What's the best way to clean the blued surfaces of revolvers? Just to remove any dirt, grease, grime, smudges, etc before applying Ren wax?
Cleaning Blued Guns
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Never applied Ren Wax. Been using the Remington cloth which contains Rem-Oil and rust inhibitors. Seems to work fine over the years and gives my blued guns a glossy shine. Switched from the silicone cloths years back.
.38SuperMan
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A lot of folks here swear by Renwax but it seems like a lot of un necessary work. First of all I never put a gun away that's dirty. Every gun I shoot gets cleaned before storage and for the last 50+ years I use a lightly oiled cotton cloth and thoroughly wipe them down every time they're handled and again every 6 months. In the past few years I've been using a silicon treated cloth formulated for that purpose. Oil or silicon will get in the crevices whereas a paste like wax doesn't flow into those areas. The purpose of a coating of oil or silicon is to drive out moisture and provide a protective barrier against moisture or salty finger prints. I've never had any rust or problems so why change.
If it is a pre-2000 production S&W, just about any solvent will work just fine, Hoppes No.9 being my favorite (I grew up with Hoppes No.9, might be slightly biased). Blued S&W's made in 2000 and later have a different black oxide finish that does not react well with ammonia or ammonia compounds found in many solvents, including Hoppes No.9. For these newer S&W's, something like Breakfree CLP.
DWalt
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Mineral spirits does a good job of metal finish cleaning. There is nothing magic about RenWax. Any paste wax, such as Johnson's, will do the same and for far less $$$. CLP is essentially identical to synthetic motor oil.
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Matt_X
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How do you figure that?
Naphtha is advised as a cleaner prior to cold bluing.
Wear a vapor mask unless you like a sore throat.
RenWax is our favorite for guns in the safe or photos.
All our blued handguns, are 40 decades old or older, and get #9 after shooting. Just oil after if they are used often.
Wear a vapor mask unless you like a sore throat.
RenWax is our favorite for guns in the safe or photos.
All our blued handguns, are 40 decades old or older, and get #9 after shooting. Just oil after if they are used often.
DWalt
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Naphtha is a generic term for mixtures of liquid long chain aliphatic hydrocarbons. And that is what "Mineral Spirits" is. There are several different grades of it, distinguished by having different flash points. It is often used as a paint thinner for oil-based paints. Available at any Walmart or Home Depot store. Very handy stuff to have around the house for various cleaning solvent applications. Far safer to use than gasoline due to its high flash point.
Regarding 3-in-1 oil (and similar brands of light lube oils), it works very well as a bore cleaner. You really don't need anything else. Try it if you don't believe me.
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Oldsalt66
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gwpercle
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6 Brazilion ways to clean a gun ...
Let me tell you how Not to clean a Gun ...
Put it in the Dishwasher ... when your wife is at home !
Who Boy ... they get upset over things like opening the dishwasher and the rack is filled with handguns . It gets them clean ( no plastic ) but you might have to sleep on the sofa a few days ...
If you do it ... get em out , lubed and put away before she gets back home ....
For cleaner / lubricant I like Blaster PB50 All Purpose Lubricant ... big box stores , it's cheap , good and you can use plenty !
Gary
Let me tell you how Not to clean a Gun ...
Put it in the Dishwasher ... when your wife is at home !
Who Boy ... they get upset over things like opening the dishwasher and the rack is filled with handguns . It gets them clean ( no plastic ) but you might have to sleep on the sofa a few days ...
If you do it ... get em out , lubed and put away before she gets back home ....
For cleaner / lubricant I like Blaster PB50 All Purpose Lubricant ... big box stores , it's cheap , good and you can use plenty !
Gary
Matt_X
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One the few brands offering CLP that meets current MIL-spec for retail sale.
Based on the report linked (How to blued revolver?) and looking at the current specs, I'm going to be trying it soon.
But as far as the outer surfaces go, it depends on the residue but I agree that generally a mineral spirits is fine and then a light wiping of preserving oil (which is what many gun oils are).
DWalt
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Some may not know the origin of the original 3-in-1 household oil name. The 3 were Clean, Lubricate, and Protect. Seems much like CLP to me.
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DWalt
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The new CLP milspec does not address improving performance, mainly environmental friendliness. It contains some vegetable oil. Contributes greatly to saving the planet, don't you know. U.S. Army Revises CLP MILSPEC for All Services to Require Minimum of 33% Bio-Based Products
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DWalt
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A Brief Guide To CLP
– Alien Gear Holsters
Save your money and buy a bottle of Mobil 1
If I am out somewhere and need a little lube for my guns, I just use my engine dipstick. Not joking.
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Matt_X
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I agree the announcement does not address any new performance improvements in spec. But it doesn't change the existing requirements from what they had been previously. "At that time, the MILSPEC allowed for procurement of either a Type A or a Type B version, the Type B version being bio-based." So now they have enough suppliers of the type B they are dropping type B.
The specs themselves are available on-line for free.
Here's one source MIL-PRF-63460 F CLEANER LUBRICANT PRESERVATIVE WEAPONS
There are requirements for physical properties, protection and corrosion, and performance (how well it cleans powder residue and provide lubrication for small arms)
Snipped the summaries of most of those requirements into jpegs so everyone can see them without digging.
Might other oil products do the same? Maybe, maybe not. Some provide additive packages to protect against corrosion, some do not. For maintianing the outside of a blued gun, I would think that's the main thing, along with not having anything in it that would effect the surface finish.
Automotive and diesel oils have very different requirements although of course they can work. IIRC At least one of the WW2 field or tech manuals says 10W engine oil can be used as a substitute if needed. (also in really cold temperatures no lube is better). Personally would chose something like a "3 in 1" household oil before even a 5W-30 automotive oil if given a choice. We don't always get a choice.
In certain situations its really really important to use the lube specificly made for the job. I don't think this is one of those situations.
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Matt_X
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3in1 is now a brand name. But yes originally a likely version is that the name represented the goal of "one single mixture to accomplish three things with respect to the maintenance of a bicycle, namely, a rust preventative, lubricant and cleaner. Hence the name "Three-In-One." Some of their advertisements also stated that the product is a blend of three oils, animal, mineral and vegetable, which may also have contributed to its name." So that's another possible reason for the name. Keep in mind that at that time some of the best lubricating oils were animal based.
More history here including the promotion to sportsman and gun owners.
G. W. Cole Co., "Three In One" – Bay Bottles
I have at least two different Three in one cans in the basement. IIRC one is 10W motor oil I use for the bearings of electric motors etc that have fill caps. The other is the more common general purpose household oil. A quick look at their current website shows they have about a dozen products! Interestingly the can of the multipurpose oil says nothing about protecting, but rather lubricates, cleans and penetrates rust.
More history here including the promotion to sportsman and gun owners.
G. W. Cole Co., "Three In One" – Bay Bottles
I have at least two different Three in one cans in the basement. IIRC one is 10W motor oil I use for the bearings of electric motors etc that have fill caps. The other is the more common general purpose household oil. A quick look at their current website shows they have about a dozen products! Interestingly the can of the multipurpose oil says nothing about protecting, but rather lubricates, cleans and penetrates rust.
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oberon
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Ballistol.
Of the many offerings now under the 3in1 brand name, I think I remember a couple of them were Mineral Oil as the prime ingredient.
Baby Oil by another name and the same main ingredient in Ballistol.
MSDS sheets will tell you what's in most any of them and they aren't generally anything new.
Wipe the gun down with most any oil on a soft clean cloth and you are good for common, civilized usage, handling and everyday storage.
Long term storage, heavy duty use and extreme conditions takes extra care and specialty lubes.
Glitter display looks best with a good careful wax job and careful soft buff.
I'm not sure about all the specialty types of wax that are sold but avoid stuff that has abrasive in with the wax. Bluing is not a tough finish nor deep/thick. It wears off pretty easily.
Baby Oil by another name and the same main ingredient in Ballistol.
MSDS sheets will tell you what's in most any of them and they aren't generally anything new.
Wipe the gun down with most any oil on a soft clean cloth and you are good for common, civilized usage, handling and everyday storage.
Long term storage, heavy duty use and extreme conditions takes extra care and specialty lubes.
Glitter display looks best with a good careful wax job and careful soft buff.
I'm not sure about all the specialty types of wax that are sold but avoid stuff that has abrasive in with the wax. Bluing is not a tough finish nor deep/thick. It wears off pretty easily.
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