ATF- The most versitle automotive product for gun care..

[superior]

So is Dextron III better than Hoppes or Break Free to clean bores?

Anyone mix Dextron with Hoppes or Break Free ?

Just wondering

I dont think the ATF will clean as quickly as hoppes, but it will clean over time, I believe, as effectively. I have no problem leaving ATF in the bore for as long as a year, while I would want to get the Hoppes wiped out after a day or so, once the expansion cracks have released their contaminants. Break Free is a great product also and provides outstanding corrosion protection, but if I can be crafty and use an automotive product, I will everytime for reasons of economics, as well as, I know the auto industry invests and has invested millions and millions of $$$ on car care products. Listen to the auto techs. They have inside info on the lates wonder chemicals.
"I love the smell of Dexron in the morning" lol

[geargnasher]

I DON'T love the smell of Mopar ATF+4, or Mercon V, especially when it's well-used or burnt. Sickening odor to that carp. Dexron VI is pretty low-odor, as is BG 3124 full-synthetic. My favorite is Honda ZF, it's about like Singer oil, but red, and has almost no smell. I have a bottle of it by the drill press.

One thing NOT mentioned yet is all the "Wonder" products out there that are pure, worthless garbage. The automotive aftermarket is flush with all kinds of things that are supposed to do everything from magically fix your neglected, worn-out automatic transmission to re-seal piston rings and repair worn valve guides and engine bearings. Slick 50 was successfully sued into submission by the FTC, as were a few others. All that really did was temper the advertising so to make marketing companies less liable when the product doesn't work, or worse. There is no free lunch, if it's worn out, it's worn out. Over-the-counter Injector "cleaners" are nothing more than kerosene and naptha, and all these fandangled oil additives are just a way to transfer money from your pocket to theirs. Modern engine oils have an additive and viscocity-stabilizing package that is a true marvel of petroleum engineering, and about the only thing you could possibly do to improve what's in it is to increase your change intervals and use a real, PREMIUM engine oil filter (NOT orange, yellow, or green, btw, I don't care what the ads tell you), or add a QUALITY product like BG MOA, which is nothing more than an additional surfacant/dispersant package in a long-chain polymer base.

I tend to treat my guns the same way as my vehicles, keep them clean, lubricated with the amount and type of lube necessary for proper functioning under the conditions I'm planning on using them (or storing them), and frequent care and inspections are the rule. Just because I "mothballed" a gun a year ago with the best anti-corrosion products I can come up with doesn't mean it's still ok, it needs a checkup from time to time.

One more thing, someone here did some corrosion testing of various products including Hoppe's #9, BreakFreeCLP, and a few others and compared them to some sort of industial cutting/machining/cooling fluid, which ended up beating them all by a wide margin. Anyone remember the thread or who it was that did the testing? It was someone who discovered this in his job while being assigned to the task of 100% rustproofing some bare steel parts during manufacture and shipping to the buyer.

Gear

[sig2009]

Hey Gear,
Could this be what you were talking about?
http://www.frfrogspad.com/cleaners.htm

Here is a video of one of the tests.
http://ingunowners.com/forums/access...ucts_test.html

[geargnasher]

No, that wasn't it, but that's an outstanding link, and actually much more comprehensive testing! Seems that Frog and I think very, very much alike. Probably have similar backgrounds and experiences.

Gear

[Az Rick]

Don't want to hijack, but Gear what "color" oil filter do you like.

[geargnasher]

Wix, Purolator, and in some cases (due to OEM patents affecting critical design features) OEM filters. For example, NEVER use anything but a MOTORCRAFT oil or fuel filter in 6.0L and newer Ford diesel engines. The oil filter cartridge on a 6.0L has a patented anti-drainback valve only activated by OEM filters, if you use anything else you will get long crank times due loss of initial injection control pressure because the oil drains out of the filter housing after shutdown. The fuel filter on the frame rail inside the Horizontal Fuel Conditioning Module has an air bleed hole in the top of it on the OE filters, all others will trap air in the housing, only allowing it to fill up about halfway with fuel. This isn't much of a problem by itself, but it forces 100% of the fuel through about 50% of the filter, the bottom half.

Gear

[AnthonyB]

Gear:
Sounds like you might be a Ford guy. What do you think of the 6.4L diesel? I have a 2008 with low mileage I want to keep forever...
Tony

PS: The hijacking had already started!

[steg]

Always learning something new here, thanks for the info Guys............................steg

[Russell James]

The amazing properties of ATF continue.........a mate and I have supplemented our supplies of WVO [waste veg oil] which we use to run in his diesel engine with waste ATF we get from a local garage.
After filtering it , it goes straight in the tank and runs great!
Russell James.

[rogn]

Another good non-firearm product is the better two-cycle outboard marine lubes. I ve been using Amsoils OB TCW lubes to wipe down and bore protect for years. The TCWs seem to penetrate well into any"pores" the metal may have, and by the nature of the product it has good anti-corrosion additives, as well as being a super lube. Have always included some in my BP lubes for those reasons.

[lavenatti]

ATF mixed 50/50 with acetone make a fantastic penetrating oil. It's really thin and wicks right down through rusty threads.

Almost as good as Kroil and way better than WD-40(for freeing rusted parts anyway).

[geargnasher]

Gear:
Sounds like you might be a Ford guy. What do you think of the 6.4L diesel? I have a 2008 with low mileage I want to keep forever...
Tony

PS: The hijacking had already started!

Not a Ford guy at all. But God bless them, if it weren't for Fords, us techs, wrecker drivers, and parts suppliers would all be broke and homeless.

If you want to keep a 6.4L Super Duty forever, you'd better start saving your money now, and maintain it RELIGIOUSLY. I mean drain the water from the separator every two weeks, use a quality fuel conditioner like Racor or PowerService regularly, change your fuel filters every other oil change, and change your oil every 4500 miles, I don't care what the book says. If you don't, it makes me no difference, I make much more money on making repairs due to neglect than I do performing preventative maintenance tasks. FYI the average mechanical engine repair on a 6.4L in our shop is about $6,000, mostly related to major fuel and induction system issues because the owners never took care of them. One single drop of water in the fuel will kill an injector if it makes it to the intensifier piston, and that's the truth.

Get familiar with your truck, all it's maintenance needs, and keep after it and if you're lucky, it won't cost you much for the first 200K miles. After that, all bets are off. If you think maintenance is expensive (and it is), wait until you have your first major repair out of warranty. The chassis, t-case, and transmissions on the Super Duty series, again with regular maintenance, are just about bullet-proof.

Gear

[garbear]

I have used atf dextron on my ar15. much cheaper then the break free.
Garbear

[milprileb]

I suggest a re think using atf as your lube on a AR 15.

Its not going to do you right. In a life time... what would
you save anyway... ten bucks ?

I get breakfree for 5 bucks a quart at gun shows, and a quart goes
a long way for pennies.

[geargnasher]

Not trying to be a smart-****, but I've seen this common mistake a lot in this thread, might as well tell all of you that there is no "T" in "Dexron"!

Gear

[303Guy]

You kidding! Well, well ..... I always thought there was. Now I'll have to go look!

[MT Gianni]

I agree on atf, I also use STP on my guns but never on my truck or car. It is great for lubing cylinder pins and reloading gear such as Lee turrets, hand primer contact points, sizer and press lever joints.

[XWrench3]

i use STP in my boolit lube also. it just makes sense. the stuff was designed to work under the worst conditions. it is also my press lube, straight up. i have used it for case sizing lube, and for lubricating my vise. i also use STP on the barrels of my semi auto pistols (some of them have no bushing to replace). i also use atf, in my ed's red, and straight up. also, super grease and mobil 1 grease. i am going thru a transition on brake cleaner. they recently outlawed the stuff i have been using for the past 15 years. and i have not found something i like yet. the ones that i have bought either smell like carb cleaner, or M.E.K. neither of which will be friendly to plastic or gun finishes.

[milprileb]

Sadly this thread has gone to the GO CHEAP mind set over what is best for
weapons maintenance, cleaning and lubrication.

Lads: you know STP, ATF and etc etc are not what any weapon is recommended to
be maintained with by any maker, any army or any competition shooter on the planet.

Saving a penny on proper maintenance products for your weapons is foolish.

You save now but you will pay a price. Its a weapon not a lawn mower !

[sundog]

I have my own thoughts on CLP. Yeah, it's milspec. So what. All that means is that it meets certain requirements for military use. It's introduction was meant to do away with several other products (y'all premember bore solvent and LSA?) so that the soldier in the field only had one item to be concerned with it stead of several.

For those of you who use it religiously, keep on keeping on. Fine by me. Is CLP the best item on the market. Maybe, maybe not. But for those who do not use it in lieu of other stuff that works, so what.

How many of us subject our ARs (or any other of our fine firearms) to the use and abuse that soldiers do in the field? If you have never been in the field with military weapons for extended periods, all kinds of weather, day and night, day after day, night after night, you cannot even begin to imagine. Rain, sand, snow, mud, ice, dust, searing heat, bone chilling bitter cold, and the list goes on. That's what CLP was designed for. And it works well.

A trip to the range or a day or two in deer camp, hardly compares.

If I had to go the field with an AR and stay there for an extended period, CLP would be my choice. Barring that, I prefer to use an array of products from 3-in-1 oil through any of the different bore solvents (still love the smell of Hoppes) and copper removers, Ed's Red, and wheel bearing grease, to mention several. All of which are on the shelf at my cleaning station as is lighter fluid and brake parts cleaner. CLP is not the end all of proper maintenance for an AR or any other firearm. But, like I said, going to the field for an extended stay, it would be first choice.