oiling inside of barrel?

T

thunderbird101

New member
Okay, so basic question here! I have always been told NOT to oil the inside of the barrel. However, I have recently been hearing alot contrary to this.

So what ist he Proper way to oil a handgun after cleaning? Sidenote, does this apply to rifles as well?

Thanks in advance!
 
Generally, where to apply the oil will depend from firearm to firearm. Typically where ever there is metal parts moving against each other and/or the slide rails are pretty typical.

For every handgun though I swab a lightly oiled patch down the barrel as the final step in cleaning. I've heard that a barrel drenched with oil on the inside can cause a dramatic raise in pressure and other issues, but I have yet to experience that with just light oiling and I personally feel better having a light amount of oil down there.
 
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I typically lightly oil the barrels of guns I dont plan on shooting for a while. I run a patch lightly coated in oil through the barrel then I run a clean patch afterwards to collect any excess oil.
 
Many manuals specify a light oiling in the barrel, some do not. The key word is light. The purpose of which is as much for rust prevention that anything.
 
For my blued guns, I just run a dry patch through once or twice after cleaning. This usually leaves a very [very] thin film of CLP on the interior of the barrel. Not enough to cause a problem with dust particles sticking to it, but enough to keep rust from creeping in.

For the "semi-safe queens", I heavily oil the barrels of my guns that I do not shoot often and simply run a dry patch through them whenever I take them to the range.
 
For medium-term storage, oil the barrel. Then run a dry patch when you draw it from the safe, before shooting it.

For long-term storage, look into other preservative methods.

For short-term (i.e. you shoot that gun every week), I wouldn't worry about it.
 
I run an oiled patch through the barrel as part of the cleaning. I run a dry patch after that for any carry pistol/home defense. Guns that are not shot as much don't get the dry patch until the day before they are to be shot. Then I will clean the inside of the barrel again followed by a dry patch and also check the lubrication of other parts such as slide rails etc.

This works for me and I don't seem to have any pitting problems of my barrels.

Heavy amounts of oil and or grease will raise the pressure on the first round fired. Why take a chance? Just run a dry patch to make sure there isn't any excessive oil in there.
 
Don't know where you live Thunder, but here in Kentucky, we get pretty humid weather 10 months of the year. For me that means lightly oiling the bore of those guns, (rifle, shotgun, or handguns), that I'm currently using on a regular basis...and "currently", means every couple of days. Before using, I wipe the bore out with a clean patch, soaked in alcohol. That minimizes the impact shift away from your fouled zero to some extent. It's important when working up loads in a rifle and you're shooting groups.

But for hunting in inclement weather, I leave a thin coat of Hoppe's in the bore, (after wiping the chamber clean and dry in rifle or revolver). In my experimentation, the thin coat of Hoppe's in the bore of a hunting rifle moves the impact point of the first round fired by less than 1" at 100 yds...using this technique. The damp bore will not rust when so treated. On return to camp, I clean and oil the bore as normal.

A clean dry chamber is usually recommended for rifles and revolvers just prior to shooting. If a coating of oil remains, the cartridge case "sets back" against the bolt face in a rifle, or the recoil shield/firing pin hole in a revolver, increasing pressures. Too, in a rifle, an oily chamber raises chamber pressures by taking up some of the space that a fired cartridge uses in expansion. In the '30's at Camp Perry, shooters would "grease" their bullets in an attempt to reduce the fouling caused by the jacket materials and primer compounds then in use. The grease of course migrated down over the cartridge necks during recoil from previous rounds, and chamber pressures sky-rocketed. An oily chamber and neck has the same effect to some extent.

The Service Teams, Marines for sure and the others I suspect, leave a thin coating of Hoppe's or something similar, in their bores overnight at Camp Perry, with no worries about impact shifts the next morning. They do wipe the bores dry prior to competing....I take my advice from them...this was true in '06 and '07; the last time I shot at Perry and I did ask about their cleaning practices at the time.

Long term storage is another kettle of fish. For real long term...years...a coating of grease liberally applied to the bore is required for complete confidence. For shorter term, I use CLP, Breakfree, or Ed's Red with never a problem. Again...I wipe it out prior to shooting...or leave a thin coating of Hoppe's in the bore alone, when hunting in inclement weather.

HTHs Rodfac
 
I lightly oil the inside of the barrel after cleaning and then run a dry patch down before taking to the range for firing. The goal is rust protection so if the barrel is stainless, then I clean it and leave it, no oil. On a carry gun with a regular steel barrel, I personally would run a very light film of CLP.
 
I have applied a light patch of oil on the insides of every gun I own after cleaning - a little extra rust prevention is a good thing, no matter where you live
 
I always lightly oil the barrel on all my guns after they are cleaned. You don't want to pour oil down the barrel but a light coat won't harm any thing. Run a clean patch through them prior to taking them out to the range and you won't have any issues.
 
I've never oiled the barrels of any of my handguns (or the chambers of my revolvers) and have never observed the slightest problem, notwithstanding that I live in a very humid climate (North Georgia). However, none of mine are in long-term storage, either, they all get fired regularly and cleaned after each trip to the range. The longest any of my guns sits without going to the range is 6-8 weeks.
 
Just remember to clean the oil out before you shoot the gun.

According to some other posts I have read on this forum,,,
And articles I have read in various other gun books,,,
If you don't clean that oil from the barrel,,,
You will get a "dieseling" explosion.

If I have this correctly,,,
As the bullet is forced through the barrel,,,
The residual oil is pushed ahead of the projectile,,,
In some (most?) cases the intense pressure will ignite the oil.

I have had many old gunsmiths tell me the same thing,,,
Oil the heck out of the bore for storage protection,,,
Make sure you clean the bore before shooting.

It's what I have always been told,,,
Sure makes sense to me.

.
 
This is another reason I now use Breakfree CLP. It will clean the fouling out of the barrel and by just running a couple of CLP soaked patches through the bore until they come out free of fouling there will be a thin film of CLP left in the bore instead of using a separate solvent which leaves no oil behind and then having to apply oil. I have never had any rust on any gun (inside or out) using CLP.
 
I always run a patch with some BreakFree on it - thru the bore after I clean a gun ( shotguns, handguns and rifles ) ....

It won't hurt anything ...
 
I have fired thousands of rounds through guns with oiled barrels = zero explosions and zero problems caused by it... Sure it might be a problem if you have ounces of oil in the barrel when you shoot but a simple reasonable coating has never been a problem for me.
 
Thank you all for the rapid responses! This all tends to go along with what I have recently heard.

Now, for a concealed carry gun, it is typically in "storage" riding around IWB w/out being fired for a period of several months before I typically get around to going to the range to fire it again. However, there is always the possibility of shooting it if it is needed for self defense. In this case, I am guessing that I should run a lightly oiled patch through the barrel followed by a clean swab, leaving just enough oil to protect the barrel from rust. Am I correct, or would someone like to correct me?

Thank you!
 
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