My recent visit to my LGS

[Chino74]

Looking for a 2nd G30, busy day & lots of customers. This LGS has an on site gunsmith BTW. As I was standing there I couldn't help but overhear the conversation next to me.

An older gentleman comes in with an old S&W revolver & tells one the clerks that the cylinder is hard to open & it doesn't fire very good, upon further questioning he states that he cleans it by spraying a lotta WD 40 on it (& in it apparently). No gun oil or anything related to gun care, just WD 40 LOL. So he gets a Gunsmith repair ticket, quoted price for this was 60 bucks for cleaning, function check & test fire.

My impression was that this was the only gun this gentleman owned & was probably his home protection piece which brings up something perhaps we don't think about often, that there are a lot of folks w only one firearm & very little knowledge as to it's use or care...

 

[D Brown]

I love WD-40 for cleaning my shotgun bores, but that's where its gun usage ends. There are many much more appropriate lubricants available.

 

[biku324]

WD-40 can deaden primers (it is 'penetrating oil'). Always wipe weapons completely free of it.

 

[loknload]

I have never used WD40 on any of my guns....period! Only use the proper cleaning fluids and gun lubricants.
I find this business with WD40 as a miracle lubricant and cleaning agent to some extent nonsense! It has its place and to me it's not with guns!
But when you only have one as a defense piece and don't shoot enough with it or now how to really care for it,,,,well I guess it's better than nothing?
For all those that like WD40 I guess you use what works for you, that's why they make chocolate and vanilla,,,,something for everybody!

 

[Doug627]

Lately, I have been using bacon grease. Works great and my firearms smell wonderful.

 

[Old Corp]

Working around a few LGS's over the years, I've lost count of how many guns I've seen shut down by over-use of WD-40.
Given some age and 'curing', it leaves a paste that is akin to dried linseed oil.
Really nasty - and worse than an old S&W M1917 I opened and found what I could swear was actually axle grease.
Old dried WD can take quite a solvent soak to loosen up and get scrubbed out.

 

[swsig]

The "WD" in WD-40 stands for "water displacement". It might be OK to use it for that purpose on your gun after you've retrieved it from the water after that tragic boat accident you had, but other than that....

 

[redlevel]

Well, I have been using WD40, although not exclusively, for nigh on to 50 years. Our worst enemy down here is humidity, and the WD fights that. When I was policing back in the early 70s, we very religiously removed the loads, wet it down good inside and out, and wiped it down good. Then replaced the loads. We would do this a couple of times a week when we were out in hot, humid, often rainy conditions. We would flush out the innards with something like PB B'laster every couple of months to keep the WD40 from "Setting up," so to speak. Just spray in the openings until it ran clear, then wipe down good. These were working guns, not collectors' pieces. Mostly Model 10, 15, 19, 36, and an occasional Colt of some sort.

It worked.

 

[ErnieDeBord]

I am 65 yr old Auto-Tech, I also build my own performance Harleys. Im slowing down ( a little ). I run my own little shop and take a lot of pride in what I do. WD40 may be good for something? There has NEVER been a can of it in either my shop, house or in my "range kit", regards "Big E"

 

[delcrossv]

After seeing an unfired 1968 Browning Hi Power ruined by rust after the owner used WD-40 on it as a "protectant", I'd never consider using it on any firearm.

 

[UncleEd]

Lately, I have been using bacon grease. Works great and my firearms smell wonderful.

I like the idea and need to know, when you apply it is it
cold, warm, very warm, pretty hot, very hot or sizzling?

 

[wetdog1911]

I like the idea and need to know, when you apply it is it
cold, warm, very warm, pretty hot, very hot or sizzling?

Bacon from peanut finished hogs is the gold standard.

Rob

 

[Doug627]

Very warm. Strain it first.

 

[Farmer17]

I've used WD-40 on guns for 50 years and never had a problem but I'm the first to admit it's not very good at lubrication or rust prevention, it's just always near by in the garage or tool box and the spray nozzle is good to blast gunk out of an action. I also use Remington aerosol shotgun cleaner followed by Remoil with occasionally a little Bear Grease on some of the moving parts. If a gun is REALLY dirty then a soaking and scrubbing with Hoppes #9.

 

[cherrypointmarine]

I worked on the Titan rocket out at Cape Canaveral . When it was at the pad , which was about 3-400 yards from the beach , we had a weakly PM to spray the outside with WD40 . Nobody could tell us where the idea came from , but it was stupid . Yes the skin was aluminum , but corrosion was not a problem , it never sat on the pad that long . After a while the WD40 dried and everything would stick to it , dirt , bugs , you name it . I don't know what it's good for , but there might be something .
Writing that last sentence made me remember . We had an old a/c guy that took care of the a/c in the instrumentation vans . He had arthritis in his hands and would wash his hands with WD40 . He'd swear up and down it helped his arthritis . So , I guess it's good for something .

 

[Bucher33]

I read somewhere the main ingredient of WD-40 is fish oil. Read it on the internet so it must be true.

 

[mtgianni]

I love WD 40. When sprayed on teflon tape it shrinks it and allows one to get the most mileage out of tightening pipe fittings in high pressure situations. I keep it off my guns.

 

[Stevens]

Don't bring those Bacon Grease lubed guns out walking in Bear country, they'll be all over you!
Steve W

 

[Snapping Twig]

WD40 dries out and leaves a varnish like deposit that is not optimum for things that need to be lubed.

Use oil on things that spin and on springs, grease on things that slide.

 

[Golddollar]

Writing that last sentence made me remember . We had an old a/c guy that took care of the a/c in the instrumentation vans . He had arthritis in his hands and would wash his hands with WD40 . He'd swear up and down it helped his arthritis . So , I guess it's good for something .

I wonder how it would work on my knees.