I just had a gunsmith at a local shop here tell me to use 1 part motor oil 1 part transmission fluid and 1 part power steering fluid to clean surplus rifle barrels. I could see using the transmission fluid and motor oil but not sure about steering fluid. Has any one ever heard of or used this mixture?
Has anyone ever heard of using this?
- Thread starter bspillman
- Start date
However, it was a lesson I never forgot. May be different chemical composition now, but definitely a concern. Perhaps it might have been brake fluid??g.willikers
New member
Brake fluid will definitely do that.
Power steering fluid has changed over the years.
Some older cars did use the same stuff in the power steering pump and the auto transmissions.
It depended on the make and model.
Not sure about the modern ones, though, with all the electronics.
Some gunsmiths might be living in the past, so take their advice with some hesitation.
Very much depends on what it is that needs cleaning.
Corrosive salts, copper fouling, lead fouling, cosmoline, powder residue, rust, old dirt, all need something different.
Power steering fluid has changed over the years.
Some older cars did use the same stuff in the power steering pump and the auto transmissions.
It depended on the make and model.
Not sure about the modern ones, though, with all the electronics.
Some gunsmiths might be living in the past, so take their advice with some hesitation.
Very much depends on what it is that needs cleaning.
Corrosive salts, copper fouling, lead fouling, cosmoline, powder residue, rust, old dirt, all need something different.
Last edited:
Gunplummer
New member
Been using AT Fluid for tough carbon for years. Works well and is cheap.
"Bluing" (which encompasses several processes) and "paint" are not remotely similar.
Paint is essentially pigments suspended in solvent.
Bluing is a conversion coating stemming from oxidation. Some methods are minimally effective and some are very effective. It's an extremely thin layer on metal that is "passive" regarding things like water, and bluing is a 'passivation' process.
If you ever got into old cars, you may have used various products that turn rusty ferrous metal into magnetite (only on the extremely outer surface). That's basically rust bluing, although a firearm gets multiple layers and is then oiled.
That is not to say that a material which will attack paint will not also attack a blued surface.
Paint is essentially pigments suspended in solvent.
Bluing is a conversion coating stemming from oxidation. Some methods are minimally effective and some are very effective. It's an extremely thin layer on metal that is "passive" regarding things like water, and bluing is a 'passivation' process.
If you ever got into old cars, you may have used various products that turn rusty ferrous metal into magnetite (only on the extremely outer surface). That's basically rust bluing, although a firearm gets multiple layers and is then oiled.
That is not to say that a material which will attack paint will not also attack a blued surface.
1903springfield30-06
Inactive
I just use that stuff in the spray can called wipeout. Seems to work good and is what it is used for.
What'd he say he was cleaning out?
Milsurp rifles are no different than a commercial hunting rifle, except that some have been rode hard and put away wet. Like g.willikers says, everything that has been done to 'em needs a different product.
Apparently some vehicles still use transmission fluid for power steering. Like Oddball said, "I just drive 'em. I don't fix 'em.". snicker.
Milsurp rifles are no different than a commercial hunting rifle, except that some have been rode hard and put away wet. Like g.willikers says, everything that has been done to 'em needs a different product.
Apparently some vehicles still use transmission fluid for power steering. Like Oddball said, "I just drive 'em. I don't fix 'em.". snicker.