Gunsmith says "stay away from CLP." Really?

[rwsmith]

Thanks, neither have I.

Yep, that's what people on the internet will tell you. Interestingly though, no one can replicate this mysterious "gumminess" from WD-40. What WD-40 will do is react with other chemicals in adverse ways. Those that have gunk in their guns after using WD-40 probably didn't clean the other lubricant out before using WD-40.

I will say though, WD-40 is not a great lubricant. Spray some on, shoot a hundred rounds or so and then spray it again to clean it and you'll be fine. However, spray it on and then wait a week, shoot a hundred rounds, wait another week and shoot a hundred more. Then you'll be looking at some issues.

I had a gun I used WD-40 on for 30+ years and never experienced 'gumminess'. It's not a great lubricant, but it does lubricate as long as it's there, as it has a tendency to run off of surfaces pretty quick. But if you use it often, no problem.

BTW I don't use this regimen any more, but it sure didn't hurt my original gun.

 

[Rastoff]

Drivel? I was talking about chain "lube" here. Do you know anything about it? Did you read the comment to which you were responding?

Yes, I read the comment. You said this is just like motorcycle threads about chain lube. If you really want to take me to task over whether or not I read the comment, consider carefully how you've said it. Using the idiom "just like" means that what you are writing is exactly the same as the over all thread topic. Therefore, they are the same thing. So, whether talking about chain lube or gun lube, my comment applies to both.

As long as you brought it up, there are also numerous (scads) of threads and tests and so called "scientific" testing on just about every chain lube I've ever seen. Personally, I like PJ1. I put over 50,000 miles on my bike with it and never had any fly off (that is their claim after all). I no longer have a bike, and this is about gun lube so, there's no point in continuing down that road.

So, yeah, I retract my retraction and reiterate what I said. Saying, "There is no scientific data at all, and darn little of the anecdotal variety" is simply wrong.

 

[handejector]

50+ years of shooting and handling guns.

Many is the night I've awakened, sweaty and trembling, anguishing over the gun oil I had used that day.
Was it the BEST? What if it wasn't?
Would my guns be rusty relics come the dawn?
Oh, woe is me. I can't take it any more. The anguish and fear are debilitating..........I feel nauseous with worry.........I gnash my teeth.


I shall never buy another gun that is not plastic or stainless..


Buy RIG and a RIG-Rag and learn to use them.
Buy a good oil.
Corrosion-X is pretty slick.

 

[chief38]

Been using Rig#2 Oil and Rig Universal Grease for 30+ years. Never had any issues, rust, gunk build up, or lack of lubrication. If it were not an EXCELLENT product line they would not be around anymore.

Remoil is also good but I do not like that the liquid only comes in a 1 ounce bottle or a spray can. The spray winds up all over the place and I much prefer a drip bottle - but ONE OUNCE???

 

[tops]

In a past life I knew a farmer that kept a 550 Rem. and a .303 British in his tractor shed and every once in a while he would pour some diesel fuel or burnt cyl. oil on them. They were too nasty for me to mess with but they worked and he usually killed what he shot at. Larry

 

[rwsmith]

I've heard of this......

More than once when I was a boy I seen my dad give his guns a "Hot water treatment". I have several of his with no rust. One, his shotgun. Dad and mom dropped a car in 15 feet through the ice on a lake. The shotgun and car was retreived a week later. Dad took it apart, gave it the hot water treatment before oiling it and that gun has no rust.

I've heard of this, especially in regard to older primers and propellants of pouring boiling water down the barrel. No reason it would hurt anything if it were cleaned and oiled right after.

 

[MOONDAWG]

Each to their own. The LE department I work for has been using "BREAKFREE CLP" exclusively since 1991 with zero problems or complaints.

 

[Rastoff]

Many is the night I've awakened, sweaty and trembling, anguishing over the gun oil I had used that day.
Was it the BEST? What if it wasn't?
Would my guns be rusty relics come the dawn?
Oh, woe is me. I can't take it any more. The anguish and fear are debilitating..........I feel nauseous with worry.........I gnash my teeth.


I shall never buy another gun that is not plastic or stainless..

I'm not sure, but I think you're being sarcastic.

 

[Mike McLellan]

Lube is lube. In a pinch, mayonnaise will work. It starts to smell when it loses its viscosity, though.

 

[Marshwheeling]

Yes, I read the comment. You said this is just like motorcycle threads about chain lube. If you really want to take me to task over whether or not I read the comment, consider carefully how you've said it. Using the idiom "just like" means that what you are writing is exactly the same as the over all thread topic. Therefore, they are the same thing. So, whether talking about chain lube or gun lube, my comment applies to both.

As long as you brought it up, there are also numerous (scads) of threads and tests and so called "scientific" testing on just about every chain lube I've ever seen. Personally, I like PJ1. I put over 50,000 miles on my bike with it and never had any fly off (that is their claim after all). I no longer have a bike, and this is about gun lube so, there's no point in continuing down that road.

So, yeah, I retract my retraction and reiterate what I said. Saying, "There is no scientific data at all, and darn little of the anecdotal variety" is simply wrong.

Actually, it is right. I have read all the same stuff you have, probably more. You are right about one thing: PJ1 does not fling off the chain. In 50 years of reading the moto press fairly assiduously, that is one thing I have learned. Study after study shows it. It happens to be irrelevant to the question of chain life.

There is lots of information about what products stick to the chain, next to none about chain life. If you can point me to something I have missed, I invite you to do so. I'll be glad to read it and become informed. I could go on, but this is a gun thread.

 

[Llando88]

I'm not sure, but I think you're being sarcastic.

I'm sure.

 

[jgh4445]

I think any of the modern cleaning equipment is up to the task. The key is to use it, what ever "it" is to you, religiously. Inspect often..clean often. That should solve your problems.
Lee can sleep well now knowing that SOON he will use "it" again and stave off another night of rusting!

 

[black1970]

Gunzilla for surface rust. Best I have ever used.

 

[Smoke]

I don't know what the service has switched to since 86, but during my time using anything other than the issued Breakfree CLP (now known as Safari Breakfree CLP, apparently) to maintain service-issue small arms was a quick way to earn some hostile words from the armorer & a possible office hours. Especially Hoppe's #9, which was called out and reviled by name in the TM's.

But it's been a long time. products change, thinking changes, alloys & such change.

I still use Breakfree, and have never had an issue. Some nitro solvent on really grubby areas on occasion. I like the fact that it doesn't smell; WD40 has a strong odor, and the smell of burning ATF or engine oil makes me think subconsciously that repairs are needed.

I seem to remember the TMs saying that CLP would continue to draw carbon from the bore if you left the bore wet.

My big issue is I don't THINK (probably could stop right there) CLP is a copper solvent

 

[DCW]

Displacing Old, Tired Lubricants

Results of gun care product evaluation

An interesting test of quite a few of todays boutique and not so...lubes/cleaners.

And an equally interesting read on LUBES.

GrantCunningham.com - Library


FN in MT

Wow!

The above was big-time informative. Combined, they have now, um, displaced most, if not nearly all of my previous gun-lubricant knowledge. (I at the least knew not to 'over-lubricate.')

Indeed, I think today's deli stop should produce some interesting conversations.

But to lubricate some areas of a handgun with one lubricant while using another elsewhere hadn't remotely occurred to me.

Thank you for the links.

 

[Mcwsky09]

Results of gun care product evaluation

An interesting test of quite a few of todays boutique and not so...lubes/cleaners.

And an equally interesting read on LUBES.

GrantCunningham.com - Library

FN in MT

Wow - that is a large sample set - and Frog Lube performed really well - similar to other videos I have seen and part of what led to my decision to try it for myself. Not sure how anyone could claim that guy is a shill for any one company they way they do when some guy tests three or four products against each other and has a clear winner.

 

[MY15-22]

I just love the smell of Frog Lube.

When no one is looking, I smell my gun.

 

[PALADIN85020]

I read a comparative study some years ago that concluded that Breakfree CLP was a darn good rust preventive. Accordingly, I use it for that purpose on the bores of my guns, and I have a rag dampened somewhat with it to wipe down the exteriors of many of my guns. Here in Arizona, the humidity is low, so one application lasts for years and I've never had a problem with rust.

In my experience (and I have a huge black jug of the stuff), it does congeal and become waxy over time. For fine stuff like revolver innards, I do not use it. I also do not use 3in1. If it's the same formula they used in the 1940s, I had a bad experience with it. My grandfather's old S&W, which has been in the family since around the turn of the 20th Century, was lubed with it, and the insides of the gun are disgustingly mucked up. I knew he used 3in1, because I found cans of it in the basement of my grandparents' home. Maybe they've improved the formula, but I dunno.

For revolver innards and other precision applications, I use "Snake Oil" which is a concoction originally designed to cleanly and lastingly lubricate high-speed and sensitive electronic equipment. It's a very clean, high performance, weapons-grade lube that stays put on metal surfaces. For the greenies, it's environmentally safe and bio-compatible. It's only downside is that it's not a particularly good rust preventive; it's just designed as a really good lubricant. Dillon Precision sells it.

I still use Hoppe's #9 as a bore solvent, except for my nickeled guns. It really attacks copper smears in the bore. When I heard they were changing the formula a number of years ago, I made a "lifetime buy" of the old stuff, and still have not exhausted it. When my wife and I go out, I dab a little behind my ears as my man-scent. I got my first bottle of it at age 11, and never saw a reason to change.

Just my 2 cents worth.

John

 

[mjlabs]

One bad thing about breakfree is I have to be very careful with it around the camo finish on my waterfowl guns. One drop on the camo and the finish starts peeling off.....I abuse my duck guns up anyways so I don't sweat it, just throwing that out there for you clean freaks

 

[Smoke]

For a lube I use Starrett Tool Oil but only because that's what I happen to have handy Castrol Syntec works just as well (although I probably wouldn't put that on my precision measuring intruments)