I was performing annual maintenance of my modest firearms collection yesterday, when I discovered an interesting phenomenon that I hadn't encountered in the past. I only keep a couple of firearms loaded in the house: a couple of EDCs (pistol and revolver), one in the nightstand (pistol), and one revolver in the gun safe that often goes for rides in the car. When it was time to clean the revolver in the gun safe (Model 627-5, PC 8-shot), I swung open the cylinder to remove the .357 Magnum cartridges and the cylinder rod and extractor star wouldn't budge. The cylinder would swing out fine and rotate, but I could not extract the rounds. I ended up tapping the 8 rounds out the cylinder one-by-one with a nylon rod. When I examined the rounds, a small amount of residual Hoppe's No. 9 inside the cylinder had apparently gotten "sticky" since I last cleaned it. I wiped off the cartridge cases, reloaded, and everything worked nominally. Then, the same phenomenon happened when I went to clean my EDC Model 642-2 revolver. I followed the same cartridge removal and wipe down procedure and all is well. Both the .357 Magnum rounds and the .38 Spl. rounds are HPs with nickel cases. Very strange. Normally, before I carry a revolver, I will always swing out the cylinder to be sure it is fully loaded. But I guess that in the future I will have to make sure that my loaded revolvers will extract cartridges, too. I'll also be sure to swab out any residual cleaner/lube in the cylinder holes when cleaning. Just curious- anyone else had this happen to them?

I’ve always followed Hoppes with Remoil. Never an issue.

Not that unusual if you don't remove Hoppe's completely. Many years ago, our Troopers started to experience Failures To Fire with their issued Beretta 96's. Thankfully these all occurred while dispatching wounded deer, but it started popping up enough that the administration could no longer write it off as a fluke. Non-firing weapons were removed as-is and forwarded to a scientific lab for analysis and it was discovered that Hoppe's #9 (the issued cleaning solvent) was flowing into the firing pin tunnel and mixing with unburned powder from the low bid ammo we were issued and it was gelling up and retarding the firing pin's movement.
Also while working in a local gunshop, post retirement, I saw more than one revolver brought in with the action locked up and it took a bath in the ultrasonic cleaner to get them working again. In each case I suspected the involvement of WD40 bit ALL owners adamantly denied ever using WD40, the only common thread we could find was using Hoppes #9, not removing it all and letting it get into the actions, where it dried out and gummed or glued them up.

I would change the lubricant you are using. Hoppes #9 is not the same as it was years ago. Hoppes was bought out by the manufacture of MPRO 7 a few years ago and MPRO 7 is not as good as it was the past few years. However, there are several gun cleaning products that are very good and will cure the problem with the lubricant congealing in the safe and after long periods of time. I would recommend Ballastol, Slip 2000 and an upcoming product that is manufactured in Florida is Clenzol. I think you will be impressed researching the products.

Nick

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NRA Instructor\GCA Gunsmith

Correct me I’m wrong, but I categorize Hoppe’s #9 as a cleaning solvent, not a lubricant or preservative. IMHO, it works well to clean, but then should be wiped off completely. The metal surfaces should then be wiped down with a lubricating and protective oil based product. There are some combination cleaning, lubricating and preserving products, but Hoppe’s isn’t one of them.
WD-40 is a good penetrant, but although it provides some rust protection and initially a minimal amount of lubrication, it has a bad tendency to form a gel then a varnish-like deposit where it accumulates. I use it on firearms only when giving “a lick and promise” to get by until I can really clean and lube properly.
Others may have different experiences, but these are mine. I used to use WD-40 a lot more indiscriminately than I now do, but the deposits it can leave were too objectionable.

Froggie

If you have a well fitted S&W revolver the extractor star surface against the cylinder is a very good fit, not as good as gauge blocks, but pretty planar and flat, an ideal place for something sticky to hold surfaces together. Hoppe's has lots of volatile fractions that go away over time, leaving the heavier components that are more prone to act like adhesives. Ironically, if the space under the extractor star has crunchy crud (unburned powder residue) the phenomenon is less likely. Light grade machine oil is the answer.

Firearms to be stored and not available for immediate use should be cleaned, lubed and a preservative applied to the bore (and charge holes, if any). They should be empty, and if they're going to be used, a dry patch should first be run through to clean out any residual oils.

Firearms to be stored at the ready should have dry bores and charge holes before loaded and put away.

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Pickpocket

I always run 3 or 4 dry patches through the chamber when
I finish. Chamber should be DRY.

Geronimo Jim nailed it. Chambers should be thoroughly cleaned, but once clean, should be dry. Leaving a film of Hoppe's will do little towards corrosion prevention, but when it dries, it can become sticky and might react with cartridge cases as it does contain small amounts of ammonium hydroxide. Oil is also not recommended as it takes up space the cartridge case would require for expansion during firing. Oiled chambers are only for firearms being stored in an unloaded condition.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

I use Hornaday One Shot cleaner and lube for cleaning all my firearms. I have not had any issue with rounds sticking in my revolvers. I run several dry patches down the barrel and in each chamber.

When I clean my guns I use Hoppe's, WD-40, RemOil and whatever else it takes to get them clean. Then I remove all traces of whatever I used to clean with with a clean dry cloth and patches. The only guns that I lubricate are semiautos both rifles and pistols just before shooting them at the range. My house guns are a mix of auto pistols, revolvers and shotguns, these are sparingly lubed.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

It meshes with mine, having recently cleaned up the dried-up residue in a couple of absolutely filthy auction revolvers.

I have since changed my lubrication practices for all guns not shot regularly.

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- Post No Bills -

Lucas Oil Products has a gun oil with a substance like Teflon in it. When the oil part is present the actions are slick, but once it is "dried out" The Teflon takes over and the action stays slick. Comes in a 2oz bottle from many stores that carry it. Brownells has it in a larger size too.

My bad I meant to say LUCAS OIL PRODUCT not Amsoil.

Hoppe's #9 is an excellent solvent, but it's a solvent only and intended for cleaning only. No need to leave any on the gun when through cleaning. I don't know about the new versus old version; I've had no problems with any that I've ever bought including some that was purchased in the last few months.

WD-40 will certainly gum up over time. I can't see it has any use on firearms, except maybe for a temporary in-the-field emergency where a gun got soaked in the rain, etc. For a lubricant/ preservative, Shooter's Choice FP-10 has worked just fine for me for years, but there are probably others that will work as well and don't gum up.

As for the CLPs, they'll work for cleaning if you don't have anything better, but I prefer a solvent. As for preserving, where you only wipe down outer surfaces, use whatever oil is handy, or even a CLP lightly applied to a soft cloth once every year or two or after cleaning.

On two occasions i bought an older used gun and cleaned them with Hpppes No. 9. In each case though, I had not detail stripped the cylinder, ejector rod and center pin and cleaned them, I just cleaned the chambers and wiped down the exterior of the cylinder.

A week or two later when I was ready to test fire them, the cylinder would not open. I could not push the thumbpiece forward. I ended up standing the gun upright, dripping a little Kroil on the tip of the center pin that stuck out the end of the lug on the barrel and let it sit overnight. In once case I needed a little heat from a hair dryer to get the parts freed up.

I determined that the Hoppes must have dissolved some old dried & varnished oil or maybe WD40 but not enough to truly clean it and when it dried again the mixture had flowed between closely fitted parts and stuck them together. I now detail strip the guns completely, clean thoroughly with solvent, hose everything down with Gun Scrubber and then lube with a modern product. The first time it happened I was really perplexed. The second time I knew what it was. There won't be a third time. Who knows what former owners have used on their guns, and WD40 was probably a common product.