Using WD40 on air rifles.

[Prometheus2017]

Just wondering if anyone else uses WD40 to clean and lube their rifles.

Ive heard mixed reviews.

Personally i clean and lube with it (not inner parts, use grease for those).

Seems to be a cheap method of keeping rust away.

[Peter Dunkley]

This one has been done to death..
Not the best lubricant but other than that it does what it says on the tin and under normal circumstances is a half decent rust proofer.
I have used it since Adam was a lad. Never done me any harm.

You are also about to get even more mixed reviews!!!

[rabbitwrecker]

Have been using it on my airguns for the past 40-odd years, but strictly for the external metalwork to remove dirt/fingerprints - always sparingly and always via a rag. Never had rust on a gun either..

[Airsporter1st]

Opinion is certainly divided. Mine is coloured by a bad experience where I used it on some steel tools which subsequently rusted.

Regardless, I would simply ask 'why, when there are far better products available for the purpose?'

[madcarlos]

Myself i always give a squirt down the port hole of my 177 77k , just a little then decocked the gun and half pulled on the under lever a couple times and then left over night if I went shooting the morning after, I done this for the best part of 20 years on and off , In all fairness the seal although gone a tad brownish seemed to be ok, Still got the 77 and put a kit in it a while back but don't use it to need to lube it as much now, Had the gun now over 30 years and it will match my pcp Guns for accuracy,

[clarky]

Myself i always give a squirt down the port hole of my 177 77k , just a little then decocked the gun and half pulled on the under lever a couple times and then left over night if I went shooting the morning after, I done this for the best part of 20 years on and off , In all fairness the seal although gone a tad brownish seemed to be ok, Still got the 77 and put a kit in it a while back but don't use it to need to lube it as much now, Had the gun now over 30 years and it will match my pcp Guns for accuracy,

simple....unless your using it as intended as a degreasant dont use it.
Especially if you are using expensive lubes internally ....it will just try to separate them out .
Left to dry it turns into a substance not unlike old varnish.....but takes ages to get like that.
Its great for cleaning the gun out with kitchen towel, then just removing the last traces with a dry towel and relubing with something else once all clean.

[madcarlos]

Don't use it myself now lads, But hey my gun is over 30 years old and it never hurt that, I can only go by experience as the op had asked,

[Gerjor]

This is the only lube/cleaning fluid i use on my shotguns and air-rifles.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Gun-Acces...0ml/B00B9VEL4K

[Prometheus2017]

Hehe mixed opinions for sure.

I have not personally had problems with it stripping grease from the innards of the guns mechanicals.

It seems to be a great proof against rust on the outside of the rifle. To each their own i guess.

[rabbitwrecker]

Myself i always give a squirt down the port hole of my 177 77k , just a little then decocked the gun and half pulled on the under lever a couple times and then left over night if I went shooting the morning after

I take it you'd get a few supersonic shots from that little routine....

[Prometheus2017]

The main thing to watch for is seals. If you leave it on them it can cause them to fail.

[Sallyannsnow]

The main thing to watch for is seals. If you leave it on them it can cause them to fail.

Yeah dead right.
I've been an engineering manager for over 30 yrs and while WD40 has it's uses on externals never allow it to penertrate the internals. Complex pneumatic valves in high speed production machinery was very often ruined when WD40 was used as an easy fix for sticking valves. It destroys air seals very quickly.

[clarky]

Yeah dead right.
I've been an engineering manager for over 30 yrs and while WD40 has it's uses on externals never allow it to penertrate the internals. Complex pneumatic valves in high speed production machinery was very often ruined when WD40 was used as an easy fix for sticking valves. It destroys air seals very quickly.

no small wonder really ....it has cutting agents in it for the purpose of degreasing.

[chieffool]

Personally.... I just love the smell of it. I had an aunt who used to spray her arthritic hip evey day with it convinced that it was doing her good. She was (of course) barking mad.

[weebster]

Personally.... I just love the smell of it. I had an aunt who used to spray her arthritic hip evey day with it convinced that it was doing her good. She was (of course) barking mad.

Lmao...there may well be a nugget of truth in that,wd40 was iirc made from fish oil many many moons ago,a sort of 'cod liver oil' in an aerosol