesan]

In1968 we were issued WD40 to keep our M16's running when they jammed up...

[Scrounge]

I don't own any WD-40. For the garage, I use Liquid wrench or PB Blaster. Finally ran out of my Breakfree CLP from the 90's and replaced it with Lucas Oils CLP for my guns. The slide rails get Mobil 1 5w20. Very happy so far. RemOil for a quick wipe down of the exterior.

For a long time, I was pretty broke, so I mostly used whatever I had for lube. The remnant of the Mobil 1 5W30 from oil changes for my truck did double duty as way lube and spindle lube on my lathe, until I had to buy bar and chain lube for my chainsaw. Then it was the way lube. I did buy a gallon of WD40, and the hand-pump sprayer. Still have about half a gallon left, and the sprayer. It works for a lot of things, you just don't want to leave it as the only thing on a machine surface. Finally got to the point where I could afford to buy the proper lubes for my machine tools, but I've still got a oil can with Mobile 1 in it, too.

ANY lube is better than no lube. The right lube is better than the wrong lube. As a bunch of folks have mentioned, WD-40 is a great cleaner. It should be, it's mostly Stoddard Solvent and light machine oil. Plastics beware, of course. It's pretty good as penetrating oil, and I use it for that a lot, though I also keep a couple of cans of PB Blaster around. I don't use PB Blaster on guns. It supposedly eats rust. Blued surfaces are rust. PB Blaster is great on cars and machine tools. Especially those in the condition I usually buy them. WD-40 won't mess up the blued surfaces. Painted is perhaps another thing. Depends on the paint. Talk about YMMV!

And having recently gotten back into shooting and playing with guns and gun stuff, I've also got several types of gun cleaning and lubing materials, now, as well. Somewhere there's a smallish can of sewing machine oil, too.

Bill

[Hossfly]

All my WD-40 long gone. Found on here Ed’s Red for cleaner, have 2 types one without lanolin and one with, for longer rust protection.

[Texas by God]

WD-40 is the best thing to remove Tru-Oil from my hands- like a pre-wash.
And it will loosen loctite.
We sprayed it on our distributors to restart our six- banger pickups after driving through shallow water too fast....
I won't use it on guns.

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[MostlyLeverGuns]

WD40 is not a good lubricant, but it is useful in many other ways. I use to swab bores after firing corrosive ammo and have had no rust from the old (1929-1939 8x57 ammo) when proper cleaning was not convenient, same for black powder revolvers. It works well for dissolving old crud when cleaning older firearms and even cleaning sticky stuff from hands. It also makes a good anti-rust wipedown for the exterior of firearms that will be used in foul weather. After liberally dousing hardened crud with WD40 and giving a couple hours to work, a blast with brake cleaner or carb cleaner clears out the crud. Carb cleaner will damage any finish and plastic parts, then your choice of lube, but not WD40 on rubbing/moving parts, unless it is all you have and it is short term.