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Swabbing before the first shot

Just thinking about this the other day. I leave WD40 in my barrels after I clean them and never swab it out before I begin shooting. I doubt that WD40 is a compressible liquid so I began wondering what happens with the first bullet fired. I realize that most of it is expelled by the gases preceding the bullet but there has to be some that gets "ironed" into the rifling by the bullet. Actually if you compress it enough you can probably get it to "diesel" in the bore. So I was wondering if this residual oil left in the barrel could be the cause of some of the pitting in the bore that we normally attribute to fire cracking? Would be nice to hear a manufacturers take on this.
 
WD-40 contains petroleum based ingredients that can leave carbon deposits when burned. It is not really a very good lubricant, IMHO. I prefer to use a good gun oil or synthetic motor oil in my steel toys.

I always run a dry patch or two through any barrel that may have lube inside.

Pellgun oil is petroleum based and is great for protecting seals in airguns, but using too much can cause dieseling,
 
I doubt that WD40 is a compressible liquid
Really? Once the propellant is used in application you have a liquid.
My own method? Clean the barrel. Run a patch down the bore with oily substance of your choice. Then I leave the cleaning rod in the barrel. Two things happen. Ready to go shooting? Rod out, dry patch down the barrel and then it reminds me to reinstall the bolt. Made a trip to the range with the bolt left home. Bad attitude resulted.
 
I used WD 40 as a preservative (not for cleaning) for many years as you did then dry patching before shooting. I experienced no ill effects relative to the bore. However, I suspended that practice quite some time ago.

The problem was with its very low viscosity, if that stuff drains into the trigger mechanism, it forms a "gum" like coating on the parts and degrades the trigger functionality. Also, there are much better rust prevention products on the market than WD 40.

I always run a dry patch down the bore to remove any oil in the bore before shooting.

(Note of Cold Barrel / Clean Barrel Flyers)

I don't have cold barrel or clean barrel flyers - I do not need to use lock Ease or anything else. In my experience, what caused my clean bore flyers, and, in some cases, cold barrel flyers were using aggressive copper removing solvents. Several shots were required to re-condition the bore before desired point of impact return. What I discovered was that using a mild solvent like Hoppe's 9 or Shooter Choice with a bronze brush and cleaning about every 50 to 60 rounds produced the most stable bore condition for me in all my rifles.

I think the reason some have to use Lock Ease is because of cleaning to bare metal. I mean you clean like hell to get every speck of carbon out then you have to put some back into the rifle so it will shoot to desire point of impact. Seems like this is telling you something.
 
I find WD40 to leave a gummy film in triggers, bolt/action lugs. I used it years ago and stopped. Never went back. I use a light oil (butches) in all my rifles, and patch out my target and varmint guns before shooting. Also my good rimfire. Others I just shoot. My 1884 Trapdoor doesn't notice... :D
 
Well, we all use a rust preventive in the bore after cleaning and some of us wipe it out before firing and some do not. My question was, does oil left in the bore cause any damage to the bore when firing the first shot without wiping it out. Oil will diesel as GuitarmanNick stated and in my opinion that dieseling will cause damage. Also the compression forces created when a bullet travels over the oil should eventually hob the bore.
 
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WD-40 contains petroleum based ingredients that can leave carbon deposits when burned. It is not really a very good lubricant, IMHO. I prefer to use a good gun oil or synthetic motor oil in my steel toys.

I always run a dry patch or two through any barrel that may have lube inside.

Pellgun oil is petroleum based and is great for protecting seals in airguns, but using too much can cause dieseling,
I remember the pellgun oil issues at Crosman. We were molding stocks for them at the time when they changed their oil. The new formula caused us to change from polystyrene stocks to ABS stock material. As I remember the oil would diesel from pumping up the air pressure. You didn't have to fire the gun.
 
Clowdis evidently you and I read the same article and had the same thoughts. I asked one of the top gunsmiths about the oil issue and he said oil was good in the bore and he had seen a BR shooter carry his gun to the bench with oil dripping out the muzzle. he shoot it with no ill effects. I also read somewhere about oil damaging a barrel due to hydraulics. I think its just a gun shop tale with no truth involved. Regular WD 40 is not a rust inhibitor, its a solvent that will remove oil, worse than nothing in my experience.
 
I bought a nice stainless Remington M7 7MM08 at a gunshot once. The guy I bought it from sold it to me at a price I considered lower than scrap price and I was happy to get the deal. I sold the old Simmons scope and rings ten minutes after buying the rifle and took the rifle home for a net cost of $200. The rifle had been fine tuned and bedded by one of our well known gunsmiths but I knew why I got such a deal. I could see the discoloration caused by the lacquering effects of WD40. The previous owner hunted a particularly humid and swampy area of the state and made a practice of keeping WD40 generously applied. It had gummed up the trigger to the point of no return and the barrel was coated in a lacquer as well. It took a different trigger and some vigorous cleaning to get it back to its best but the effort was well worth it.
This was the end of my relationship with WD40 though. I find a very thin coat of Kroil keeps the rust away and will even soak through the hardest carbon fouling to make it easier to clean. And no lacquer left behind.
 
Mostly, I use WD40 as a solvent. Does a great job on certain gooey, sticky residues. I never leave it on anything I care about. I much prefer BoeShield for spray on preservative duty.

WD40 is a good lubricant for machining aluminum too.
 

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