can i use wd-40 if out of rem oil?

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I was tracking down a short circut in a wiring harness that had been submerged in water for a bit of a long time.
When I found the issue at a connection and opened it up, water poured out. When I was cleaning the connection, I grabbed my WD 40 can and gave both sides of the connection a good shot.
The young Soldier I was teaching said "I thought that stuff was only for cleaning guns?"
By the time I had everything fixed he knew a lot more about WD 40 than he ever might have liked to know.

I use 3 in 1 oil lately for lube, but Ive used motor oil, turbine engine oil, rem oil and whatever the military had available at the time while I as serving.
 
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I've used it since the early 1970s on my guns as a cleaner/lubricant. I never once in all that time experienced ANY of the adverse conditions people claim. I use other lubes and cleaners because I have them not because they are so much better. I keep plenty of WD-40 on my work bench and use it frequently. No problems....no worries.
 
To say WD-40 doesn't lubricate AT ALL is a bit over the top.

If there was no other lube available I would use WD-40 with confidence. I do use WD-40 sometimes as a cleaning step after scrub down.

Frankly the main drawback of WD-40 is the sticky gumbo left behind. In some of the better designed rust tests, WD-40 does OK.
 
when i don't have kroll around, i use wd40 to clean the barrel of my 22/45. then i run patches thru it till it's dry.
works for me.
 
I use RemOil or 3in1 depending on application. 3in1 is cheap and readily available just like WD. Even comes in convienient little bottle! Slicks things up real nice too.

I guess I might use WD40 in a pinch and wouldn't worry much about it.
 
The big B .....

I suggest the top rated Ballistol, :D .
It's CFC free, has a light pine odor, is non toxic, works on many items; polymer, wood, metal, etc.
It's easy to use and I keep a small can handy.
I recently found a local gun shop that sells Ballistol but you can buy it online:
www.midwayusa.com www.brownells.com .

I don't suggest WD40 but my friend in Penn Hills PA who owns 6 guns uses it often.

Rusty
 
I have seen this first hand, my Dad in a pinch wiped down a rifle with WD-40, and when we got it back out a few days later there was rust on the rifle. This was in the humid South.

My Dad has always used motor oil and it has always worked well. I don't remember why he used WD-40 that day, but it was the first and last time.
 
Odd?

I spray down my garden tools with WD-40 and leave them hanging in the garage year round.

It keeps them from rusting.
And they don't get gummy, or?

I also use WD-40 for cleaning old dried bullet lube and crude out of old guns I am working on.
And they don't get gummy, or??

I also use WD-40 as a Lubricant on door hinges, car door hinges, garage door openers & rollers, yards gates, and anything else that needs a good penetrating lube that rain won't wash off.

It IS lube, although it doesn't claim to be..



On to the next question?
By the time Remington, you, or I take a gun apart because it is gummed up with dried sticky oil.

How the heck do you know it was WD-40, or was it old goose grease or motor oil somebody used 40 years ago???

Answer me that if you can!!

rc
 
Apparently the real point of WD40 was to displace water from the early rockets sitting on the launch pad in Huntsville, AL. The name says it - Water Displacing formula #40.

It's a great solution to distributor caps that soak up humidity in spring and cause your ignition to start shorting out.

As a general lube, no, and WD now sells a separate product for that which is gaining a good reputation.

In the military it will immediately send you to the back of the line for weapons turn in - every armorer in the Armed Forces is taught to deny any and everyone who has a weapon that smells of it. It is NOT a good long term protective lubricant for weapons which will be stored for months at a time.

Never once seen WD evaporate into a sticky gummy mess or seize up small springs and parts on anything.
Click to expand...

Ask your locksmith about that - I did commercial keying for eight years and we all recognized WD40 as the #1 product that brought us work into the shop. It can, does, and will seize up the springs and tumblers in lock cylinders. We always charged full price and told the owner to use graphite powder to lube lock cylinders. NEVER use WD40 in a lock cylinder as a lube, you will eventually get locked out to your misfortune.
 
I have also seen many older dried out locks that were "lubed" with WD 40 and they worked really well for about a week - and then they were stuck up worse than they were before. It's a temporary fix at best. I have also seen more than a few guns that were "protected" with only WD 40 and were rusted terribly the first time they stayed in a humid environment for a couple of days. My experience is that WD 40 seems to evaporate off very quickly and leave almost no lubrication or protection. Repeated applications just build up the funk. It's better than nothing but there are also many products out there that work much better for lubing/protecting. For lubing and protecting guns the best thing I have found is Breakfree CLP. I have been using it since it was first introduced and never had any guns rust (including some race guns that were shot at matches in pouring rain).
 
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Use it or don't, it's up to you. I use it, have used it for over 4 decades and will continue to use it(on my guns and anything else). I'm happy with it. Others may do as you see fit.
 
I've used that stuff for over forty years on my guns, and have never experienced the gummy stuff. But I have seen a cocktail of mixed oils cause a sticky varnish. I was a very common problem when I was a typewriter technician back in the day. Some of you youngins will have to google "typewriter":D
 
OP didn't specify exactly what he was trying to lubricate, but WD is not the answer. And in many cases, neither is RemOil.

For metal parts that are sliding on other metal parts, a grease is usually preferable to an oil. It stays in place better and doesn't run. And it's what it was designed for.
Oil can be used on things that rotate and pivot.
 
In a pinch I'll use Wd-40 as lube, but I do it sparingly and infrequently. However, living in Florida all my guns get a wipe down of WD-40 on the exterior metal components to prevent rust, keep it away from the wood though. I've tried CLP, remoil, dri-lube, silicone based sprays over the years and I still haven't found a better rust preventer that WD. Although, I haven't tried paste wax, I've seen some members recommend that here. I have seen WD-40 gum up on internals and leave a kind of varnish on parts, but that took repeated applications and a long rime to develop. Had to use brake eaner and a whole mess of qtips to clean that one up
 
There is nothing better to dunk freshly blued gun parts in than a tank of WD-40 while the parts are still hot. I've tried many different oils for this final bluing step and nothing compares to WD-40.
 
WD-40 works great as a lube when I use a sawzall to cut lead. Maybe it's just the straw applicator that does a nice job squirting something that fights friction between the saw blade and the lead. When the saw is going down dry, the friction is horrendous. When I periodically spray WD-40 into the joint, the saw goes through the lead like butter and cuts the 2" lead by just the weight of the saw. Notice that can of miracle lube at the bottom :)

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Funny how people reel against wd-40 but you'll see another thread about the merits of Ed's Red acetone and tranny fluid mix. I even seen a recipe posted on here that has MEK as a main ingredient.

I don't feel wd-40 is a good choice for gun lube, but it's not going to ruin anything if it touches your firearm. I use it a lot for cleaning pocket knives, wiping down hand tools and guns and never had a problem with it gumming anything up.

As for a lubricant, I would just use motor oil and not worry about it.
 
this tread makes me think most of your guns need lots of lube. my 22/45 hates lube.
there's some oil left on after cleaning but that's it. i use kroil or wd40 or whatever, but in such small amounts i just don't believe anything i use will gum stuff.
my area is very arid so rusting is no problem, so the gun is dry.
 
Absolutely guns need very little if any lube (as in none) in the barrel or chamber unless you are storing. I agree on the 22/45 and Glocks and most polymer guns such as the CZ P-09, Springfield XDS, etc hardly need lube - just a touch in the slide ways.
 
The slide ways on a semi-auto ( typ pistol ) are the two areas on right and left that make contact when the slide (moving part) moves in the frame (fixed) - channel or groove. Some need more lube than others - a brand new stainless frame and slide may need more lube at first to keep galling and work hardening to a minimum.
 
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