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

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.