Which of these chemicals would be a better choice for gun storage? Do the guns need to be wiped down
periodically and have a new coating of this applied? Thanks!

Which of these chemicals would be a better choice for gun storage? Do the guns need to be wiped down
periodically and have a new coating of this applied? Thanks!

The US Military and many of it's NATO allies consider Breakfree CLP to be the best available one-product cleaner, lubricant, and protectant for the entier spectrum of small arms through medium caliber cannon through large cannon and missile launchers. It has the benefit of more than a generation of service-wide use of this product for the maintenance and preservation of it's small arms.

Other traditional preservatives, such as heavy grease may give superior long-term protection, but the Military values the convenience of minimal preparation and cleaning for ready use. Long term storage of rifles and machines guns consist of no more than a through swabbing and spraying with CLP and then sealing into polyethelene sleaves and pasteboard cartons. YEARS of preservation, with only minutes needed to prepare for immediate use.

For the hobbyist or professional user, a wet coat of CLP wiped on the bore and exterior of a weapon only needs to be inspected periodically (every few weeks) and renewed as necessary, or during routine cleaning and lubrication.

First it was WD40, and later Breakfree in the 1960's. RIG has always been among the best for long term storage. However, even Breakfree CLP leaves a gummy yellow residue. It is a mix of cleaner, lubricant and preservative, which is convenient in the field. But it's better to separate the 3 functions. Breakfree makes the separate components, but they are hard to find that way in the stores.

I use Shooter's Choice or Butch's Boreshine for cleaning, and Corrosion-X for lubrication and protection. Both FP10 and Corrosion-X are the best for lubrication, SUPER smooth, much better than gun oil. Corrosion-X freed-up stuck cylinders for me, so it's now my favorite "smoothie". It also passed my salt-spray test on nails better than all the others, and cold weather functioning. It's a synthetic and very light consistency.

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Al&Ash

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">However, even Breakfree CLP leaves a gummy yellow residue. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I beg to differ here.

The yellowish color to (shaken) Break Free, is micro sized Teflon particles. I have NEVER seen a gummy residue (yellow, or otherwise) from using Break Free, and I've used gallons of it.

Perhaps the residue you see, is remnants of some other crappy gummy stuff, but it ain't Breakfree.

The classic horrible residue, that some of us see, is a result of using WD-40 on stuff that has oils/grease on it.

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NRA Instructor

CLP isn't a product, its a performance spec. Breakfree CLP is a product which is supposed to meet or exceed that specification. If you find military CLP, it may be any one of several different formula, each with at least the necessary performance. I'm going to guess that for the commercial product, no performance tests are run. Doesn't make it a bad product, or a good one.

CLP Collectors tends to dry out and leave a wax like residue. They say...you can just go ahead and use the gun without cleaning it off. They say.... a lot of things.... in advertising puffery. There is a little plastic bottle of the Collectors stuff on my work bench. I use it when I've got a gun going into deep hibernation. I slather way too much no the gun, then smear it around with a small camel hair brush (I think the camels are really tree rats.) Using a soft brush allows you to force the excess into all of the hard to get places like barrel/frame joints, etc. And on engraved guns, it does a great job of filling the cuts.

The gun doesn't look as nice because the thick stuff tends to blur sharp lines, but it does protect them, too.

I have no idea how Collectors compares with cosmoline. It'd be hard to beat the protection qualities. But with Cosmoline, you've got to degrease the gun for it to work safely.

All of this may be overkill. I've got a couple... of prewar guns which appear to be brand new. For the first 50 years or so of their lives no wonder lube or preservative existed. They somehow remained rust free using nothing but whatever oil the earlier owners could find. 3 in 1, sewing machine oil, motor oil, maybe even bacon grease, who knows. I really don't think the prior owners took them out every few months and re-oiled them. I'm guessing the magic of desk/dresser drawers or top shelves in closets did the trick.

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Dick Burg

Hi i use this stuff called Break Free Collector its for long term storage preservative for firearms.This stuff is developed for military use to protect weapons for up to 5 years in storage. Exceeds military requirements for rust and corrosion protection.It says it provides over 1,200 hours rust and corrosion protection when tested on mild steel panels in 100% humidity and constant 120F degree temperature.And will not breakdown to form waxy residues under heat and pressure or with age and resist damage due to fingerprint residue and minimizes the need for frequent wipe downs. I use this product on all my firearms and it works for me as i keep these guns in a safe where the humitidy is up and down and never had any problems of rust or corrosion.I know i was using Rem Oil or Hoppes9 Oil i find you have to keep up on them periodically to keep them oiled i'm very happy with this product it last a long time..

Break Free CLP as well as RIG has worked very well for me over the past 30+ years here in Montana. Then again we are NOT a very moist or humid climate either.

On the Highway Patrol we issued Break Free as a "do all" weapons lube/preservative. We carried rifles and shotguns that were often exposed to tremendous temperature extremes as well as snow, and rain. Once we started using the Break Free our rusting problems were over.

Personally I use RIG for REAL long term storage. But if I was forced to use Break Free CLP I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

FN in MT

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SWCA #2428