3 in 1 oil on firearms?

For years and years people used motor oil to both clean and lubricate their weapons and motor oil worked fine.

I use motor oil to clean my handguns. I don't use detergent motor oil - just regular motor oil to clean my weapons. After I get them clean and as dry as I can, I coat them with Tri-Flow. Just my personal preference.

WD40 is not a lubricant even though they now advertise it as a lubricant.

No matter what anyone says, don't use Crisco or "Lard" on your firearm and don't use Vaseline.

I would consult your manual before greasing anything. If the people who designed and manufactured your firearm thought it needed grease they would have written that in the manual.
 
Also here's my blurb about getting it "absolutely" clean

When I had to clean my M16 - I sprayed carb cleaner on it and scrubbed the hell out of it with copper brushes and ran scalding water over it, then took a blow-dryer and space heater to the parts.

But I wouldn't do that to my own beloved firearms.

I know that cleaning it with motor oil is not going to get it spotlessly clean and that in a week or so carbon will sweat out of the steel in some places, thats OK, I just clean it again in a week. I don't get crazy using harsh chemicals on some quest to make it completely absolutely spotless.
 
I was wondering if 3 in 1 would be a good oil to use just a little bit to clean the chamber with a towel and then clean the inside of the barrel or muzzle!
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I seriously doubt it would make a very good cleaner, especially compared to the many excellent firearm cleaning products available these days, but it won't do any damage.

As far as a firearm lubricant, there are certainly worse choices you could make. There are probably better choices too, but it's hard to be too dogmatic about that because most any decent oil that has good rust protecting qualities will do an adequate job on firearms.
I just oiled up the bolt action in the chamber of my .22 mag marlin tube feed and also the tube,I know it did some good!
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The chamber and magazine of a firearm are two places that really do much better without much oil in them. You may have done some good but chances are better that you would do more good by drying the chamber and removing anything but a light sheen of oil from the inside of the magazine and the magazine spring.

Magazines generally work better with very little lubricant or even, in some cases, with no lubricant at all on the internal surfaces and spring.

The chamber of a firearm generally shouldn't have any significant amount of lubricant in it because the friction between the expanded brass case at the moment of firing and the chamber wall is part of the dynamic system that contains the pressure of holding the breech closed. Depending on the design of the firearm, introducing lubricants into the chamber can stress certain parts of the firearm.
I don't get crazy using harsh chemicals on some quest to make it completely absolutely spotless.
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The best general purpose cleaner I've found so far is Hoppes Elite Gun Cleaner. It has virtually no smell and has no fumes. It is biodegradeable and there are no health cautions on the bottle whatsoever.

BreakFree Foaming Bore Cleaner is sold as being non-toxic and although there are some cautions on the container they relate to the butane propellant, not to the solvent itself. I've found it to be very effective.

"Harsh chemicals" is sort of a vague term, but I would venture to guess that very few people would feel that term applies accurately to something like Hoppes Elite Gun Cleaner or BreakFree Foaming Bore Cleaner.
 
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   I guess they've changed it ! It used to be many years ago the worst !!......


I grew up thinking the same. Every story I knew of a gun going click but not bang on a cold December day in deer season was related to regular use of 3 in 1, sewing machine oil, or some other seemingly "light" lube that left a waxy buildup. I've got a can of 3 in 1 on my work bench I'm going to put in the freezer with my other lubes and I'll compare them tomorrow just to recalibrate my opinion.

Tom
 
I'm not talking about precipitation of waxes [parafin] at low temperatures .I'm talking about oxidation which produces a varnish .That varnish has to be removed with solvents like trichlorethylene or boiling in a trisodiumphosphate solution ! The most difficult cleaning jobs made me ask the owner 'did you use 3in1 ? ' .They always answered YES ! A proper petroleum oil needs an anti-oxidant additive to prevent the varnish.
I've used Mobil DTE turbine oil which is about the most highly refined oil and has no waxes. It also has an additive package including anti-oxidants .
 
The OP probably isn't worried about extreme cold temps in Texas, but my minus 10F meat freezer confirmed my faith in name brand gun oils.

Breakfree... it was the only one to come out of it's container right out of the freezer.

Lucas Gun Oil and Hoppes needed a minute at room temp before I could get a drop out of the bottle.

Singer sewing machine oil(60's vintage?... 30 cent price) from moms old machine was solid and took another minute or more at room temp to get a drop from the can.

3in1 took the longest at room temp to return to liquid form.
 
ATF! (Automatic transmission fluid), pick one.
1 Qt. will last a lifetime. Ever see a rusty trans.? Even laying in a junkyard for years. And close tolerances? Freezing temps.?
Check out Ed's Red, main ingredient. If your worried about the smell, don't. Ever smell Hoppes #9?
 
After being drenched in ATF from the elbows down more than once (gearhead) I can say without fear of contradiction that I know very well the olfactory differences in Hoppe's and ATF. I would rather bathe in Hoppe's than get ATF on my clothes

However, ATF is quite a good lubricant :D
 
Everytime I use it on one of my guns I remember sitting in the barbers chair and smelling the 3in1 oil on the clippers. Then you got the cool wipe down with the powder. Sometimes I miss my hair.
 
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