doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Snap caps

Just received these great snap cups with cotton mop from USA. Great accesories for taking care our guns even if they are hammer guns.

A bit WD-40 on the cotton mop and Milady is ready to rest until the start of the new season.

How many of you use these accesories?

[img]https://i.ibb.co/nzDbsk7/IMG-20230706-184207-578.webp[/img]
[img]https://i.ibb.co/wdjLhjP/IMG-20230706-184207-607.webp[/img]
[img]https://i.ibb.co/KWpbGrS/IMG-20230706-184207-621.webp[/img]

Sorry, but the embeded link does not work as other times.

Those are nice ones. I just ordered some A-ZOOMS .300 Weatherby Magnums from Amazon. They were really hard to find. Good luck!!

I’ve been told that mops on snap caps can encourage rust in the chambers. I’ve never experienced this because I do not use the mops but a good friend whom I trust warns against it. As usual, your mileage may vary.

I once bought a 16 gauge Fox which an owner had placed two paper empty hulls in the chambers as snap caps I think. Must have been there for decades. Over time those chambers rusted and pitted so badly that it was ruined. I had it chamber sleeved down to 20 gauge. In effect it became an over bored 20 with 16 gauge bores. Great shooting gun. After that I stopped using long term chamber mops or snap caps. For reasonable storage I’m sure they are great. Just periodically remove them and recharge them with a good oil.

Thank you for your words and advice!

I'm surprised because you say that these snap caps with cotton mop can create rust in the chamber. I think quite the opposite. I put some WD-40 oil on the cotton mop and I hope it will be good for the barrel.

Best regards!

I have to agree with the rust crowd. Fabric/cloth/wool touching metal in a humid environment is a kiss of death in my experience. Why would one need a snap cap for a hammer gun?

Can you explain why cotton mop lightly soaked in WD-40 can rust the chamber?

Snap caps aren't neccesary for hammer guns, you are wright, but with it I can shoot at home (I like them in my guns.)

I have used the English nickel caps for years


John
Arrieta2

WD-40 does not last forever. It is a light machine oil. Not a lubricant and left out in the open will evaporate in about 15 minutes. WD-40 will evaporate in closed spaces much slower. A wool mop will attract moisture over prolong periods of time. And moisture in chambers will cause problems over time.

In my Fox the paper hulls had deteriorated and the wax coating was long gone. The brass was corroded and stuck in the chambers. I drove them out with a cleaning rod. The paper attracted moisture and the long term result was badly pitted chambers. The lady I bought it from said it had been stored like I found it for over 30 years. I thought it was loaded with live shells but they were two empty hulls. I suspect he late husband used them as snap caps and forgot about them or never checked them and then passed away.

They were so bad I would not shoot them. I could have had Briley chamber sleeve them back to 16 but I already had a couple 30” Sterlingworth 16’s, but no 20 gauge 30” guns. So I went down one gauge and fitted a new 20 gauge extractor. In part I figured the extra thickness of metal, going from 16 to 20 would help make the chambers safer. Most likely it did nothing but extra metal never hurts. My son, in northern Ohio has the gun now and likes it for early Dove if his wife claims the Ruger 28 gauge. It patterns great and we left the full and full chokes as original from the factory.

If I come across another 20 gauge set of barrels with the same issue I am going to have it chamber sleeved down to 28. About the only way I’ll afford a 28 Fox. I’ve got a couple 26” orphan barrels but a 28” or 30” 20 gauge barrels are going to be a tougher find. At least it has for the last 20 years.

So if you use WD-40 make sure you refresh it from time to time or use a better gun oil. Just use it sparingly.

Thank you for the information. I am curious what a problem these cotton mop snap caps can be for chambers. I will be careful and check the gun often.

I use WD-40 to clean all my guns and if I find it dries quickly on the cotton mop I will use another more suitable one.

Best regards!

Sorry Jon, but with all due respect, that's bullshit. WD-40 is an oil, as you stated, not a solvent that evaporates. It does have solvent characteristics, but it is not evaporative. I have a can of WD-40 that quit spraying so I released the gas with a nail and kept the oil. Been using it for 4-5 years.
JR

Call it what you want. Wd40 is a poor choice for long lasting protection for guns. It is water displacing formula 40, hence wd40 as a name. Not a long lasting oil for metal protection. I tried in on a table saw surface and it did not last long. It is a blend of very light machine oils.

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Joe Webster
Chief Technical Officer at Stabilization Technologies LLC (2000–present)Author has 1.9K answers and 1.2M answer views1y

WD-40 is composed of many different chemicals, and only about 10-20% of these are lubricants. Even then this small amount is only a very light mineral lubricant. Most of the other components are intended to help penetration, but are volatile and are intended to evaporate. Its defined as a petroleum-based solvent that evaporates, leaving behind a non-volatile lubricant. So, 15 minutes is the lenght of time for the solvent to evaporate, leaving of course a nice finish. The recommended shelf-life is 5 years after buying the item

Best youtube video that compared many different type of protection. WD-40 was near the bottom. You can find a lot of videos on youtube that do a good job or real testing of different products.




It is your gun, do what you want. I used WD-40 for years but have not used it for a gun for 20 years or more. I do you it if I have to cut and clean rust off a table saw or joiner cast iron surface. Then a good paste wax to follow. WD-40 will not protect them for long. I learned that lesson the hard way.

I suppose you would have to define “long-lasting protection”. If we’re talking a year or more storage, no I wouldn’t recommend WD40, but I can assure you, a shotgun bore sprayed until dripping wet with WD-40 and stored for 6 months will not rust if stored inside a controlled atmosphere. CorrosionX HD or LPS #2.is probably the best for long term and rough service storage.

I know this: I’ve been using WD-40 for 50 years for cleaning and lubricating firearms and I’ve never had it fail to do the job intended. Lots of other choices out there for sure, and I use them as well. The best “gun oil” I’ve found is a high performance transmission fluid:
https://www.swepcolube.com/products/swepco-714-heavy-duty-4c4-transmission-fluid/

If you can’t rust a gun in Mississippi where can you. Take care.

I never cared to use WD-40 around a gun. They make too many good gun oils to use WD-40. Mainly because it is so thin it could run down into the wood easier than a good thick gun oil. I'm a Clenzoil user. Have been for years. But I don't see any harm in using a cotton snap cap. You should be taking your guns out of the safe about once a week or so to wipe them off, check them and dry fire them, anyway. And if you shoot your gun a lot, cotton snap caps shouldn't do any harm. As someone said, I wouldn't leave them in for months without removing them. That would only be asking for trouble. Plastic snap caps or A-ZOOMS are what I use......................... I had a buddy who used to fill old empty plastic hulls with lead shot and seal the end with JB Weld and use them for a snap cap. Then one day we were all sitting inside the clubhouse after we had got done shooting and he came in and said that he had just shot a hole in the side if his van. He got confused I guess and put a live round in his gun before he dry fired it and put it in his van.. So if you are going to use an empty hull for a snap cap be careful.

With all due respect, Jon, the next time that you want to spray something on a table saw top- use a silicone spray. The wood will glide right across it. And I wouldn't call WD-40 a machine oil. Machine oil used for drill presses for the drill bits when you are drilling through metal is a lot thicker. And for lubricating- you couldn't use it for gearwork. It is too thin. About the only use that I have ever found for WD-40 is if I can't reach something that I wanted lubricated, and the can has the long spray tube. After that I would wipe the WD-40 off and use something better, like a thick oil or grease. I might use WD-40 to soak rusty threads on a screw or bolt. But that's about it. And as I said, I wouldn't use it near a gun because it is so thin and could run down into the wood. Thre are too many good gun oils on the market to use WD-40. Just my .02 cents worth. Good luck.

This thread is getting interesting and thank you all for the information.

I'll get my little gun out later and see if the cotton mop is still impregnated with the oil. I think it is and the chamber will be fine.

WD-40 is the oil I use for my guns (I find it here easily) and a great gunsmith told me it is good for steel and even wood.

Regards!

Regardless of what product you use, NEVER go to the excess of applying so much it can run. Plenty of good products for firearms that are thin enough to run into the wood. Another good example of "less is more". I didn't think this needed to be mentioned on a forum as knowledgeable as this one. Another example of the Great American Tradition of over-oiling firearms.
JR

Jimmy, I bought a used cabinet table saw that had boxes stored on it in an unheated garage for many years after the man died. It was rusted and pitted so badly I had to sand the top down to get most of the worst rust and pits. It had grooves from rust. Then I had to get it flat again and then I used Johnson paste wax as a protection. Wood slides well over this wax as well. I did use about a gallon of WD-40 as lubricant during the sanding and to clean the rust and metal. I spent a full day getting the top back into shape. That saw never rusted for about a decade, until I sold it and replaced it with a SawStop table saw. Those old Powermatic table saws were built like battleships. Heavy, with a 5 HP motor, it cut through stuff like a hot knife through butter.

Some time has passed...

The cotton mop is slightly wet from the oil and the chamber is in perfect condition.

To each his own, but there are simply far better products than WD-40 for the care of fine firearms.

I see it the same as the guy who pays $1000-1500 for a quality gun dog pup, feeds it the cheapest supermarket food he can get, and then wonders why it's at the vet all the time.

WD-40 might have some oil in it, but, it would only be considered a lubricant for something that doesn’t need much lubricating to begin with. It would have almost zero shear or load characteristics, and would beat a hasty retreat from high temps. That said, I think it is a great bore solvent, and a bit on some 0000 steel wool brightens blued surfaces like magic. Any decent gun oil is going to be superior to WD-40 as an actual lubricant.


You guys are using paste wax on your machinery? What the hell, it isn’t 1953 anymore:



Use this. I would never use it near a gun, as it has silicones and wax of some sort in it, but, it slicks up the surface of a metal implement and holds rust out very well-the facilities people for some reason believe there is profit in letting the temps and humidity go wild in the plant over the weekend, leaving paper cutter beds that aren’t treated with Quality-Pol completely rusted. This will hold them from rusting.

I vividly remember the response to a question of case accessories I asked of Herve’ Bruchet. “Crap that goes in an English gun case” he muttered. “Snap the triggers, and put the Darne in the case. No need of snap caps or screw drivers, and the oil bottle will just spill someday”.

Works for me.


Best,
Ted

In the 1980's I had a small gunship in western MN. WD-40 was a money maker for me. Duck hunters would spray their triggers and actions with the stuff and it would turn to a thick gummy varnish like crud. Their shotguns would quit working and I made fair money cleaning them and getting them up and running. I won't use it on my rifles and shotguns.

I don't leave snap caps in my shotguns, I fire them on snap caps and remove the barrels take.the snap caps out and put it back together, the springs are.relaxed until you open the barrels and cock it.

You forgot to mention one thing- paper. I have an early Ruger single six and I bought back in the seventies. I left it in my desk drawer laying on some paper for about 6 months. I opened the desk drawer one time after I'd forgotten about it laying there and the side of the cylinder had rust all over it from laying on the paper for so long. Luckily none of the rest of the gun was not rusted. And I was fortunate enough to have an extra 22 magnum cylinder that I stuck in the gun. So don't leave your guns laying on paper either or they are sure to rest. And I know a lot of people are against it, but when I store my guns for a long period of time I stand them up on the barrel with the butt stock up in the air. This keeps the oil from running down into the butt stock. Good luck.

must not have been acid free paper...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid-free_paper

I have one set of snap caps that contain VPCI, or Vapor Phase Corrosion Inhibitor. They seemed to work well. I also wrap guns in VPCI plastic for longer term storage. Placing some in the gun safe adds an extra layer of protection. VPCI products emit a vapor that displaces atmospheric oxygen from metal surfaces, and keeps steel from rusting.

A piece of VPCI paper or plastic also seems to work very well to prevent rusting of tools in my roll-around tool boxes in my shop, since it is not heated when I'm not actually in there working. I just lay some in the drawers under my tools. Prior to using the VPCI materials, sometimes condensation would form on cold metal surfaces when humidity levels rose and temperatures dropped. Here's a link to the company that produces VPCI products. It is often found used to wrap bearings, gears, tooling, and precision parts that need to be protected from corrosion during storage and shipping. They say it only lasts for a couple years, but it seems to keep working longer than that.

https://www.theruststore.com/Learn-about-VCI-W23C2.aspx

Nope. It was probably just a cheap magazine if I remember correctly. Most paper isn't acid free unless it is expensive and is used for something like matting an expensive picture or lithograph.

And another thing about using oils like WD-40- the contents that are in a spray can are under pressure which means they're going to have a certain amount of moisture. Just another reason not to be spraying it on a gun. You won't have that problem with gun oil that is in a plastic bottle.

Moisture? Why is that?

I really don't think there's any "moisture" (water) in WD-40. It is a water displacing product. If it had water in it, it could not displace water. Water would bond and mix with it.

This is an excerpt from a description of one of the ingredients in WD-40, Nonane. "Another alkane. One reason these molecules are so handy here: Their hydrogen atoms don't hold a charge, so they can't connect to the hydrogen or oxygen in water, which makes alkanes water-repellent. WD-40, after all, stands for "water displacement, 40th attempt."

Maybe I don't understand what you meant by "moisture". I have always thought moisture to be another way of referring to water.

Do you have an air compressor at home in your garage? When you get done using it do you let the air out of the tank? Why do you do that? Because compressed air has moisture in it and it will rust the bottom of the air compressor tank. I always learned it anytime something was under compression it is going to have a certain amount of moisture in it. So that is why I never used air compressed oil on my guns. So just to be safe I always use Gun oil in a can on my guns. They are too critical to take the chance.

I don't think air is the propellent in aerosol cans.

Jimmy, respectfully, there's a big difference between aerosol compressants and compressed air in my shop.

It's not. It is liquefied gas such as butane, isobutane, or propane.

I still won't take the chance. I like Gun oil in a plastic bottle. And Clenzoil has always been my favorite. Good luck.

Jimmy, just for information's sake, who were you previously on this board? I see you have been here since Jan. 2002 with 4914 posts, but your screen name is relatively new here, as best as I can remember anyway.
JR

I have always had the same screen name. I just dropped out of shooting, guns, trap shooting and the whole works for several years. So I am now just getting back into it. I'm starting to remember terms like dolls head, underlever, swamped ribs, etc.. If you look at the thread about Ned Scwings that I brought back I posted on it several years ago. I sold 7 Model 21s and a few other guns and paid cash for a Corvette back around 2011. I kinda got interested in cars and other hobbies.

I had arm problems and I couldn't hold a gun, so I quit trap and skeet shooting for some years. But now that problem has gotten better, so I just rejoined my shooting club and the ATA recently. I kept a couple model 21s and I have a project going on right now that I will share with the board when it is finished- which should be in the next few weeks. So forgive me if I am a little bit out of touch. Several of the guys I knew on here are now gone. Just as the guys at my shooting club have all passed away and now I feel like a stranger there. But I have always had the same name. I just haven't been a while for a while until recently. Take care and good luck. Jimmy W

I do remember Wonko the Sane. He used to get on here all the time and scream Yabba- Dabba-Doo or some crazy saying. I tried to get him to say it when I was pulling his chain about blocking the barrels on Berettas, but he didn't catch on what I was doing. .Haha.

Today I have take my lovely single barrel gun with the snap cap inside and have a sad surprise. The cotton had rust and I had to clean the inside of the barrel very well.

Some of you were wright when advice me.

Best regards!

Oh no!! You mean you left that snap cap in there for nine months? Oh well!! 🙄 Take a brass cleaning brush from a cleaning rod- stick it in a drill and run it in and out of the barrel. That should work.

The cotton wouldn't have caused rust if it had been charged with RIG. RIG is a great rust inhibitor. The only purpose for the mop is to hold grease or oil.

RIG is pretty much all I use to protect the metal on my guns. I have a lint free rag, lightly soaked in RIG, that I keep in a short plastic medicine (Rx) bottle. All metal surfaces get wiped down with that rag before putting the gun away. Never had a problem with rust since a friend told me about RIG.

Campero,
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Sounds like no real damage done.

Best regards,

Larry

So, is rig a liquid now? Years ago I used some and it was real thick and gooey. I used it on a gun and it was so messy, I never used it after that. That's why I just got into the habit of wiping them down with oil every once in a while.

When the hunting season was over I put my shotgun away with the snap cap inside. Yesterday I took it out to check it and found that the cotton had a brown wick. I looked inside the chamber and there was also a stain. I cleaned everything well with a 28ga chamber brush, oil and cotton cloths that I wiped with a ramrod.

I haven’t found RIG for sale as a liquid. However, I buy RIG in these little jars (link below) and it comes as a light grease. Sitting in my garage on a warm day it will liquify. As I said, I rub it into a lint free cotton cloth ( like a shoeshine rag) until the rag is just tacky. Then I keep the cloth in a plastic jar. A jar of RIG will last me ten plus years. A RIG rag will last me 6-8 years, until it gets tattered. I bought a pack of lint free cotton cloths in the baby department at Walmart.

https://www.amazon.com/Birchwood-Casey-Long-Lasting-Preservative-Protection/dp/B0C6V2D8RZ

That's what I have - a small jar of it. I'll have to give that a try. Thanks a lot. Good luck.

Well, at least it does not sound like it was damaged. You might want to try to check it more often. Good luck.

To clean my guns I use these two products. The oil for general cleaning and the grease to put on some parts where there is friction or rubbing.

I will not use these cotton snap caps again, where I don't want to put grease on it because I don't like grease in the chamber.

I've used Clenzoil for wiping down my guns, using their wiping pad. It has worked very well and has a good viscosity for most usages.
Karl

It has been posted many times -- by others
WD-40 is not an oil.
I use Ballistol

On another note…..most of the clay target organizations are not keen on the use of snap caps due to safety concerns.

As far as oil, bore cleaners, & rust preventatives….someone will always come up with a better formula….allegedly.😄

👍 The best oil there is.

I used WD-40 in the 70’s when my focus was cleaning 1911 45’s. After cleaning I would wipe the parts down with it then reassemble. It worked well.

Later I used Teflon based lubricants like break free. It seemed better at coating for weapons storage, though I can’t complain about WD-40.

I have used Ballistal and Clenzoil, but found Eesox my favorite, both of the former are good, I just like Eesox.

In the last decade or more my lubricant of choice is is Eesox. My solvent of choice is homemade Ed’s Red, or Hoppes (for guns where I want to avoid possible contact with wood stocks or grips)


The reality is most oil options will work, even motor oil, what matters is actually cleaning and oiling with somethin consistently.

I have found both old Rangoon Oil and Whale Oil paste on eBay, but neither tempted me away from Eesox, though they sit on my shelf.

I agree with what you said about oiling consistently! That is what I said, previously. You shouldn't stick a gun in a safe for several months and not expect it to rust. The slightest amount of moisture can cause problems. At least it will in my safe. I am pulling mine out at least every week or two and oiling them. But, to each his own.