Aspiring marksman.

Ya'll must be using a different WD-40 than I have. Been using it for years and never have had the problems you talk about.

If you have such problems, have you written to the manufacturer about your experiences? If not, how come?

Because it says it's penetrating oil, which it does fine. I've learned how to work with it. I'm not trying to stop anyone else from using it. Just giving a few tips.

WD-40, seems like every one uses it. I, do not own a can and never will. I, do not like the stuff.

WD 40 WAS DEVELOPED TO PRESERVE THE PPER THIN METAL EXTERIOR SHELLS OFROCKETS TO BE SHOTINTO SPACE.
THE PEOPLE THAT MADE IT FOR NASA stated using it for a whole heck of a lot of other purposes.
I strongly believe in limiting the amount of water admitted into the barrel andWD 40 gets rid of any thatsnaeks by. either self inflicted or ambient humidity.
I attempt, successfully. to saturate the steel of the barrel with WD 40, smoking it into the molecular structure of the metal.

As fr s the difficulty in removing its coating from the bore of the rifle. The preforming shot takes care of that quite nicely.

The last time I cleaned both of my rifles ws with the almost totally waterless method I had discovered and the the two barrels were stored inhumed St. Louis for over 15 years and when checked after that length of time showed NO rust or black schmaltz in both sweet, clean well preserved barrels.


I would never use WD $0 as a lubricants in bolt actionrifes. The complaints people make about WD 40 are exactly the things that make is very useful.
I am sure it would gum up the inner workings of a lock, but that same gumming up would be an easy removed rather long term block against any moisture getting to the steel of the barrel. Water really likes to attack steel as all the old navy paint chippers can well express.

Dutch Schoultz

S.Kenton said:

I don’t know about shop tools, but WD40 works great for me for a short term bore preservative. Dutch Shoultz’s early systems reccomends using it as such. I was already using it before I got my copy. Now I have a question for you, when smithing how do you actually A) know exactly what was used as a cleaner or preservative? B) how do you know exactly how long ago the said cleaner or preservative was applied? C) how do you know that it wasn’t accidentally mixed with somthing and it caused that effect? I’ve never experienced the effects of WD40 such as your describing.

Click to expand...

If you have hard deposits or rust in the bore, or for storage the best I've found is Fluid Film. Not petro based but made from lamb oils. Used by the U.S. Navy, NASA, the list goes on and on. Just google it, also mentions BP firearms. $16 plus tax here, for sure cheaper in the States.

brazosland said:

It is water based and hydroscopic.

The water base is what gives it its ability to penetrate. The water penetrates and carries the oils with it.

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No. Just no. Not even close.

https://files.wd40.com/pdf/sds/mup/wd-40-multi-use-product-aerosol-low-voc-sds-us-ghs.pdf

The internet myth surrounding WD40 is amazing.

You correct.

Wait...I thought you could only post stuff on the internets that is TRUE!!!
WOW, what a shocker

I know my dad's friends had the new 870 semi auto shotguns in the 70's, and started using WD-40 to keep them operating smoothly... but the problem was once the liquid dried the "solids" stayed, and they ended up carrying a can in their hunting jacket and spraying more and more to keep them operating.

Years later I became good friends with a Gunsmith of modern guns... he warned me WD-40 would leave a varnish when it dried and would gum up and even endanger the user by coating the sear and causing AD's.

Like most chemicals, and most things... if used for its intended purpose it does a great job...

We used it on older tractors to displace water in distributors on wet mornings and it worked great...

I worked for the airline, UAL for 42 years. Seen WD-40 for a while and then they quit using it. They went to CRC and LPS since spraying WD-40 on switches and metals messed them up. Looking into panels showed LPS 3 sprayed on the aluminum.
I had a lot of Sears tools with painted bases like the radial arm saw. I sprayed with WD-40 to wipe dust off. I never seen painted metal rust so fast.

If the metal was painted, why did it rust? I thought the purpose of paint was to seal the metal to keep air away from it.