I bought 2 gallons steel can of WD40 in august, and left one on my porch... i forgot about it, actually ...


went to open it up (sealed) and poured some in an oil can .. RED..

wait a minute..

shake it up

RUST

inside the can ...

water dispacing 40 must have pushed the water from the air that condensed inside to the edges and rusted the can

no joke

jeffe

WD-40 has always been a big scam !!

One of the many things that I've learned here, is to distrust WD40.

WD 40 was designed as a water displacement to be sprayd on missle electronics if I remember correctly.

I have used it on guns that have become water soaked, or totally immersed.

If I cannot take the gun down properly...
I hose everything down with WD 40, let it set for a while, hose it again, then hose out the WD 40 with Hornady gun cleaner/lube [it leaves a dry lube], or some kind of gun scrubber and then reoil with proper gun lube.

All it is is kerosene in a spray can.

I ran my own “rust prevention test” a few years ago where I took about 10-12 of the commonly available rust preventers/oils and coated a piece of very mild steel rod about the size of a rifle barrel. My thinking was to use a piece of steel that would rust easily but I have an old Winchester rifle barrel and have been considering running the same test.

I masked off sections of the steel rod and coated each section with the appropriate oil. I included a “no treatment” control. I hung the rod horizontally outside for nearly 8 months through a late Pennsylvania winter and into the spring checking the degree of rust every so often and taking some photos.

Long story short WD40 was no better, perhaps in fact worse, than the control and was very rusted. The best in my test was Boeshield T-9 and Birchwood Casey Sheath/Barricade.
I still buy WD40 because I can buy it at Sam’s or BJ’s in bulk but I use it as a “solvent” to rinse out the barrel and flush off debris and crud from parts ensuing that they are treated afterwards.

It is not a suitable firearms treatment in my opinion.
Thanks
Paul

N E 450 No 2 is correct in the value and use of WD-40. It's only "problem" is the people who don't understand what is and, from that, how to use it properly.

Mr. Reed's experiment proves what we should all understand, as a "rust" protector it only serves for a few days.

Kerosene won't lift water out of tight places, WD-40 will; another error.

not kerosene ... and the msds doesn't list fish oil!

i use it in my purple nerple and in my after blue soaking oil .. it seems to work for that...

as for a bore cleaner or rust preventative .. its better than nothing, but only by a little bit and for a little while

WD also contains wax. I've told this previously but it bears repeating: a Remington engineer told of investigating a complaint from the LAPD (I think) that their pump shotguns were becoming unreliable. Investigation shows that police armorer sprayed entire gun, including trigger group, every night with WD40. Turns out that the shotguns had a build up of wax deposits that prevented reliable firing.

WD-40's main ingredients, according to U.S. Material Safety Data Sheet information, are:
50%: Stoddard solvent (i.e., mineral spirits -- primarily hexane, somewhat similar to kerosene)
25%: Liquefied petroleum gas (presumably as a propellant; carbon dioxide is now used instead to reduce WD-40's considerable flammability)
15+%: Mineral oil (light lubricating oil)
10-%: Inert ingredients

The long term active ingredient is a non-volatile, viscous oil which remains on the surface, providing lubrication and protection from moisture. This is diluted with a volatile hydrocarbon to give a low viscosity fluid which can be sprayed and thus get into crevices. The volatile hydrocarbon then evaporates, leaving the oil behind.

Here's the actual MSDS. http://www.wd40company.com/fil...msds-wd494716385.pdf

Aliphatic Hydrocarbon 45-50%

Petroleum Base Oil <25%

LVP Aliphatic Hydrocarbon 12-18%

Carbon Dioxide 2-3%

Surfactant <2%

Non-Hazardous Ingredients <10%

quote:

a Remington engineer told of investigating a complaint from the LAPD (I think) that their pump shotguns were becoming unreliable. Investigation shows that police armorer sprayed entire gun, including trigger group, every night with WD40. Turns out that the shotguns had a build up of wax deposits that prevented reliable firing.

The Remington engineer was mistaken. The problem ingredient isn't "wax", the problem is that it dries into a varnish-like film that's useless in a gun and can cause problems in fire control groups.

If WD-40 is used to lift and float water off a surface and then replaced by a "real" oil it's great stuff to have in a gun cleaning box. Otherwise, it's NOT.

I don't know about the LAPD, but I've a 870 that I've been spraying with WD40 for probably 40 years (I don't treat my rifles like my shotguns)and it's still cooking. My rifles get a through cleaning before I sight them in for the fall. Then, other than wiping them down with an oil rag once in a while, they're not touched. If I fall in the creek or hunt in a downpour, I cover the scope lenses with baggies and hose down the entire rifle with WD40. I stand it muzzle down in a corner and leave it overnight. In the morning, I wipe the slick off of the stock and run a single dry patch through the bore and go hunting. Before being put back in the locker, the rifle is cleaned throughly. I don't expect the WD40 to be a long time protector.

WD40 is an excellent tool to have in your cleaning box but it is not the do-all, be-all that some folks make it out to be; nor, is it worthless

It's not surprising that the oil can rusted between the oil level and the top. That will happen with just about anything. This is why it's better to store your outboard motor gas cans full rather than half or so.

Beeman,
it was unopened, ever, till i opened it that day ...

I have WD40 on my bench but I don't use it for very much. It seems to work pretty well for removing the cosmolene type stuff they put on machine tools. I would also use it as a first pass for displacing water but beyond those applications I don' have much use for it.
Cliff

there is a great use for wd40 .. it removes all the stickem residue from duct tape

It's also pretty fair for taking silicone caulk off your hands and for removing oil and petroleum lubricants off of just about anything.