should you clean an 40 year old gun only factory fired

[Hapworth]

Not condemning the practice, but out of geniune curiosity:

I can understand it with an antique or a really rare/made for collection inlaid/engraved type gun, but do people often buy regular guns like the one in this thread and not shoot them, but put them away in a safe? To what purpose?

I agree with Boogsawaste, and will add that although the 66 is in general reasonably easily found as a high grade shooter, a no-dash with stainless rear and front sights sets it apart, and since it's already in collectible condition is worth keeping that way.

All anyone need do is look at how prices -- even for what used to be pedestrian S&Ws -- have jumped in the last few years to know that some of the fan favs -- the 27, the 28, the 19 and 66 among others -- will be tomorrow's Pythons and Diamondbacks.

 

[Geno44]

This has been discussed before and I'm not sure there is universal agreement but I have found WD 40 converts to gum after the passage of time. I sprayed a blued Model 10 with it and put it away for a year or so and it wouldn't function without a carb spray cleaning. It couldn't be cocked because it was so stuck. It did prevent rust.

 

[05CarbonDRZ]

This has been discussed before and I'm not sure there is universal agreement but I have found WD 40 converts to gum after the passage of time. I sprayed a blued Model 10 with it and put it away for a year or so and it wouldn't function without a carb spray cleaning. It couldn't be cocked because it was so stuck. It did prevent rust.

^^^THIS^^^ WD-40 is not a lubricant!

 

[BAM-BAM]

I realize not everyone can afford it...... but I look at my "safe queens" as back ups to my shooters.. sometimes even back-ups to my back-ups....LOL.... worst case they will go to my boys.

I've sold 3 guns in the past 3 months....guns that were never going to be shot for one reason or another.........I'm in the process of turning that cash back into "nice" shooters for me and the boys...... so far a 3" 65 and a 4" 34.

That 's my story and I'm sticking to it.........

 

[donadler]

Clean it and then use Renn Wax on it. As others had said before, you don't wash your car and then oil it, you wash it and wax it to preserve it.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[italiansport]

Clean it and then use Renn Wax on it. As others had said before, you don't wash your car and then oil it, you wash it and wax it to preserve it.

Just my 2 cents.

I wonder how many guns have had their finish damaged by repeated oiling's over the years. Every time you do this you're wiping airborne grit into the surface.

 

[A10]

I wonder how many guns have had their finish damaged by repeated oiling's over the years. Every time you do this you're wiping airborne grit into the surface.

My guess is none....unless you are wiping it down during a sand storm.

For the OP, I'd run a patch through the bore. A bronze brush won't hurt anything or damage the rifling either, but I usually only use one after a goodly shooting session. Primarily I use a boresnake (yeah, I know it's got a brush in it, but it usually only takes a pull or two to make the bore shiney clean).

I'd make sure there is a coat of something on the gun, and I'd darn sure pull the stocks and wipe down that area. The stocks can end up harboring gunk and moisture under them, possibly leading to some kind of corrosion.

 

[Old Seabee]

S&W

In the American rifleman S&W is going to start making 66's again

 

[ben_g1]

Glad to see your not letting the "they were made to shoot" crowd brow beat you into shooting it. Your gun, your money, do what you want.

I remove all dried and moist oil/grease inside and out with a spray cleaner . Re-lube the inside the frame parts lightly and apply renaissance wax to all outside surfaces. I also wax the barrel bore and cylinder charge holes, and the frame under the grips, and to the grips both sides. Then store them in a gun sock, not the box. Taking them in and out of the box to admire/show off or just plain fondle will put more wear and tear on the box (have you seen what ex-cond. boxes are bringing now a days)?

If you keep your guns oiled, remove the grips, wax and store in a separate storage bag.

If oiled wipe down and re-oil every six months or so, if waxed I re-wax every couple years.
And by all means keep a heater/humidity stick in the safe.

This is the way I keep my non-firing collectible ones.

 

[rburg]

We actually have the clean and don't clean discussion all the time. Since we pretty well have it beaten to death, it takes a different form from time to time. Like this one apparently the OP is asking if he should even clean it one time, or the first time. There seems to be the other opinion that you should never bother, and that more guns are ruined by cleaning or excess cleaning than by neglect. And I'm a generous enough person to concede that maybe somewhere, someplace, a gun may have been damaged by over energetic cleaning attempts.

But these discussions seem to have made progress. Everyone now is pretty well accepting that you don't have an unfired gun. Almost every gun is test fired at the factory. If they practiced quality control, they'd even require all the gun to be cleaned before shipment. We also have eyes and can pretty much assume that only some of the guns are really cleaned after firing.

I have my opinions. One is that a fired gun probably should be cleaned before being put away for storage. Doesn't matter if the storage is a week or the 40 years we're talking about. If you have a gun you've just acquired, it probably needs to be cleaned. If only some powder solvent on a brush and a quick run through the bore and the cylinders showing use. Then a drying patch or two and a follow up with some oil on a patch. Good practice normally requires the exterior to be wiped with the solvent and then with some kind of oil.

The most lazy among us will scream bloody murder we're trying to force them through basic training again. They even take more time screaming than a quick cleaning would take.

I'm backing away from my old advice to detail strip every gun when you get it and clean it so thoroughly you get every trace of old junk out. Of course you can if you want, and I doubt it it has ever done much harm. At least if you know how to remove things without buggering screwheads and what not.

So my answer to the OP is yes. Clean the gun. If its only had factory firing, it won't be dirty. Chances are the powder burns won't come off and there will be no lead to complain about. But it'll shut the worst of us up about you being too lazy to clean the gun once every 40 years. If its a stainless gun, as stated, none of today's cleaning solvents or oils will do much damage to the metal. I'd actually be shocked at the solvents damaging the finish. Stainless was used so it didn't act like the wax finish on the prewar guns.

 

[JSR III]

I can understand it with an antique or a really rare/made for collection inlaid/engraved type gun, but do people often buy regular guns like the one in this thread and not shoot them, but put them away in a safe? To what purpose?

Your great grand children won't have any pristine antiques to collect if we don't save a few now.

 

[ispcapt]

Just wipe it down and patch the bore and chambers with a good gun oil.
Do NOT remove the side plate unless you know how to do it properly and what you're doing. If you remove it the wrong way it will ding up the edge of the sideplate and definitely show. A 66-no dash with stainless sights is getting pretty collectable. Dinging up the sideplate won't help the value at all.
As a couple of others have said - No WD-40. The liquid eventually evaporates and it leaves behind a gunk that will eventually harden. It's not permanent but it's no longer a lubricant. Use a good gun oil and your 66 will be fine.

 

[MN2944]

Your great grand children won't have any pristine antiques to collect if we don't save a few now.

Unfortunately, I really doubt there will be many who care. Young people today are generally far less interested in guns than we were. In a few more generations, I suspect it will diminish even more.

 

[chief38]

I would definitely clean it because every gun shipped has been fired and they are not going to clean themselves. Not only have they had rounds through them, but they are usually shipped with manufacturing debris and dirt as well. For a gun that's ONLY been Factory fired, it should be a very easy and fast clean up and just leave it with a light coat of oil inside and out. As long as you clean it with the correct tools and chemicals there should not be any issues or negatives.

 

[Jim NNN]

should you clean an 40 year old gun only factory fired

No, you should sell it to me!

If factory grease increases the value of a weapon, I'm not aware of it. I'd clean it. Enjoy your new weapon.

 

[Monte Verde]

Your great grand children won't have any pristine antiques to SHOOT if we don't save a few now. ;


Note change made!

 

[GypsmJim]

Your great grand children won't have any pristine antiques to collect if we don't save a few now.

The way things are going now, one of 2 things might happen. By that time guns will be outlawed, or the kids will merely sell them at a pawn shop because they don't care.

I bought a safe queen unfired 1952 pre-27 a few years ago. Since then I've fired the heck out of it and cleaned it every time. Today it still looks like new and I can't tell the difference.

So, my question is how much have I hurt the value?

 

[MN2944]

The way things are going now, one of 2 things might happen. By that time guns will be outlawed, or the kids will merely sell them at a pawn shop because they don't care.

I'd say one of those two scenarios is very likely.

 

[ben_g1]

I bought a safe queen unfired 1952 pre-27 a few years ago. Since then I've fired the heck out of it and cleaned it every time. Today it still looks like new and I can't tell the difference.

So, my question is how much have I hurt the value?

Short answer (if 3 1/2"), about $500 . Seriously if I had a new in the box unfired pre-27, No way I'd shoot it. How many 60+ year old unfired pre-27's are out there? But like I always say your gun, your money, do what "you" want.