Valvoline oil

[Big Caliber]

Is there anything bad about using a little 5-20 Valvoline conventional oil to clean out a bore in addition to Hoppe's 9???

[T. O'Heir]

Nope. CF gave us nothing but motor oil for cleaning everything. No 'solvent' of any kind even in our supply system back then.

[RickB]

When you say "in addition", you don't literally mean adding motor oil to Hoppe's?

[mete]

Mixing things is not a good idea unless you know exactly what's in them !
There are some cleaning things I can think of that can kill you when mixed !!

[Mobuck]

I really don't see the need to add anything to Hoppes #9. It's about all I use unless I'm dealing with a problem bore. In fact, I leave the bore wet with Hoppes for storage. Never had a problem and it sucks the remaining copper out as it protects.

[Clark]

If I have motor oil in a bore, it is not for cleaning, but rust protection.
I patch it out of there before shooting.
Detergent motor oil, I do rub on the outside of guns with a toothbrush for cleaning.

[Gunplummer]

Yeah, I use it for storage too. It is sticky and does not work it's way down the gun as quickly as some gun oils.

[Slamfire]

Motor oil is not going to be an aggressive solvent, so if you are trying to dissolve powder and copper fouling, leave it out. You will just dilute the Hoppe's.

You can read up on bore cleaning ingredients by reviewing the logic of Ed' Red:


Ed's Red

http://handloads.com/articles/default.asp?id=9

[Hawg]

I will use engine oil for a lube or a wipe down.

[Big Caliber]

Thanks. I asked because after I cleaned out a rifle bore with Hoppe's, I was just going to run 1 patch w/ the motor oil and then 1 dry patch. Well, the dry patch came out dirty with carbon even though the I cleaned (or thought I cleaned) the bore thoroughly. I'm not looking to substitute oil for a solvent. The oil is only for rust control after cleaning. I was more concerned about the Valvoline as many folks like to use Castrol or some other synthetic oils. I've never had any problem mixing oils with Hoppe's, including Kroil oil. I always run a couple of dry patches thru the bores the night before a shooting outing.

[tobnpr]

Well, the dry patch came out dirty with carbon even though the I cleaned (or thought I cleaned) the bore thoroughly.

Engine oils have cleaning/dispersing properties to shed carbon and other contaminants from the moving parts into solution- as well as lubricating ones...

I don't use motor oil (and rarely Hoppe's, either), but I suspect that the motor oil could loosen deposits that were not dissolved initially by the Hoppe's.

[Don P]

Engine oils have cleaning/dispersing properties to shed carbon and other contaminants from the moving parts into solution- as well as lubricating ones...

I don't use motor oil (and rarely Hoppe's, either), but I suspect that the motor oil could loosen deposits that were not dissolved initially by the Hoppe's

An old trick I used as a auto mechanic. When your hand were really nasty with grease I would put some clean oil in my hands and rub it in. Worked real well to loosen and remove heavy deposits of grease and grime then followed up with soap and water

[g.willikers]

^^^
Yup, before automotive hand cleaners became available, motor oil, along with dish washing liquid, was the way to get clean enough to be able to go home.

If you want to use an automotive product for cleaning, ATF (auto trans fluid) does help.
It's one of the ingredients in Ed's Red mix.

[tobnpr]

Fuel oil (diesel) is a great "cleaner" to cut decades of crusty oil deposits on old lathes...

Of course, proper disposal is needed. Even with the diesel "pre-clean", still went through about 15 gallons of Purple Power

[buckmt1]

Thank you! I never thought of "motor oil" for barrel cleaning\storage. I learned something new. I've been using sewing machine oil (very light coat) since the late 70's. Will try MO.




Artillery King Of The Battlefield

[Unclenick]

Yes. Board member Hummer70, who was an Aberdeen Proving Grounds Test Director, said the Army Marksmanship Unit went over to Mobile 1 synthetic oil for all their bore cleaning and general maintenance lubrication. If you look at the formulations, some of the modern oils approach something like 20% additive content. These additives are to dissolve carbon and other contaminants in an engine as well as to keep the oil from breaking down, and they work well on gun powder fouling. This is especially true if the barrel is still warm and the carbon has not had time to harden when you put the oil in. So take some to the range with you and get the bore wet with it before you pack up and head home. By the time you do, the carbon should all be well-softened.

I got some 0-W-20 on Hummer70's recommendation and it does seem to work well. I've been playing around with additives to get faster penetration (a little Kroil). Jury is still out on whether that really makes a positive difference or not.

[mach1.3]

I use Mobil 1 sometimes on my 1911's. Inside or out.

[mete]

That comes from an FBI study of things not designed for guns but good for guns . Mobil1 was the best !

[RickB]

Is there an expectation among oil makers that some oils will come into contact with people on a regular basis, others won't, and so products are formulated differently?
Anecdotal evidence of washing your hands in motor oil aside, I'd think prolonged contact with the skin would be something not on the list of priorities for motor oil, while gun care products could be expected to regularly come into contact with the skin.
Are there specs or requirements for the contents of motor oils and gun oils that are incompatible? Is Big Brother dictating what is "safe" for oils (The United States Department of Cleaning, Lubrication and Preservation)?

[Unclenick]

In the past it has been the other way around. Motor oil wasn't harder on skin than petroleum jelly, but there were a lot of pretty nasty chemicals in gun cleaners, like nitrobenzene and spirits of mercury, and skin penetrating compounds like DMSO in turpentine components to carry those nasties right through to your bloodstream. You have to keep in mind that gun cleaners are designed to work at their job first, and have only been tamed of some levels of toxicity as regulatory requirements have stiffened. Indeed, Gunzilla's maker has a story of developing his non-toxic vegetable oils-based product in the 90's precisely because he couldn't find a really skin-safe gun cleaning product at the time. Even the military's CLP then still had one carcinogenic component (since removed).

As to Mobil 1, I don't know what modern additives have done for skin contact safety. You could read the MSDS sheet to see if it's any different than a non-detergent single-weight, like the old stuff was.

[Clark]

If you go to Bob's the oil guy forum and start reading
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...s.php?ubb=cfrm

You may realize you will never know everything there is to know about oil, but you may learn some new stuff.

[cv73]

the way I see it is gun oil is for guns and motor oil is for auto's.

[F. Guffey]

the way I see it is gun oil is for guns and motor oil is for auto's.

I do not wonder but there is something in oil that restricts foaming and there is something that allows the oil to float particles through the pump to the filter. Yes there are many additives that a gun does not need. And then there is cleaning, there was a time I had no reservation about adding a vapor injection system for cleaning the top of pistons. I had a friend at love field that threw a chain around the jugs of a P47 engine and then secured the jugs with a binder. I thought it should have been repaired, he said the plane had a vapor/alcohol injection system during war conditions the horse powder could be increase by 400HP and that is what I wanted ‘WAR CONDITIONS’.

And there is Vaseline, and cosmoline and bag bomb. There was a time when instead of scraping the top of pistons during repair I would soak them in carburetor cleaner. That had to be healthier because there was no dust.

I have used Rislone and marvel Mystery oil; I used Rislone because they promised if it did not help it would not hurt. My opinion, Rislone helps clean engines that used oil that that needed a lot of help.

And then there is the barrel, back in the old days the cleaning rods screwed together and there was no promise the joints aligned so we ground them to fit or taped them. There was a belief the muzzle tapered because of the cleaning rod. Anyway I put together a cleaning system for barrels, it is impossible to lock up or obstruct the barrel. It works for me.

F. Guffey

[Mike38]

the way I see it is gun oil is for guns and motor oil is for auto's.

Well, yea, but Mobile One will keep a 10,000 RPM Indy car engine running, or a 12,000 RPM Road Racing motorcycle engine going. If anything, Mobile One is "over qualified" for firearms.

I use Mobile One each spring to change the oil in my push mower. It holds 24 ounces. That leaves me 8 ounces of gun oil for the year.

[mehavey]

Army Marksmanship Unit went over to Mobile 1 synthetic oil for all
their bore cleaning and general maintenance lubrication.

^^^^ THIS ^^^^

Mobil-1 Synthetic* is superb as a lube/preservative, and "not bad" for smokeless solvent if only 1 solvent is carried.

Still,I use KG-1/12 to clean carbon/copper before following with an *AMSOIL-Synthetic 0-30W patch to protect the bore.