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Many folks I come across have thehabit of spraying WD-40 into the action/reciever/internals of their rifles, shotguns, handguns or whatever. For my part, I never use the stuff, never will. Seen too many problems from it. | ||
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Choice 4: Spray it on skin to get rid of poison oak | |||
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From an email I received for some fun:
I use it on my firearms during the warm months and clean and keep the action bone dry while hunting cold months. I displaces water and IMO helps prevent rust. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill | |||
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Got an old Glenfield 60 for use as a loaner for my friends kids when we go out shooting or rabbit hunting. I clean the gun in Kerosene and then I hose everything down including the trigger assembly with a pump bottle of WD-40, working the bolt, hammer and lifter a few times before blowing out all the excess. This gun sits for looooong periods of times between cleanings and uses, and to this date, some 30 years later, the WD-40 hasn't harmed the gun or it's function in any way. I'm sure, as with everything, if you use it in excess, or, simply spray the stuff in the action and just leave it, it is going to attract all kinds of crap which can cause problems, but, if you are careful to blow out all the excess and wipe the gun down, you will be just fine. 
So what problems have you personally seen? | |||
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Mostly the gunking that you refer to. I used to live in a shotgun only for deer state, so there were a lot of shotguns around, naturally. If someone was having a problem with a gun(usually a shotgun, but not always) such as failing to cock or unreliable ignition (due usually, to slow fireing pin speed) the first question I, or any of the gunsmiths I associated with would ask, was what they used to lube the gun. Most common answer was "WD-40". In most every case, a detail teardown and cleaning, followed by Break-Free was all that was needed to "fix" the problem.. | |||
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I think the biggest problems coming from using WD40 is the fact that it gets used on is stuff that is probably dirty in the first place and never gets cleaned properly. The dust and dirt gets trapped and mixed in with the lube and eventually builds up causing a problem. Every time the door locks on my pickup start acting up, first thing I do is hose 'em with WD40 and the problem goes away til the next time. Have I ever taken them apart and thouroughly cleaned the mechanism? No. | |||
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I accidently sprayed some on an old trailer hitch, and it grew hair on it. | |||
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Maybe it'll grow hair on my head  Rojelio | |||
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It absolutely works as a fish attractant when sprayed on cut anchovies or sardines for stripers or catfish. Probably 70% of the boats on Lake Mead have a can on board for that purpose. ______________________ RMEF Life Member SCI DRSS Chapuis 9,3/9,3 + 20/20 Simson 12/12/9,3 Zoli 7x57R/12 Kreighoff .470/.470 We band of 9,3ers! The Few. The Pissed. The Taxpayers. | |||
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One thing it's not good for is rubber parts like O rings in air tools. Ruins them every time. "If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so." - Thomas Jefferson | |||
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WD-40 is a penetrant, so you wouldn't want to use it on anything that you don't want penetrated, such as primers or wooden stocks, which it makes punky. Personally, I don't use it as a lubricant or a preservative - there are better options for both. Jaywalker | |||
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I got a real good deal on a Canjar trigger ($25) that was inop. Someone had used WD40 on it and a varnish had formed between the trigger lever and the side plates. Nasty to remove but worth the trouble. The main use that I have for it is spraying in on the Kurt vise on my milling machine and the table surface. | |||
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it can't be to special.......its to dang cheap. I will work, but much better stuff, trans fluid for one. Some love it, some think its the main cause for bolt handles coming off M700 Remingtons and the limiting factor of the 45/70  | |||
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Man, this stuff is better than Amsoil  | |||
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Long ago I lived in a house with an evaporative cooler. WD-40 did not protect from rust with the high humidity. Use it in Nevada and it is probably great. Use it in an area of high humidity and you will probably regret it. I have not used it on a firearm in about 35 years. It works well for cleaning the crap out of loading dies and removing road tar off of your car. There have been dozens of corrosion tests published that tested WD-40 and many other similar products. I do not remember WD-40 ever being a good performer in any of the tests. | |||
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WD 40 is the "duct tape" or bailing wire of the chemical age. I keep a can with the rattle spray paint cans, one squirt will clear paint from the nozzels. I heard the formula changed app 5 years ago excluding some volatle components. If I am out of ether I have sprayed the "old" formula in carburators to start small engines in cold weather, the current formula seems to work less well. Roger | |||
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All of the bolt guns brought into my shop that would not fire would be full of dry WD-40. It is impossible to desolve and has to be removed mechanically. The firing pins would be frozen solid. Want to have fun! Spray it in your locks. I have seen tumblers frozen so tight a key could not be pounded in. The stuff does a real bad job of preventing rust. I think it actually promotes it. I sprayed my table saw and it rusted faster then ever. I now use wax. I also sprayed my band saw base which is painted and it rusted too. I only use it now to lube cherries when I cut aluminum boolit molds. The best spray ever is Birchwood-Casey Sheath. | |||
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yep.. the major problem is guys not doing proper cleaning.. it wouldn't matter if they sprayed CLP or ATF on it, the "problem" wouldn't change. however, brownells does suggest against using it on new bluing in their blueing salts documentation. opinions vary band of bubbas and STC hunting Club Information on Ammoguide about the416AR, 458AR, 470AR, 500AR What is an AR round? Case Drawings 416-458-470AR and 500AR. 476AR, http://www.weaponsmith.com | |||
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FWIW I have a small drill press in a remote, humid location that I don't get to very often, and the WD has kept it rust free for years. | |||
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WD40 is a water displacing oil. It is good for spraying Black Powder guns that have been washed with water. It is a marginal penetrant, and a worsr lubricant. It does dry eventually into a tough film. I can't speak to the fish bait thing, but it does smell nice (but not as nice as Hoppes) Good Luck! p.s. It was Convair (division of General Dynamics) no Corvair | |||
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Agreed, I'd ealily date a girl that dabbed a little Hoppes behind each ear before I'd date a girl using WD-40! /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill | |||
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The PA farmers I know buy WD-40 in 55 gal drums to spray all of their farm equipment. Strange how rusty they are and how much repairing they have to do. Of course, after they clean their guns, they spray them down with WD-40 too and it has made me a lot of money over the years. A lot of blue jobs too after they put a WD-40 soaked gun in a gun case to store it. | |||
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I live in the southeast. It's humid here. I hunt and sometime work with tools in the rain, not because I want to but because them's the conditions that prevail. I love WD 40 for what it is supposed to do and I also recognise it's limitations. WD 40 is, first and formost, a water displacer. It lifts water off surfaces and out of crevices in guns. But it is a very light oil that cannot provide rust protection for more that a couple or three days. That gives time for the surface water to evaporate or get wiped off. Long term protection requires a different product. I really like Auto Transmission Fluid as a light oil and rust protector following a spray of WD 40. Sheath and others are great too, but they are expensive and I find them no better than ATF. WD 40 WILL evaporate and rapidly loses any significant rust protective and lubricating qualities it has. And it does leave a layer of sticky "varnish" if it is not removed or mixed with a less evaporative protecting. But, use it as it should be used and it is an excellant product. IMHO. | |||
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Rojelio, It won't grow hair. Try Preparation H. It won't grow hair either but it will shrink your head to fit the hair you have!  99% of the democrats give the rest a bad name. "O" = zero NRA life member | |||
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Jim, best one I ever heard! Thanks for that. | |||
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I 2nd the notion that it makes a good fish attractant. My old man told me that and I though he had finally lost it. After he reeled in 3 or 4 more then I did, I started hosing down my lures. It's wierd, but it works on the fishies. | |||
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My dad worked for years as one of the lead machinists in the shop which did the actual final assembly of both Polaris and Poseidon missiles. Often, after the missiles were completed, they were sprayed down with the original WD-40, and stored outside in the plant yard, uncovered. It rained on them, sleeted on them once in a while, and they were subjected to a combo of rain and urban smog. They did not rust. Eventually my dad and every one of his crew died of mesothelioma caused by the asbestos also involved in the building/assembly processes, but the WD-40 worked safely, and as advertised. My country gal's just a moonshiner's daughter, but I love her still. | |||
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Two things I really like about WD-40. It has made me quite a bit of money over the last 30 years gumming up firearms, especially the trigger mechanisms. Second it smells really good. I use to have real problems controlling rust on my lathes, mills, saw tables and other equipment with WD-40. A few years ago I developed a combination cleaning solvent and rust preventive vaguely similar to "Eds Red". I now have long term rust protection for my equipment and customers guns. Craftsman | |||
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Thanks bfrshooter. Glad you got a grin. I will tell you one use I have found for WD-40. If you have a satellite dish and are in an area where you get snowfall spray your dish with WD-40 and snow will not stick to it and screw your reception up! Jim 99% of the democrats give the rest a bad name. "O" = zero NRA life member | |||
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I'll try anything once  Rojelio | |||
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Correction: Almost anything!!!  Rojelio | |||
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A Google groups search on this topic in rec.guns or rec.crafts.metalworking will produce 10,000 hits. I have caught more salmon with the pole with WD40 sprayed on the hook, line, and sinker. If I buy a gun that smells like WD40, I clean the junk out of there. | |||
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The Marine Corp took it away from from everybody, because it is not a lubricant, and many guys were trying to lube their weapons with it, and ruining boltcarriers and bolts, not to mention 15th round jams. Of the whole list that Vopodog listed, did you see one mention of squirting it into your weapon? As far as ATF (transmission fluid, not the federal knuckleheads) is concerned, have you tried Mobil 1 for extreme sub zero tempature lubrication? With this warm winter here, it´s not needed this year, but I use it when it gets down to -15, so my firing pin doesn´t stick on my sauer 202. WD-40 doesn´t lubricate, and my ´liberated´light weapons oil from uncle sam was freezing. | |||
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I only use it if I am hunting in wet conditions to prevent rust. So far I have never had a spot of rust on any firearm used during wet hunting conditions. After the hunt I wipe it off and apply a more appropriate lube/cleaner. Lou **************** NRA Life Benefactor Member | |||
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Unfortunately, I did not do the latter on a Browning BPS shotgun and ended up with 2 rust spots on an otherwise unblemished receiver. Never again. I changed to BreakFree CLP 30 years ago. Have had zero surface rust problems since. I wouldn't even use it on a manure spreader. I think it's crap. | |||
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Darn- It seems that WD40 works for some folks and dosn't for other. I have had good luck with it. I use it for a quick fix, as in the field when I need something slicked up, or a quick wipe down. There are better specific products, but I (and speaking only for my self) find that WD40 is a great general use product loke duct tape or elmers glue. I did lube an old regulator clock with it that had not run in 50 years, it worked there. Would I squirt it into a Rolex? no. WD-40 will clean it self, if you have a build up, do a little squirt and wioe it down and it will clean the old off. Dry slide or a dab of griphite seems to be the best for most things that meed a lub that would not freeze. Oil is oil and will get gummy and thicken up as temps fall, and thin out as temps rise. Except sperm oil which you can't get any more. So as with women. some like redheads and other blonds, go with what works for you. Judge Sharpe. Is it safe to let for a 58 year old man run around in the woods unsupervised with a high powered rifle? | |||
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I appreciate all the insights and opinions, thanks!!!! | |||
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I agree. However, if you read the WD-40 website, or even the can, it claims it is! | |||
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One thing WD-40 is good for I forgot to mention. When you are using stock finishes and want to clean your hands, WD-40 is a good solvent and smells much better than mineral spirits. Just spray a little on, rub it in, wipe off with paper towells, then wash hands with soap and water. Craftsman | |||
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