What oil in the bore after cleaning?

[Scott Olesen]

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. I have been trying to understand what I should use to protect the bore of my rifle after cleaning. I use warm water and soap to clean up after shooting and then dry the inside of the bore with clean patches and then use bore butter on a clean dry patch. I have seen some recommend Rem Oil or other products, but I always thought that you weren't supposed to use pertroleum based products with black powder. Do you clean the bore with alcohol before shooting to remove the oil? I see Jim Chambers sells a product called accraguard-any experience with this. Any hints or suggestions will be appreciated, I have had my Lyman Great Plains for awhile and the barrel looks pretty good with the bore light, I just want to do it right.

Thanks in advance,

Plaid Wool

 

[buford87]

I myself, and many others it would seem, do use alcohol to clean the oil out of the barrel before shooting. I have used Bore Butter to protect against rust but the BB did a poor job at best. To sum up use the best oil preventitive you can get then clean with alcohol just before shooting...............watch yer top knot.............

 

[Leatherbark]

Any gun oil or just plain motor oil and your gun will never rust. Swab it out before shooting. I like others use alcohol patch and then a dry patch and the load. I store the gun upside down to keep oil out of the firing chamber. I still like to pour a little alcohol down before swabbing and let it swoosh out of the nipple. Use 91% alcohol or the yellow HEAT gas drier which is methyl or ethyl(?) alcohol.

Bob

 

[Scott Olesen]

Thanks for the advice guys, I have always used Rem Oil in regular shotguns and rifles with good results, I will try it my black powder guns.

PW

 

[cynthialee]

I lost my bottle of Remington gun oil recently (it is somewhere in this place) and I decided to try out 3 in 1 in a couple guns and WD40 in the others. So far both seem to do the job.

 

[justahunter]

You can't use too much when storing your rifle either. Just realize you HAVE to get it dry before shooting. Like mentioned alcohol is good but so is brake-clean/carb cleaner and the like.

Good luck,

Todd

 

[Rifleman1776]

I have use many products over the years. But mostly WD-40 and RIG. Short term, WD-40 is fine. Longer, RIG. However, I recently have started using Ballistol since I have read so many glowing reports about it. Too soon for me to report results. I guess I'm still in the experimental stage with it.

 

[CrackStock]

RIG actually has a few products. RIG2 Sportsmans oil is good for regular use and RIG grease is very good for longer term storage.

However, I have used Rem Oil, 20W50 motor oil, Ballistol, Break Free and a host of others without seeing a lot of difference.

Tried Bore Butter and am not a fan of using it for any purpose except field expedient chapstick.

CS

 

[mooman76]

You were correct told about petrolium products and MLs don't mix but they were talking about bullet/patch lube. A little bit of oil isn't going to be enough to gum up the works. Petro based products when mixed with BP and fired turn to a tar like sludge. I have heard of some doing it and not having problems and others just the opposite. I believe it may depend on how much you shoot before you get enough to start gumming up things. I just use a light oil and dry fire a few caps and load but I live in a dry climate and can get by with very little oil for protection against rust. Another good thing is to store your gun muzzle down so if you do have excess oil it can drain out.

 

[David W.]

Ballistol

 

[stronics]

I wouldn't use motor oil for more than several days. It won't really protect for longer. I coated the ways on my lathes and metal surfaces and before long it rusting in spots. Hydraulic oil is better they say, it does seem to last longer.

For long term gun storage nothing I've found beats Rig grease. I'm sure there are other things but Rig has worked for me for 30 years at least and not ever let me down.
After cleaning any firearm that I'm not going to use in a week I just Rig it and forget it. I clean out with alcohol.
David

 

[Jumpshot]

I use break free to protect the bores of all my guns (muzzleloaders, centerfires, and rimfires). Never had a problem with rust, and some guns I've had in storage for years. I haven't found it necessary to use alcohol to remove it. I just run a couple of dry patches down the bore to wipe out the oil and it's ready to shoot. Very easy and I've never had trouble with it.

I did use bore butter a long time ago, but I wasn't happy with it. I prefer oil.

 

[1sgt]

Ballistol inside and out.

 

[William O.]

Yep, one or two alcohol wetted cleaning patches removes the bore oil and you're good to go. I used Rem oil for years with no rust issues but recently switched to Birchwood-Casey Barricade in the 4.5 ounce can because I can put just one or several drops of oil on the cleaning patch alone and then coat the bore after cleaning. Plus, Barricade performed well in some rust prevention tests that I read a while back so I feel that it works for me.

 

[Zonie]

I like Birchwood Casey Barricade (which used to be called Sheath).

It is a very thin oil that seems to dry to the touch leaving an excellent protective oil film.

If a gun oil that stays wet or some other kind of oil is used that remains fluid it is a good idea to store the gun with the muzzle pointed down.

This will keep the oil from puddling in the powder chamber, the flame channel or the breech of the barrel.

It is also a good idea to wipe the bore with something that degreases the surfaces before loading the gun.
Denatured alcohol, acetone, lacquer thinner, MEK or Disk Brake Cleaner will all so a good job of this.

 

[Matt85]

i use CLP and WD-40 both are effective. WD-40 seems to be the best bang for your buck though. an 8 oz can of WD-40 goes a long way if your not wastefull.

 

[270WSMANIC]

Just my experance, When getting the oil out I use a couple achoel patches. Now I have pushed some crud and achoel into the chamber and nipple that I cant easly get to. I then snap at least 2 caps with the muzzle pointed at a blade of grass, then load and shoot usually with no problems.

 

[Renegade Dan]

Ballistol or Breakfree CLP

 

[Rat Trapper]

A sales rep for Knight gave me several bottles of Knight oil. Do not know who makes it for Knight, but it has worked very well for me for the last 10 years. What ya want is a thin oil and remove it before you use the gun again.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I have come to the conclusion that petrolium based oils are best for rust prevention, but must be washed out before shooting. I used to use the old standby GI gun oil. ( I had a lot left from Nam) but a good friend recently retired from special forces and he said all they used was the "three in one oil ". I switched to it as my last bottles of GI oil ran out and like the results. :hmm: As to the post about Rem oil A few years back my nephew's boy gave me some to use at the old north west, rather than get up and go into the lodge as I asked him ,to to get my oil. That can was manure It lacqured up my bore something horrible. Plus the next week I had lap out his bore and completely disasemble and clean his lock since he had used it on the lock and it was lacquared up so bad the fly would not move. I realise it may have been just that one can but that one can was manure. :idunno: :idunno: