Do Steel Guns Absorb Oil?

"it may take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a year, but eventually it will be oily on the outside."

Are you sure it's oil passing THRU the metal?

I don't believe that it is. I believe that it's oil passing through voids in the seams and getting out around the screw top through wicking.
 
I found a more than 25 year old can of WD40 in my dad's stuff a while ago. If oil passes through steel it should have had WD dripping from the can but it did not. Not even on the rusty seam where there was no protection. If that long didn't do it for a thin steel can how long to soak through your gun?
 
I know that steel could not possibly absorb oil but if I have occasion to degrease my gun, then (for lack of a better term) oil cure it which is to soak it in oil. Todays lubricants have suspended particles in it and I thought that perhaps the extra time could allow for particles to migrate to the pores of the steel? Maybe maybe not. Can't hurt.
 
Can't say it absorbs but I will tell you from personal experience that the guns I let soak in my cleaning oil for a day or two before I clean them are rust resistant for a lot longer than the ones I give a quick cleaning and a wipe down with a gun oil rag.

My storage area by necessity was in my Wisconsin basement which was a damp area so I had a lot of experience with cleaning off surface rust. My cleaning box was an ammo can filled a quart of 30 weight motor oil, a little transmission oil, a little WD-40 and whenever I got near the end of a jar of Hoppes #9 I dumped that into the can. Whenever I finished a match or did a long range session I stripped the gun and dropped it into the can till I felt like cleaning it. Brushed it blew off the excess oil with my compressor and reassembled it. I didn't have to lubricate it or wipe the surface down and it never rusted like my other guns no matter how long they sat unused.

Today the only change in my formula is my first half quart in the can is fuel oil, the rest is the same and I still do the same procedure. Shoot the dickens out of it, and drop the pieces in the can till I get ready to clean guns.

Soak up oil, I don't know but it sure acts like it. I also know that stainless steel seems to repel oil because it wipes off easy and feels dry to the touch where my blued steel gun parts still have a slight oily feel. This is subjective on my part not an objective scientific observation.
 
I don't believe that it is. I believe that it's oil passing through voids in the seams and getting out around the screw top through wicking.
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This would be a legitimate assumption, However, if you set it up like I said (fill it 2/3 full and then clean the outside) when you check it you will find that it is oily from the fill line down, and the inside of the can, above the oil, will not be "dry" but will have far less oil than the outside of the can.

Also, oil seeping thru the seams, will only be on the side with the seam, not all the way around.

As to the "WD40" scenario, "WD40" is not oil, at least not straight petroleum, it does not have the same properties as "oil".

"WD40" is a "Water Displacement" formula, that will actually dry, and leave a thin film to seal against water.
 
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Certainly some internal parts are made from powdered metal parts. However, the OP was addressing the outside of the gun. Anyone know of a frame, cylinder, slide or barrel made from powder?
 
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